Brain Power Enough to Heal?

I recently read an article about the effect placebos have on healing. "The Nothing Cure," Whole Living, Dec. 2012, cites studies that found the placebo to offer healing results as well as the medication being tested. This has led to more research on the effect of placebos and the power of the brain to heal the body.

"Even the ancients knew what powerful healers our beliefs could be, and for centuries medical training included instruction on placebo tactics to aid patients when nothing else seemed to work," the article states. Research is proving it, and now some say placebos could be our best option against illness.

"In humans, a strong belief in a remedy's effectiveness may produce even better results" (than the medication alone), says Bruce Barrett, M.D., a leading cold researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

This idea is fascinating to me in light of a few verses in the Bible. (The following scripture are taken from the Common English Bible translation)

Mark 11:24: "Therefore, I say to you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you will receive it and it will be so for you."

James 1:2-8: "My brothers and sisters, think of the various tests you encounter as occasions for joy. After all, you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let this endurance complete its work so that you may be fully mature, complete, and lacking nothing. But anyone who needs wisdom should ask god, whose very nature is to give to everyone without a second thought, without keeping score. Wisdom will certainly be given to those who ask. Whoever asks shouldn't hesitate. They should ask in faith, without doubting. Whoever doubts is like the surf of the sea, tossed and turned by the wind. People like that should never imagine that they will receive anything from the Lord. They are double-minded, unstable in all their ways."

John 11:40: "Jesus replied, 'Didn't I tell you that if you believe, you will see God's glory?'"

James 5:15: "Prayer that comes from faith will heal the sick, for the Lord will restore them to health. And if they have sinned, they will be forgiven."

Biblically we can easily argue the importance of believing and not being "double-minded." When our mind is divided, we accomplish nothing; sickness and depression have an open door.

I believe God heals supernaturally at times. And I believe God created gifts of healing for us to use in nature. Yet, He also created our minds, and He created us in His image, with minds that can create. How like Him to give us the ability to enhance His natural healing gifts with this ability to believe.

What are your thoughts about the mind's ability to heal?