53 - Prayer, the Brain, and the Power of Surrender with Dr. Josh Brahinsky

In this episode of The Becoming Her Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Josh Brahinsky for a thoughtful conversation about prayer, speaking in tongues, surrender, and what science can help us observe about the body and brain during spiritual practice.Dr. Brahinsky has spent nearly two decades studying charismatic evangelical prayer, with special attention to speaking in tongues, worship, embodiment, surrender, creativity, and the way these practices shape how people live and move in the world.This conversation is not about using science to prove God. It is about looking carefully at what happens when human beings pray, surrender, worship, and practice faith with their whole selves. We talk about the difference between theology and science, what researchers can measure, what they cannot claim, and why this kind of work matters for believers, thinkers, and anyone curious about the connection between faith, the brain, the body, and behavior.Inside this episode, we talk about:• Why Dr. Brahinsky has spent nearly twenty years studying charismatic evangelicalism and Pentecostal prayer• What speaking in tongues can teach us about surrender, control, worship, and embodied faith• Why prayer is not only a spiritual practice, but also a deeply physical and relational one• What researchers discovered when they studied people praying and speaking in tongues in brain imaging environments• The concept of “dropping in” during prayer and why it became important in the research• How surrender may be connected to creativity, inner flexibility, and a greater sense of capacity• Why science does not need to replace theology or prove God in order to offer meaningful insight• What it means to study the body without reducing the work of God to biologyLearn more about Dr. Josh Brahinsky and The Prayer Study here:https://www.theprayerstudy.com/Get his book, Tongues of Fire: How Charismatic Prayer Changes Evangelical Brains and Inspires Spirit-Filled Activism, here:https://a.co/d/03leDDAWListen now on my website, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or Spotify.If this episode helps you think more deeply, follow The Becoming Her Podcast and leave a review. Reviews help the podcast become more discoverable and help more women find conversations that bring faith, psychology, behavior, and truth into real life.The growing can continue.