How Prayer Creates Joy

What has medical science shown us about the power of prayer? How does it create more joy in our lives? And what “counts” as a prayer? Find out more about the benefits and mystery of prayer here:

Medical brain scans have shown how we think, feel, prepare, learn–and pray. A part of the human brain gets stimulated when we connect with a sense of the universe beyond the everyday world.

Some think of joy as an undependable gift, bestowed as a raise or a new house or a lover. Others experience a deeper joy by taking time to strengthen their connection with the universe. It doesn’t prevent feeling sad, mad, or blue, but it gives the human life a bigger context, a larger play–not just the script of your life’s role.

One way to strengthen that connection is through prayer, in its many forms–physical prayer: a movement in nature, a Celtic labyrinth puzzle, a religious service, or walking meditation (awareness of each part of the walk, from lifting up the leg to putting it down); visual prayer: imagining a life force, such as God, an angel, or Buddha with you; and the prayer of talking, through conversation or written word, with an image of the force of life. Express gratitude, complain some, ask for help, and tap into a powerful, universal energy that can spark your own vitality.

Read more: Spirit, Green Home Decor, Guidance, Self-Help, , joy, prayer

Adapted from 365 Energy Boosters, by Susannah Seton and Sondra Kornblatt (Conari Press, 2005). COpyright (c) 2005 by Seton and Kornblatt. Reprinted by permission of Conari Press.
Adapted from 365 Energy Boosters, by Susannah Seton and Sondra Kornblatt (Conari Press, 2005).