The Neuroscience of Prayer

Recently I read an article about a scientific study that found that prayer lights up multiple brain regions tied to empathy, focus, and emotional regulation. It said that spending 30 minutes in prayer, 4 days a week was shown to reduce stress and increase compassion. It also stated that  love-centered prayers had the biggest impact, but that fear-based views of God triggered stress responses instead.

So what is meant by prayer? The most basic definition of prayer is talking to God (or Spirit, or Jesus, whatever term works for you personally).  For me, I feel anytime I consciously seek that connection whether through conversation with Spirit, meditation, contemplation, or journaling from my Inner Sense it is a prayer.

It is a request to see as God sees. To use Christ Vision to know all is well and that I am eternally taken care of and loved beyond my comprehension.

The Song of Prayer (a supplement to A Course in Miracles) states “To you who are in time a little while, prayer takes the form that best will suit your need. ²You have but one (need). ³What God created one must recognize its oneness, and rejoice that what illusions seemed to separate is one forever in the Mind of God. ⁴Prayer now must be the means by which God’s Son leaves separate goals and separate interests by, and turns in holy gladness to the truth of union in his Father and himself.” (ACIM, S-1.in.2:1-4)

To me, this definitely includes the time I spend doing the workbook lessons of A Course in Miracles. This is time I dedicate each day to cleansing my mind of all the stinking thinking and allow a new way of thinking and seeing to emerge.

Has A Course in Miracles helped me develop empathy, focus, and emotional regulation?

Without a doubt.

The Introduction to the workbook lessons in the Course tells us “The purpose of the workbook is to train your mind in a systematic way to a different perception of everyone and everything in the world. ²The exercises are planned to help you generalize the lessons, so that you will understand that each of them is equally applicable to everyone and everything you see.” (ACIM, W-in.4:1-2)

The Course is extremely gentle in guiding us into a practice of spending time with these ideas. It doesn’t require huge chunks of time right off the bat.

In fact, the first 3 lessons only ask for 1 minute of practice, twice a day. 

We gradually increase our ability to practice for longer and longer periods of time up to 15 minutes, twice a day (which btw is the 30 minutes the study referenced). 

By the time we reach the 2nd part of the lessons (starting at lesson 221), we are told “We will continue spending time with Him each morning and at night, as long as makes us happy. ⁷We will not consider time a matter of duration now. ⁸We use as much as we will need for the result that we desire. ⁹Nor will we forget our hourly remembrance in between, calling to God when we have need of Him as we are tempted to forget our goal.” (ACIM, W-pII.in.2:6-9)

So maybe try to make some time today to spend with The Spirit of Love. What have you got to lose other than your suffering?

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