Prayer changes your brain
Prayer changes your brain. That might be partly why it’s such an important practice for Christians. So, keep reading for the scientific evidence for why prayer is important for your brain and body, plus some practical tips to enrich your prayer life!
In 1993, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania conducted a study aimed to analyze brain activity during the practice of centering prayer, a form of Christian meditative prayer. They gathered a total of 193 asymptomatic subjects (86 nuns and 107 control subjects). The participants received comprehensive health screenings and underwent brain MRI scans. (PMID: 36202111)
In order to prepare for the study, the nuns gave their consent for the researchers to insert intravenous (IV) catheters into their arms. This allowed researchers to administer a small quantity of radioactive material, which enabled them to conduct brain scans on the nuns. These scans helped determine the levels of activity in different areas of the brain during prayer.
During the study, each nun participated in a 45-minute prayer session individually. The tracer was administered in the last five minutes of the session to capture the peak of the practice. Once injected, the tracer circulated for a few minutes and became locked in the brain, providing a snapshot of the brain’s activity at that specific moment in time.
The brain scans revealed various changes, including alterations in the regions associated with self-awareness, attention and emotions. This serves as evidence that prayer has a quantifiable impact on the human brain.
As a nurse practitioner and a Bible-believing woman, here’s what I conclude from this study:
It’s clear that prayer impacts our God-designed body.
The living, breathing Word of God makes it clear that our bodies are capable of renewal and change, which is backed up by the concept of neuroplasticity.
This is not a passive process! It requires action. Prayer, like any practice, is a discipline that needs to be cultivated.
In the aforementioned study, nuns only qualified for this study if they had already been practicing centering prayer for at least 15 years.
A passive prayer life is not one I personally want to nurture. This study motivates me to be more diligent and intentional in my spiritual disciplines, like prayer. Not in a legalistic way, but in an empowered way.
This also fills me with gratitude for a God who tells us to do something that impacts us physically, emotionally and spiritually for the better. Over and over in the inspired words of God we are told to pray:
“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Romans 8:26
“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:6
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:16
“‘Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’” Matthew 26:41
“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” Colossians 4:2
If this inspires you too, here are some tips to nourish your prayer life:
practice breath prayers
pray Scripture (the psalms can be a great place to start)
pray over your loved ones while doing chores, like folding laundry
pray before meals
use the Echo Prayer app
start and maintain a prayer journal
Have even more ways you like to enrich your prayer life? I’d love to know what they are! You can share them in the comments below.
