English 
Chinese 
Dutch 
Arabic 
Spanish 
Portuguese 
Russian 
French 
Italian 
German 
Japanese 
Continue reading with a subscription
Get unlimited access to all our premium content and exclusive features.
Enjoy unlimited access, cancel anytime.
Summary
- Short prayers cover a new diagnosis, readings that stay high, daily medicine, changes in diet and exercise, stress and anger, fear of a stroke, sleep, a relative with high blood pressure and thanks for a good reading.
- High blood pressure usually has no warning signs (CDC); a second reading above 180/120 with symptoms such as chest pain, severe headache or weakness calls for 911 (NHLBI).
- The CDC lists daily activity, not smoking, less salt and alcohol, a healthy weight and managing stress as ways to control blood pressure; some people also need medicine.
- No Bible verse mentions blood pressure; passages often prayed include Proverbs 14:30, Isaiah 26:3, Philippians 4:6–7 and Psalm 131.
- Traditional prayers are quoted from the Orthodox service of Holy Unction (Hapgood, 1906), and the 1888 Catholic Manual of Prayers.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Psalm 4:8; 94:19; 103:2–3; 131:2; Proverbs 14:30; 17:22; Isaiah 26:3; 30:15; Jeremiah 30:17; Matthew 11:28; Ephesians 4:26; Philippians 4:6–7). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “About High Blood Pressure.” Last updated 28 January 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/high-blood-pressure/about/index.html
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. “High Blood Pressure: Symptoms.” https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/high-blood-pressure/symptoms
- Hapgood, Isabel Florence, trans. Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic (Greco-Russian) Church. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, 1906. The Office of Holy Unction, prayer of the third priest, p. 350. https://archive.org/details/cu31924029363128
- A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity, prepared and published by order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1888. Devotions for the Sick, “Prayer in the Beginning of Sickness,” pp. 459–460. https://archive.org/details/AManualOfPrayers1888
Leave a Reply