Prayer, Peace, And The Brain

What if the fastest way out of anxiety isn’t trying harder, but shifting into gratitude-filled prayer and taking one clear next step? 

In this episode, we bring Philippians 4:6–7 to life with real talk about fear, neuroscience, and the power of community, showing how peace can guard both your heart and your mind when you move from rumination to relationship with God. You’ll hear why prayer is connection, not performance, and how starting with thanksgiving changes your state, calms your nervous system, and opens room for wisdom and creative problem-solving.

We unpack anxiety as an indicator light rather than a verdict, then walk through a simple framework: pray with thanks, ask specifically, and translate emotion into motion. Along the way, we explore the survival brain’s negativity bias, how new neural pathways form through small choices, and why you don’t have to do it alone. Two are better than one, and a cord of three strands -us plus God - won’t break. When you can’t see solutions, community widens your view. We also trade the myth of balance for the music of harmony, embracing mountaintops, valleys, and quiet stretches as part of a faithful, resilient life.

Expect a grounded blend of Scripture and science: prayer often quiets brain activity, nudging you into parasympathetic calm where healing and creativity thrive. Healing isn’t linear, but every cycle builds your “casting anxiety” muscles. We close with a call to remember and celebrate progress; because looking back helps you see how far God has brought you, and celebration fuels hope. 

Subscribe, share with a friend who needs peace today, and tell us: What are you thankful for, and what’s your next step of faith?

 We’re so glad you’re here. 

In this quick pause, Melissa shares why Heart & Soul Elevation exists, how Stephanie's and Melissa's coaching work together beautifully, and what you can expect along the way. 

From time to time, we’ll pop in to invite you into things we’re creating - always as an invitation, never a sales pitch. 

Thanks for listening. You belong here. 

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Faith-First Framing
• 0:51 From Anxiety To Philippians 4
• 2:58 What Prayer Really Is
• 8:04 Anxiety As An Indicator, Not A Home
• 12:51 Gratitude, Action, And Casting Care
• 17:47 Prayer, Neuroscience, And Calm
• 22:45 Survival Brain, Choice, And Community

Transcript

Melissa: 0:03

Welcome to the Heart and Soul Elevation Podcast, where faith meets wellness and women learn to live aligned spirit, mind, and body. We're your hosts, Melissa Holman and Stephanie Pasniokis.

Stephanie: 0:16

Two Jesus-loving women passionate about helping you steward your health without losing sight of the one who gave it to you. Around here, healing happens in community. Scripture leads the way, and science simply confirms what God designed.

Melissa: 0:31

Let's elevate your heart and soul together.

Stephanie: 0:51

But okay, what okay, you're in it. We just the last episode, you were identifying it. You're sitting it, you asked God to reveal it to you. Now what? Um Philippians 4, 6 to 7. Um, be anxious. But in every situation, by prayer and and petition with thanksgiving, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. Yes. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. That peace that transcends all understanding. I honestly think that that's a triggering of our parasympathetic.

Melissa: 1:31

I agree. And it specifically says guards your hearts and your minds. Our heart is our sensing organ, right? We always that's our sensing organ here in the United States. Follow your heart, do what makes you happy. The heart is our sensing organ, and the mind makes sense of all of those senses that you're experiencing. Guards your heart and your mind. Yeah.

Stephanie: 1:59

Yeah. Our our our emotions and our logic, uh, or whatever you want to call. I also think of it in terms of our body, you know, our our heart, our blood pressure, right? It can be as as simple as all connected.

Melissa: 2:12

It's all connected.

Stephanie: 2:14

So yeah, um, and but I love taking this verse apart because we always forget a piece of it. Which piece is that? Uh prayer and petition and thanksgiving. So that piece in the middle, don't be anxious of anything, and the piece of God, you know, somehow gets we skip over. But in every situation, first pray, then ask, and give thanks. And you know, like I I there depend depends on the version. I like I always think of it as um in your prayer, start with thanks and then ask. Give it to him. Don't be anxious about it. You can worry about it. That isn't gonna change anything.

Melissa: 2:58

I mean, I've got a can we can we stop there? Can we can we stop there just real quick and talk about prayer? What the heck is prayer? I was actually having a conversation with my daughter uh several months ago and she was lamenting the fact that she hasn't prayed enough about a certain thing. And I said, Can I can I share something with you? And she says, Oh yes, please, mom. And I said, I really stink at praying. I am really bad at it because I feel like I am a wimpy kitty baby whiner. And if you know what movie that is from, I will give you mad props. I feel like a wimpy kitty baby whiner going to God and begging for things, and I know that's not what prayer is supposed to be. So can we talk about prayer? Like, what the heck is prayer? And I I I I cannot be the only one who feels this way.

Stephanie: 3:58

Oh, absolutely not. This has been a source of struggle or or or you know, for me for a long time because I I like your dog, like I felt like I I sucked at this, right? Because I wasn't down on my knees doing this at my bed at night.

Melissa: 4:12

Or or talk speaking in twist.

Stephanie: 4:14

Speaking in like I yeah, which I which I don't. And um, you know, I always thought I wish I I was like, that's I'd love to get that, but does that mean I'm not no? I just let's go. That's a separate thing. But I I talk to God all the time. I just kind of talk. I'm like, I'm driving and I'm like having conversations with God and I'll I'll start praying out loud, and all of a sudden I'll my mind will go somewhere else. And I'm like, oh yeah, I didn't even finish that. Um, but you know what? He knows the groanings of our spirit. That can be prayer, just not even knowing the words to come out of our mouth.

Melissa: 4:45

That's prayer. And I love that I love that we have an intercessor standing right before God, praying on our behalf when we don't know what to say.

Stephanie: 4:55

And translating our hearts, uh, you know, they just know. And so but but this is more for us, right? What are we asked to do here to not be anxious about anything? It doesn't mean never be anxious, I don't think. I because we and also it's just saying, because because anxiety is an indicator that something needs our attention. That's all. When we stew in it, and and again, this is my my kids gave me this. Worry is like a rocking chair, it'll give you something to do, but it won't get you anywhere. Yes. And I I and they gave this to me because I I've had such high anxiety and worry my entire life. And it was something I battled for so very many years. Even uh when I was um 11 and 12, my teachers were writing notes home about it. Uh it was something that my professors in college were concerned about. It's been it's been a problem my entire life. And it isn't until, you know, in the last eight or nine years where I've I've really started to to wrestle with that and and understand it. And finally, finally spend very, very little time there. But acknowledging that anxiety is uh is is is sort of like uh it's just like a little, hey, you gotta, there's something you gotta do, but don't stay in there, don't be anxious about it and do nothing with it and just stew in it. But by prayer and petition, going to God first thanking him, right? That gratitude, talk about an instant vibration raiser, right? It's hard to be thankful and afraid at the same time, right? It's uh immediately changing your spirit and mindset, right? First go to God and just recognize all of the good first, recognize the gain. Always recognize the gain first, then ask God. Help me, you know, it could be ask God to help me understand what I'm supposed to learn with this, what am I supposed to do with this? What is an action I can take? What's the next step that I need to do? How can I take this emotion and put it in motion? How do I take this emotion and put it in motion? How do you how can I do something with it? Because when you look at Jesus, he didn't stew in an emotion. There was all and and whether it was an anger, whether it was whatever it was, he had there was an action. It spurred him to some action at all times. And and and so what so we have our our job is to you know what goes along with this, cast our anxieties on on God. Right? He's strong, he can hold them, but but we can't do anything with them. We can but but with his help, right? With his help, yeah, we can do the things and have the wisdom and the discernment and the guidance from the Holy Spirit to know to do what we need to do, or trust, or trust that it is that it that he is gonna do that other thing, that he is gonna work all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose, right? These all go together as sort of a life um mantra for me. So, and the peace when we do this, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. It will put us into that parasympathetic mode where we can heal. But guess what else happens in that state? You know this, we get creative. Yes, there are possibilities. Possibilities open up.

Melissa: 8:38

Oh my gosh. Yes, yes, right. Tell me about it. So go go back to prayer for just a second, right? So, yes, everything you just said, yes, absolutely. But some of you might be listening and going, but I still don't get it. What is prayer about? I don't get it. I don't get it, I don't get it, I don't get it. I read a quantum physics book and it just helped me understand my faith so much more. Prayer is really just coming before the creator of the entire universe and connecting. We were designed for what uh community connection first with God, then with others. Uh and prayer is the way that we address the God of the universe and connect with him. That is literally what prayer is, right? It's yeah, it's not the genie in the bottle, which is what I always felt like. Like I'm just rubbing the little genie, trying to get what I need and what I think I want. Can't get if you don't ask. Um, ask and you will receive. Exactly.

Stephanie: 9:46

And we don't have because we don't ask.

Melissa: 9:48

Yeah. But the thing is, when when you do come before God in this way, realizing this is my opportunity to connect, thanksgiving. Right. Something else. We're we're connecting, we're thanking him really for who he is, what he's done. I mean, all you have to do is look around you to find something to be thankful about. And if you can't see something to be thankful about, contact one of us and we will help you. Absolutely. But find some find something to be thankful about because, like you said, that re raises the vibrational energy, not just in your body, uh, but in your entire sphere of influence. And it connects you with the quantum field, aka God. And the peace that passes understanding absolutely enters in because when you are praying, you are leaving. I know this sounds really woo-woo, but you're leaving this earthly realm and you are entering the heavenly realm. It is as if you are standing before the throne. And that peace that passes understanding will absolutely guard your heart and your mind because you're no longer here, you're there. Yeah, and it doesn't make any logical sense. I get that, but this is this is how it actually works. This is how it works.

Stephanie: 11:04

So, funny times, you know, I'm I'm I am going to go to science. I am going to pop over and say they did a study where they were looking at the brain activity of people in prayer. Yep. And you would think, if you were me and you were a neuroscientist and you were thinking about brains all the time, like I do, you would think that when somebody is actively praying, that certain parts of their brain are going to light up an activity. Uh-uh. Everything it's an inhibitory process. Everything calms down. It's amazing. It's it's absolutely insane. But then when you think about it, when you look at a verse like this, it makes so much sense because God is so cool. It's like he designed it that way. There was a plan. There was a plan, right? Um, that might be our tagline, right? There was a plan, faith first, but but but I'm telling you that prayer is amazing and it affects our physical body and our mind. Yeah. And it it's that connection with God. And when we recognize that he is the only one with any real control and that he has a plan, and that what good father, when his child asks for bread, is going to give him a stone, a fish, or you know, so was it bread or fish? I don't remember, but what? He won't. He knows every hair on our head. He who who who clothes the flowers of the field and feeds the sparrows, are we not more important? We are like, and I get it, not there, there is a lot of suffering in the world. There are times where we feel like those needs are not being met. And if that is is is you, let's let's talk there. There are so many resources, and sometimes when we're stuck in that bottle, we can't even see them. We can't see those resources.

Melissa: 13:02

Because and this is this, I'm always gonna go back to this. This is how our brains are designed. Our brain is designed for survival. It is it is designed to look for the worst case scenario all the time. It is designed to see the worst case scenario and come up with solutions for that all the time. We have to choose. We have to choose to see differently. We have to choose to work to get out of those ruts and create new neural pathways. Yeah, and and you always have that choice. Your choice is 100% in your sphere of control. That is in your weapons of control. But when we're stuck, when we're in that rut, it's like we've got those blinders on and we cannot see anything but what is right in front of us, no solutions to any problems. And again, that is why community is critical. Community and connection is critical because if I can't see a solution, I can call up Stephanie and go, I need help. And she can help me because we're in community together. Yes.

Stephanie: 14:05

And I mean, what does it say? Um, you know, when when when two are together and one stumbles, they can hold each other up, you know. And then it goes on to say even further that a cord of three strands can't be broken. They're talking about two people. Who's that third strand? Well, I think we know. Yeah, yeah. I think we know. Yeah, and and so we are meant to help each other up. We can't, no man is an island. We can't just do it all within ourselves. We can't always lift ourselves up out of the hole by ourselves, right?

Melissa: 14:35

We can't always. I mean, I'm I mean it honestly at this stage of my life, I I couldn't do it at all, like ever. So yeah. Physically, um physically.

Stephanie: 14:48

So um, so so truly, truly, truly. Um, you know, prayer doesn't have to look at like any any one thing. And sometimes you might feel like you're always asking, and then there are gonna be times where you're just always praying, and there are gonna be times where you're you're not asking for yourself, but you're interceding and that your heart is breaking for someone else, and you're gonna weep, and that's that's okay too. That's Jeremiah, man. That's lamentations. That's and that's and that's the weeping prophet. You know, that's the Holy Spirit, and He needs and bringing you in on a grand intercession. So there are times for all kinds of prayer, and those feelings are just as important. You know, it's okay to cry, it's okay to cry for yourself, it's okay to cry for someone else. But guess what? We get to do we get to go to God with that.

Melissa: 15:35

And you know, I love I love being able to go to him and just go, I have no idea. I have no idea.

Stephanie: 15:43

This is how I feel right now. I have no clue, but I don't know what to do next. I have no clue.

Melissa: 15:50

And what happens? He meets me right there. It is incredible, and you know why he meets me there? Because I have left the earthly realm and I am standing before the throne, and he is right there.

Stephanie: 16:58

And it's incredible, and how often has he left you there indefinitely without that next step, without that lamp unto your feet? Remember, you know, guys, you know that verse he's a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my light unto my path. Yep. Now I look at this, there's two ways, right? So back then they literally would put candle lamps on their ankles so they could only see the next step, and it would only light their next step. But when you look behind you, every you it might still be dark again, but every step you took along that path was lit. We don't see all the way ahead, and we don't need to see all the way ahead, just like we were talking about. Life isn't about balance, it's about harmony, and we just need to know in the next note. But we can't necessarily read the music on the next page or three stanzas down because if we started looking at that, we're gonna mess up this beautiful symphony that's supposed to be happening in our life right now. And sometimes it's gonna be and low and and and minor, and sometimes it's gonna be major, and that's the beauty of our life. It's not always just gonna be this calm and serene and beautiful, you know, boat fest, you know, everybody happy. That's just, you know, and come on, that would be boring, right? Absolutely, it would be boring. Sometimes we want board. Sometimes our life is in a space where we would we would uh you know beg for boring. And and guess what? It happens. I've looked at times in my life where I've I've said I've these daddy-daughter dinner dates every month with my dad, and I cherish them. And uh he's he's not only my my uh earthly father, but he's a brother in Christ. Um and he's a uh uh I look up to him and in faith. And I've had times in my life where I said, everything's going really well. I'm nervous about like he looks at me and I was like, he's like waiting for the other shoe to drop. And I'm like, yeah, I feel like I'm waiting for that. I like it's too good right now. And he goes, God doesn't drop shoes.

Melissa: 18:53

Absolutely, he does not drop shoes.

Stephanie: 18:54

So I've had periods of time where everything's great, and then I and then shortly after that, I had a big issue in my family, and I was like, Oh my gosh. I but he was preparing me and strengthening me for this time.

Melissa: 19:06

Well, and this time we're not meant to exist on the mountaintop. No, there's valleys, there's mountains, there's a path in between. We would never know what the mountaintop felt like if that's where we always lived.

Stephanie: 19:18

Exactly. And so that's a harmony, it's not about balance, it's not about always being at the mountaintop. It's not, but then I've had times where I just felt like I was neither here nor there. I was just kind of in the middle and it was just so quiet, and it was just one thing to the next, and it felt very bland. And and I and and the word that my pastor gave to me was endurance and perseverance. This is just a period of time where but think about it.

Melissa: 19:44

Have you ever been to the symphony? Right? It's not just constant music, it's not constant the the volume changes, the harmonies change. Sometimes you've got timpani, sometimes you've got woodwinds, and it's all these changes, and then sometimes it gets so quiet that you can barely hear it. And then it comes back in, and the expectation while it's so quiet is palpable in the room. And that's life, right? We go through uh periods of silence, we go through periods of loud, we go through nothing is nothing is straight. There's no straight path, right? Through life. Life is not linear, no, and and through it all, and it's not static. No, and healing is not linear either, right? I think we we would like for it to be.

Stephanie: 20:42

That well, that's been my when I say over my life, I've been struggling in and out of stress and anxiety. And even when my faith and my health and everything started to come up, and my I I you know, my whole entire Entire body and and and and mind were healed. I mean, I was very ill. And you've got a story of of past illness that was prof profound in mine as well. And coming out of that, but yet and I thought, well, everything's great now. But then I still struggled with stress and anxiety. And I'm like, but I thought that I thought I was all better. And it was just, you know, but it's it's you know, we things come back, things come back. And and I think the enemy finds new angles to try to come in at. And guess what? Every single time you're challenged in those ways, you get to come out stronger. That's just like when you work out at a gym and you slowly increase those weights and you're building muscle. Yep. I built my casting anxiety muscles.

Melissa: 21:42

Well, and think and my prayer muscles. If you think about where we are right now today and you look back five years, where were you? 10 years, where were you? 15 years, where were you? I mean, like God tells us to remember because he knows we're forgetful, right? So taking time to look back and like you say, oh my gosh, another thing that we just found out about each other that's that's like, oh my gosh, you two. I'm not a big journal journaler either. I don't like to look back. I just want to stay focused on the future. Me too. But it's but he tells us to remember, and he tells us to remember for a very good reason. Because if we cannot look back, we cannot celebrate how far we've come. Absolutely. You cannot see the gain. You have to have a starting point. We have to have a starting point, and celebration is just critical for your well-being.

Stephanie: 22:35

Okay, and that is another episode, maybe the next one, because I don't know about any of you out there, but when we're always in this serving mode and we're nurturing, can I just tell you that I've got this list of things to do and I check them off and I forget to celebrate. I I suck at celebrating. Um, I was just talking to my friend today about it. Uh, and I don't know if you need help with celebrating, but I think we just need to have an episode where we're talking about how do we celebrate the good. How do we celebrate? What does celebration look like?

Melissa: 23:04

Because it is a critical piece of wellness, and it's a critical piece of what God has told us to do.

Stephanie: 23:11

Yeah. And how do we celebrate as individuals? Everybody's gonna have their different the different your your your celebration may look it's gonna look different than my celebration, right? And so accepting that. Maybe, maybe not.

Melissa: 23:23

I mean, I don't know. We're finding out things about each other, it might be exactly the same.

Stephanie: 23:27

We might celebrate the same, but maybe one of our listeners is not one of our new community here is not, it doesn't resonate with what I find is celebrating. And I have found recently that I am judging my celebration and that I'm thinking that I'm not celebrating because my celebration doesn't look like somebody else's. And I'm still since this is something that I'm working through myself right as we go. I would love to have this conversation.

Melissa: 23:49

Yes, and that is actually in my wheelhouse.

Stephanie: 23:52

So excellent. Um, and uh yeah, we'll tag team on our on our wheelhouses, um, no doubt. But thank you so much for this wonderful, wonderful episode and conversation. Yes. So what is that? What are we asking our community for today? What are we asking them to do? What is their action step? Because nothing is just, you're not just consuming, you're part of the community. It's action, interaction, connection. What are you taking away today? What what did you learn for yourself about prayer? What is something you're thankful for? What is something you need to cast away, to give up, to ask um God to help you trust Him with.

Melissa: 24:37

And uh to close out this episode, why don't we do the thing that we're telling people that they need to do? Father God, we just thank you so much for this opportunity to come here to share who you are with the people who have found this podcast. And we just give you all the glory, all the honor, all the praise, all the worship. We sing holy, holy, holy right along with the angels at your throne. And we give you every single accolade. They all belong to you. Amen. Amen. Thanks for joining us for today's conversation on heart and soul elevation.

Stephanie: 25:21

If this episode encouraged you, be sure to share it with a friend.

Melissa: 25:24

Remember that healing happens in community. Be sure to subscribe for more faith-first conversations. And if you're desiring more community, come join us over on YouTube where we grow together in real time. Until then, keep your eyes on Jesus, care for the body he gave you, and may his peace guard your heart and mind.