I have always believed that ‘prayer’ is a form of therapy. I am more inclined to believe as well that it is one of the best therapies out there. More importantly, it is for free. Hence, while I try to be scientific in my counseling by adhering to my counseling paradigm, I always conclude the session with my client, provided h/she is a believer, by telling her to pray. Why? What do we get from praying?
There are basically 2 reasons why we should pray, one reason falling within the scientific realm and the other in the spiritual realm. Doctors have observed that when we pray, we activate the chemical serotonin in our brain, and once it is activated, it relays signal to the hypothalamus in the form of neurotransmitters. Serotonin is known as the ‘happy chemical’, it is responsible in influencing directly and indirectly approximately the 40 million brain cells in human, i.e., brain cells related to mood, sexual desire and function, appetite, sleep, memory and learning, temperature regulation, and some social behaviors. This suggests that a balanced level of serotonin would influence mood in a manner that leads to happiness. Logically, an imbalanced level would produce the opposite outcome. As the hypothalamus is the ‘seat of all human emotions’, these neurotransmitters activate the emotion of happiness in the hypothalamus, making it possible for us to experience this positive emotion. Hence, just this notion or belief of getting connected or reconnected to God through prayer stimulates this kind of physiological reaction in our body that produces positive psychological effects.
In the spiritual realm, when we pray, we make ourselves an open vessel for the Grace of God, especially if we do it via the four ways: contrition, adoration, thanksgiving, and supplication (ACTS).
In that connection, to pray is to seek a ‘win-win approach’!
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