The Dr. Josh Axe Show - These 3 Ancient Habits Are Secretly the Best Health Hacks

Starting point is 00:00:00 Over the past several years, there's been a resurgence in people focusing on spiritual growth in order to improve their physical health. Both in the Eastern sense and in the biblical sense, practices like meditation have really taken off because people are realizing that our spiritual and mental health has a big impact on our physical health. And things like this are praised by biohackers, influencers, and even medical doctors who are now talking about how to build peace, how to build spiritual and mental health, via practices that are talked about in the Bible and other ancient texts. But here's the thing. Many people today

Starting point is 00:00:41 aren't doing meditation correctly, prayer correctly, or fasting correctly in order to achieve the results they're looking to achieve. And on today's episode, I'll be diving into how you can pray, how you can take part in things like communion, how you can meditate, and even practice fasting the way the early church did and the way the ancient physicians like Hippocrates recommended. And in this episode, I'll cover how to fast, pray, take communion, and meditate for spiritual and physical health. Welcome to the Dr. Josh Jack Show.

Starting point is 00:01:33 So I'll tell you, one thing I am always conscious of is growth. You know, I remember watching this lecture from famous psychologist Jordan Peterson, and he talked about what it takes for us to be actually happy. And he said, one of the things he saw, all in the psychological literature was, if somebody is growing, getting better in life, whether it be in their career, in their relationships, in their spiritual life, if you are growing, it leads to a state of more fulfillment and joy versus if you are stagnant or you go backwards morally or physically in an area, it tends to cause a level of depression and anxiety. And so much of what we do today,

Starting point is 00:02:13 we tend to set goals for our life, maybe physical goals. I want to lose 20 pounds or I want to get off this medication. Or you might be setting goals for your wealth and finances of, hey, we want to pay off all of our debt or buy a home. But very few people set goals or really focus on how to grow spiritually. And I can tell you from working with tens of thousands of patients over the years, probably the single greatest area where people are lacking today that's impacting them their physical health. is their spiritual health. I believe over 50% of medical conditions today,

Starting point is 00:02:49 what's contributing to 50% of health problems is spiritual unwellness, moral failures, living with shame and guilt, childhood trauma, not having enough faith and belief in the right things. These things breed, worry, anxiety, anger, and depression. And so if we can really align our will with will of God. If we can really focus on growing deep spiritually, loving God, loving our neighbor,

Starting point is 00:03:20 making earth the heavenly place, living out our purpose, using our God-giving gifts to impact the world in the most meaningful way possible, we become full of joy and purpose and a sense of identity. And I can tell you, when I first got into practice, the fastest growing conditions were things like childhood obesity, autism, metabolic conditions like diabetes, autoimmune, disease, hypothyroidism, low testosterone, those are the fastest growing conditions. However, over the last five to ten years, the fastest growing conditions have been depression, anxiety. And I see this with a lot of kids' identity issues. Okay. And so what I'm going to do today is really dive into these benefits of how you can fast, how you can pray, how you can meditate and take part in communion to restore your

Starting point is 00:04:09 physical health and be healthy spiritually. You know, Paul says, somewhere in Corinthians. He says, listen, run to win the race. Whatever you're doing, give it your all. But he also says something like this. Physical health, exercise, that has some value. But the greatest value is becoming more like Christ, growing spiritually, right? So many of us are focused on our physical health or we're focused on our wellness and our health. But many of us are not focused enough on growing spiritual. And that's what I'm going to get into today. I'm going to start off with the biblical benefits of fasting and how fasting was actually done in the Bible.

Starting point is 00:04:49 You know, today the most popular form of fasting is intermittent fasting. However, that wasn't the most popular form of fasting in the Bible and throughout ancient history. And so I'll hit on that here, which is pretty amazing. In fact, it's my favorite way of fasting. I like it even more than intermittent fasting. But fasting in the Bible was seen as a form of repentance, clarity, and connection with God, it sort of showed, you know what, God, you are my source, not food. The bread of life is my food, not physical bread.

Starting point is 00:05:17 And it was done to seek God's guidance, express repentance, and also just prepare for significant events in life in new seasons that somebody was heading into. You know, Moses fasted for 40 days on Mount Sinai. And then he came down Mount Sinai with the 10 commandments. these 10 commandments that have completely shaped and transformed civilization came after he fasted. Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness right before he began his ministry for three years before his crucifixion and his resurrection. Esther fasted before approaching the king and saved her entire people group.

Starting point is 00:06:04 So fasting was seen so much in the Bible when somebody fasted and person fasted and prayed and experienced breakthrough. In fact, there's a time where Jesus tells his disciples who are trying to pray and exercise demons and heal people. And he said, listen, this type of healing or this sort of demonic rebuke can only take part with prayer, but also in fasting. And so we see fasting in the Bible as something that does support physical health, if done correctly, but also even more than that, spiritual breakthrough, breakthrough in wealth, breakthrough and relationships, just breakthrough in your life. In fact, if you're looking for a life breakthrough somewhere, fasting biblically is probably the single greatest thing along with taking other steps

Starting point is 00:06:50 of faith in terms of experience of breakthrough. You know, early Christians, here's how they fasted, and here's my favorite way of fasting. They would fast either one day or some people two days a week. It was either both Wednesday and Friday or Wednesdays and Fridays. They would fast until 3 p.m. And this tradition dates back to the Didiqi, which, by the way, is one of the early Christian writings outside of the Bible. It might be the earliest Christian writing. So you had the Bible and you had the apostles and you had Paul and possibly some other people like Apollo writing part of the New Testament. And then right after that, we have the apostles potentially or the people the apostles taught her wrote the Didiqe. And these are a series of writings about what the early Christian.

Starting point is 00:07:39 life was like. And so, and they talk in there about this type of fasting. And on Wednesdays, they fast because it commemorated Jesus' betrayal. And Friday remembered his crucifixion. And this was often a partial fast from sunup to late afternoon or even sundown. And so again, here's what this fast is. It's taking one day a week, either a Wednesday or a Friday, and you skip breakfast and lunch and you just eat dinner. But during breakfast, and lunch during that time when you would normally be eating, you're spending time with God in reading his word, in praise, in prayer, in meditation, but you're spending time there, relying on God as your source and sacrificing those meals for God. This is something actually I

Starting point is 00:08:27 had done for years when I ran my full-time practices. I would take Wednesdays, and I did this because I'd read this in a book and I thought, you know, I really want to honor God with my week and I want to practice this type of fasting. And so a lot of times people think, well, I need to fast every day for benefits or do a really long fast. Really one day a week, just skipping breakfast and lunch, still eating dinner. And listen, I think you can still have things like herbal tea, maybe even sip on something like bone broth if you want to. But overall, it's staying away from any significant amount of food in order to really honor God with that time. And by the way, there are so many physical health benefits of taking that.

Starting point is 00:09:03 And think about this. If you just skip breakfast and lunch one day a week, okay? That's 52 fast you're doing over the course of a year. That's incredible. You fasted 52 days in a single year by taking one day and not eating breakfast and lunch and spending a little bit an extra maybe, you know, 15 minutes the morning, 30 minutes in the midday, just reading your Bible and in prayer. That creates breakthrough.

Starting point is 00:09:29 It creates physical health. There are loads of benefits there. You know, probably the most popular fast day. is the Daniel fast, and it's a partial fast inspired by the biblical figure of Daniel based on Daniel 112 and Daniel 1013, and it typically lasts for either 21 days or 10 days, and it involves abstaining from foods like animal products, anything sweetened, leavened breads, and alcohol as a form of spiritual discipline and devotion to God. And so most of the time people will eat predominantly fruits and vegetables as their main source of

Starting point is 00:10:03 food. And they might also have a few grains and nuts and seeds in there too, but that tends to be the predominant part of the diet in doing that for either 10 days or 21 days as Daniel did in the book. And we know that the book of Daniel is amazing, an amazingly prophetic book that still has relevance today. All the books of the Bible, of course, do. But it really is an incredible book where during this time, Daniel abstains from this food that was sacrificed to idols. And they say that he looked more healthy him and his companions, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo, during that time. And they excelled in their physical health because of it. And, you know, these animal products, who knows what they were, they were sacrificed to a, I believe, to the God bail. But overall, also, I mean, who knows,

Starting point is 00:10:51 they might have been fatted up with grains and be like modern meat today as well. So overall, it's, you know, fasting in the Bible. We know the Daniel fasting being a very popular fast. And by the way, I do think that can be a great fast to do. you know, once a year. No, I don't recommend abstaining from meat year round. I think it's incredibly unhealthy for most people. However, for a 10-day or 21-day period, I think it can be fine for many people. And I do want to mention there is a study that was published in the Nutrition and Metabolism Journal. It found a 21-day Daniel Fast led to significant reductions in oxidative stress and antioxidant status. So lots of benefits there, because if you're following the Daniel

Starting point is 00:11:28 fast the right way, where you're doing things like olives. You're doing vegetables. You're doing fruits. These are food in certain nuts like walnuts and pecans. These foods are really high in polyphenols and antioxidants. So there are loads of benefits. So if you do a Daniel fast, again, lots of vegetables, lots of low glycemic fruits like berries, pomegranates, and apples.

Starting point is 00:11:52 And that should be the basis of your diet. And then you could also include a little bit of like whole grains like maybe millet or quinoa and then maybe some nuts and seeds like walnuts, and extra virgin olive oil, avocados, and coconut flesh. Like if you follow a doubt like that and drink herbal tea throughout the day, maybe some green tea and other teas,

Starting point is 00:12:16 I mean, you are going to experience some great health benefits in cleansing and your body getting rid of something called senescent cells, which can really help your body heal and reverse the aging process. So loads of benefits there if the Daniel Fast is done the right way. However, again, of that vegetarian-based plan is not ideal beyond that limited time period. So I want to take a

Starting point is 00:12:37 moment and walk you through some of these studies that prove the benefits of fasting. One, there's a one-year study that found that fasting of any type lowers blood pressure, both diastolic and systolic blood pressure. This is a 2019 study. And another study found that it reduced insulin levels in blood sugar. Another one, it reduced oxidative stress. Another study found that it helped with cellular cleanup by boosting atopathy. And it said fasting triggers the body's deep cleaning process called autophagy, which removes damaged cells and supports cell renewal. And even supports mitochondria, your body creating more energy long term.

Starting point is 00:13:16 There's another study found that it raises brain-derived neutropic factor, which helps strengthen neurons, increases your memory and your learning potential. So overall healing the brain. In fact, one trial found this is a 30-day study found. that fasting increased serum BDNF by 43%. This is the brain-derived neutropic factor, which is a protein that's critical for brain function. And then overall brain resilience. Here's another big one.

Starting point is 00:13:46 There's a study found that it raises human growth hormone and promotes fat burning. So it boosts something called HGH in the body. That's human growth hormone. And it boosted it dramatically. In fact, even up to 10fold after periods of 37 plus. hours. So we see fasting can be good for your body hormonally, more for men than women in most cases. But here's the thing. I just want to, and by the way, one more study. It also supports weight loss and fat loss. Another study, it reduces C-reactive protein, so it reduces inflammation.

Starting point is 00:14:19 So loads and loads of benefits there are fasting. So really, if you're going to fast, here's what to consider. By the way, I want to mention one other thing. Fasting done in the Old Testament and the New Testament, all the apostles and Jesus did this as well. It was done around certain feasts and holidays. Now, this is something I'll just share with my own sort of theological perspective. This is something that I don't know. I don't believe that we were meant to do away with celebrating all of the Jewish feasts. So here's what I mean.

Starting point is 00:14:52 I believe that there's a potential that we should still be honoring those today, but in light of Jesus Christ. Okay. So in the Passover that the Jews celebrate, I think there's an argument to make that we should be, now we have Easter and it's on a different date. There's some history behind that I want to get into. But basically, we're doing a very similar thing, but doing it in light of Jesus being the Passover lamb. And somebody could argue that's what Easter is in particular. But I would say something similar to that. But we also have the feast of first fruits where Jesus was that or the feast. to tabernacles, you know. So I think that there are a lot of different feasts that we could still be honoring today in fasting around and feasting around, but doing it in light of Christ being both symbolically and in reality the fulfillment of those things. And so anyways, that's just sort of a

Starting point is 00:15:51 personal, you know, sort of, you know, theological thought. But I would say there, there is potential there that I think that us doing away with kind of this seasonal fasting. Now, I will say certain Protestant denominations in the majority of the Catholic and Orthodox Church do still practice Lent. And what Lent is is sort of this sacrificing our addictions, our comforts sometimes. People will fast as part of that of Lent. So I think that's a great sort of spiritual practice that sort of mirrors what was done during the Old Testament time period. So overall, though, here's the thing. I think God has created us to live a life of sacrifices, Jesus sacrificed. And one of the greatest sacrifices we can make is food. I can tell you, I did a 21 day fast once.

Starting point is 00:16:40 And it was a Daniel fast of pretty much only eating fruits and vegetables. That was it. And by the way, I lost like 20 pounds. I didn't need to lose 20 pounds. I did. But I really felt like God was calling me to do that. And I will tell you, it was very hard. you know, fasting for 21 days and I've done other long fast. And for me, again, it's, it's difficult. I think for everyone, it's difficult. But again, I think it taught me to, it taught me how addicted I was, even a way to food or how much sustenance I get from that. And it kind of brought to me a more awareness of when the Bible talks, Jesus is the bread of life, right? You think of sort of the ancient times, that was probably the greatest source of carbohydrates and nourishment.

Starting point is 00:17:27 they had on a regular basis. And so sort of what that, you know, what that truly means. But when it comes to fasting, here's what I would challenge you to do. And I would say this as well, many women that I work with who have hypothyroidism, PCOS, infertility, menopausal issues. I don't, I oftentimes don't recommend that they fast doing the intermittent fasting where they're maybe doing it like only eating lunch and dinner and not eating skipping breakfast. I think hormonally for women, it's much harder on the body.

Starting point is 00:18:00 I do think doing it one day a week could work and be beneficial. And maybe you're doing some herbal tea and some bone broth during that time or only doing, basically doing it one day a week. I think that that would be fine for most women. But I think doing it every day for most people is just too much. However, again, I think men metabolically tend to do better because they're not having the hormone fluctuations as well. women have. And so I think men can typically do more intermittent fasting than women and do it healthily. Here's the thing. I believe God created everyone uniquely. And you need to listen to your body and the

Starting point is 00:18:35 Holy Spirit guiding you when it comes to fasting. And so I say for most people taking one day a week, like a Wednesday or Friday, just skipping breakfast and lunch, but eating a healthy dinner, that's probably the number one in my favorite way to fast. After that, it can be, you know, doing seasonal fasting. Now, I do like intermittent fasting in a way where you're cutting down your eating window to 10 hours where maybe you're eating breakfast a little late like 9 a.m. You're eating lunch around 1 p.m. and an early dinner at 5 p.m. You can sort of eat then within a nine hour window or 10 hour window, but condensing it more than that where you're only eating twice a day. I don't think that's ideal for many women specifically in their metabolisms.

Starting point is 00:19:17 So I want to encourage you, you know, fast one day a week, maybe fast seasonally if you're healthy enough to do it. By the way, I just want to throw that out there as well. If somebody who was sick or ill in the Bible, oftentimes those people did not take part in fasting. Pregnant women did not take part in fasting in the same way. Women that were nursing didn't always take fasting. So just know, when it says these people were fasting in the Bible, it doesn't mean that necessarily every single person, people that ill were. So if you've got a major medical condition, it just may not be the right season for you

Starting point is 00:19:49 to take part in fasting in the same way. I remember myself and my wife Chelsea and Jordan Rubin and Nikki Rubin, we were praying for a breakthrough in business. And so we decided as a couple. And I believe also some friends of ours in our company, President Cole and Amanda did this with us as well. But we ended up all getting together, getting on a prayer call and just praying and saying, we're all going to fast together this day. So we fasted a full day and spent time praying together. And it's been remarkable how any time we've done this, that and pursued the Lord and asked for his supernatural provision and intervention, something

Starting point is 00:20:29 miraculous happened or didn't happen. But then later on, we're like, thank God it didn't happen. And he must have worked something out to where the door was closed. So all that being said, if you need a breakthrough in your life, fasting, seeking God for his support is such a powerful thing. Most people have no idea that the pan they used for breakfast this morning, may have released the same forever chemicals found in contaminated drinking water. In fact, U.S. poison centers reported 267 cases last year of people getting sick from the toxic fumes released by their nonstick pans. That's why I want to tell you about 360 cookware. They make premium stainless steel cookware that's free of toxins like PFAs, PTFEs, and PFOAs, no chemical coatings, just pure, high quality steel.

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Starting point is 00:22:08 for your meals, for your health, and for your peace of mind. Let's now talk about communion, and it's what I call the meal that heals. By the way, after this, I'm going to dive much deeper into and give you my hot take on why modern mindfulness and meditation practices may actually be hurting you and what to do instead. But before we get into meditation and prayer, I do want to talk about communion. And here's what it is. The word communion comes from the Latin communio, which means shared participation or common union. Okay. It's a sacred Christian tradition meant to honor Jesus' sacrifice, based on his words during the Last Supper in Luke 22, 19 through 20.

Starting point is 00:22:57 And here's what those verses say. And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them saying, this is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And in the same way, after the supper, he took the cup saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. You know, this bread represents his body broken for us. The wine or the grape juice represents his blood shed for the forgiveness of our sins.

Starting point is 00:23:31 And when you take communion, you reflect inwardly and connect outwardly with a larger spiritual family. You know, I believe that communion isn't just a symbolic practice. I believe that things that are beyond our understanding, even supernatural happen when we take communion. And, you know, I think there's also a level of sort of, and by the way, I think that an argument could be made for that, even from modern psychology standpoint, I'll give you example of this. You know, there's some great research around if you believe a food is healthy for you, it will be healthier for you. If you believe something is high calorie, you'll be full. If you believe it's low calorie, you'll be hungry, even if it has the same amount of calorie. So our belief and our faith in something actually can part, in part, dictate the way it impacts our bodies.

Starting point is 00:24:28 So there is sort of modern science that proves this. But I think overall, when you take communion, there is something metaphysical that's happening in your body. You know, and again, I think there is a combination of both symbolic things that are happening that we can meditate on and physical things that are happening via the spiritual world. And so number one, I think the benefit of communion is it's spiritual nourishment. It reminds us that just as the body needs food, the soul needs connection with Christ. And so I think that when I eat the bread, when I take communion, by the way, number one way I take this is by going to my local church. and doing a service. And whether you are Protestant or Catholic or Orthodox, I think this is something all of us share together is this incredible thing that happens when we take communion as the body

Starting point is 00:25:21 of Christ and sort of connecting us all together in this remembrance of our Savior. And so I think that there's a level of spiritual nourishment. So next time you take communion, really think about Jesus' body as you read about in the Gospels, in the resurrection. his body broken, that that was all done for you specifically. And his brokenness leads to our healing and our wholeness. And so just really meditating upon that and his body being, when you're taking a bite of that bread, you are literally in a way consuming or accepting what Jesus did for you.

Starting point is 00:26:00 The other thing is cleansing and renewal. It reinforces forgiveness, grace, and a fresh start. And then also, I think when you're doing the wine, you're thinking about, to me, there's a level there of sort of that sacrifice that was taken place as well for us. And also taking communion, it's an act of obedience as the Bible calls us to have. It's a way of honoring Jesus command to do this and remembrance of me. You know, one other thing I think about when I think about the last supper is that it was a meal that was meaningful. It was a small intentional gathering, Jesus eating with his disciples

Starting point is 00:26:39 in a setting of trust, intimacy, reflection. You know, we're also seeing there, you know, you have the apostle John who calls himself the apostle that Jesus loved, leaning back against him. So you kind of see this element of great intimacy and love and deep connection there during that meal. You know, the longest study on health

Starting point is 00:27:04 on longevity done today is done by Harvard. It's about 90 years now. And the number one factor in someone being healthy, long term, having longevity was having a really strong sense of family and friends support. So having friends and family that are really, there's intimacy, there's, you're fighting for one another, there's, there's that support. And that's what I see here. You know, there's another study I read on family dinners.

Starting point is 00:27:34 on how if you want to raise up great kids, maybe the single greatest thing you can do. In terms of just a general, one of the things that was foundational at least, was doing family dinners. I think it was at least three days a week, but seven days a week or more was ideal in terms of doing a family meal.

Starting point is 00:27:53 And it could be a family dinner. It could be brunch on the weekends. Those all count. But really to where you're connecting as a family, there's intimacy, there's talk about meaningful things there. I had my best friend growing up was Jewish. They had this incredible practice during Thanksgiving.

Starting point is 00:28:11 Everybody would be around the Thanksgiving table. And before everyone ate, which by the way, this is a great idea in some sense and it was very long in another sense is everybody would go around and say what they were thankful for. Now, there's typically like 20 people there. So it was very long. And some people kept it short, but some people would really just, I mean, you know, share things that they maybe had a hard time to their year. I remember the year that one of the years that I was there, somebody had, I think he was maybe even in prison for six months because he had a DUI or something like that. And he ended up just sobbing and just saying, thank you for the support and love. And I mean, everybody went around and shared this is what and everybody, nobody kind of like threw it off or made it a joke necessarily.

Starting point is 00:28:53 I mean, there might have been a few jokes in there. But generally people said, this is what I'm truly thankful for. And everybody was crying and hugging. and it was such a meaningful time. And I think about that's part of what certain meals. This isn't done every day, but what it should look like in terms of how can I create a meal where there's greater intimacy with others

Starting point is 00:29:14 and honoring Jesus during that time as well. You know, when I had my spinal infection and I was just so, so sick, and when we've had other major, major health issues, we have done communion at our home. So again, number one place we do is in our church. but also we would do this at home. And so we would get either some wine or grape juice and, you know, break off a piece of

Starting point is 00:29:37 sourdough bread. And Chelsea and I would say, Lord, like, we accept your body broken for us. And we would read Luke and your blood shed for us. And by your stripes, I am healed. And I would receive that healing for my spine or someone else for an injury or if we were praying for somebody. But we would do that as an act of healing. my mother-in-law is something that really turned us on to doing that for for healing and and so that's

Starting point is 00:30:05 another way you can take communion is by brinking bread drinking wine and actually doing that in your home or amongst other other other Christians in that same way so again there are numerous benefits of communion but i think the thing to keep in mind is one doing it regularly at your church when you do it truly remember and think about the bread in the blood And what that is, when you take that, that you are following, you're being obedient to Christ, and something is happening inside you, a healing, a change in what's happening there. And I think you can also do it on your own at home as a form of healing as well in remembrance of Christ and his body and his blood and what he did for us.

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Starting point is 00:31:44 And one other thing I wanted to mention, too, we're in this sort of digital age where so much of what we do is online. But there's also tremendous benefits of just attending a religious service in the first place. And whether it's church or mass, whatever you're going to, or growth. group. There are so many benefits for your physical health, for your mental health. In fact, studies show you have a reduced risk of death when you are attending a religious service regularly. Studies show religious people live longer. And this is from a Harvard University. Here's what they said when it comes to attending religious services. It says people who attend religious services at least once a week were significantly less likely to die from deaths of

Starting point is 00:32:30 despair, including deaths related to suicide, drug overdose, and alcohol poisoning, according to the study. Other benefits of congregating and going to religious services like church or mass are reduce risk of depression and anxiety, greater social support and resilience, lower blood pressure and longer lifespan. In fact, a 2016 study published in the Journal of American Medical Association found that women who attended religious services more than once a week had a third. 33% lower risk of dying during that period. Another study published in the PLOS One journal found that religious churchgoers were 55% less likely to die in the following 18 years to non-churchgoers.

Starting point is 00:33:15 And I believe there's a few reasons for that. One, you're getting spiritual nourishment. That's spiritual growth, love, connection, the fruits of the spirit are so healing to us physically. But there's also a sense of purpose and community that has. happens there, a greater sense of identity, that when we have great spiritual health, it tends to also lead to better physical health. Now, the Bible talks pretty consistently about fasting. And it also references communion, as we talked about. But more than anything, the Bible talks about

Starting point is 00:33:49 for our own health and wellness, the power of prayer. You know, prayer from a scientific standpoint, we know via the medical literature. It activates the parasympathetic nerve system known as your rest or digest state, gets you out of that fight or flight state. It slows breathing. It lowers your heart rate. It improves your mood. So there are loads and loads of scientific benefits today that modern studies prove

Starting point is 00:34:17 have benefits of prayer for our physical health. And there are other studies that prove the benefits of prayer. A 2017 study found that daily prayer significantly reduced stress and improved mood and hospitalized patients. Prayer was found to help boost compassion for yourself and others. So it actually helped you grow in character, also helped you defend against the negative effects of stress and enhance your coping mechanisms, lowering stress.

Starting point is 00:34:43 Another study found that when health care workers prayed for sick patients, 85% of patients found it helpful for their healing. So we see that there are these benefits of prayer that are talked about in the Bible. But beyond that, here's what prayer truly is. Prayer is talking and having a conversation with God, your Heavenly Father. And it's really a two-way communication. It's both you speaking to God and you listening for that still small, conscious voice that can lead you, guide you, love you, and work for your good. You know, I had a friend of mine who, and by the way, this tends to be a lot of people. I think, you know,

Starting point is 00:35:27 You know, when I think about, so growing up, half of my family was Protestant and half of my family was Catholic. Okay, my dad came from a Catholic background, my mom from a Protestant background. And when they got married, my mom was like, okay, you need to become Protestant or we're not getting married anyways. That's a whole another discussion. But, and by the way, so, but my growing up, my grandmother, I had two incredibly religious grandparents. one was my grandfather who was Protestant and he was the most spiritually nourishing person maybe to this day I've ever met I mean he was a sort of man he was a World War II veteran he would go to the hospital weekly he he volunteered at church to go to the hospital once a week and he would

Starting point is 00:36:13 bring somebody their favorite meal I remember they would be in bed and he would put his hand on their hand or shoulder and he would pray for them just powerful prayers and I would go with my because I would sometimes go live up there in the summers and help him out and take part in that. And to me, it was one of the greatest spiritual experiences I've ever had to the state. And so I had incredibly incredibly, and my grandfather was like a big Billy Graham fan and just an amazing man. And then I had my grandmother who was Catholic, who was a very devout Catholic. She was constantly praying for other people and was just very religious but also service-oriented. in a good way. And so, so I got to see really sort of somebody who is really virtuous on,

Starting point is 00:36:59 from the Catholic faith and somebody from the Protestant on both sides of my family. And in here, I want to share a couple, couple aspects when it comes to just prayer and thoughts about religion when it comes to this. One, I today, by the way, think a lot of what, I lean Protestant, but I don't really necessarily say I am, you know, Catholic or Protestant or or Orthodox because I really believe there's a lot of things that are both right or missed in some of these things. I'll give you an example of this. I think Protestantism really forgot the saints. I think that the Bible talks about honoring and thinking about the saints. These are people we should be modeling our lives after. And so really not honoring or talking about them. I would say

Starting point is 00:37:43 the same thing with Mary. The Protestant Church should be speaking more and thinking about Christ's mother and Mary. So I think that there are things, and even being more intentional about these rituals, I think that the Protestant Church is missing something by not having lent and a number of, and repentance in a number of things. But the reason why I lean towards the spirit of prodotism is that relationship is put before ritual. It is the most important thing that I've experienced in terms of me having a strong, deep, intimate relationship with Christ. To me, that is the biggest driving factor. And so relationships should feed ritual, not ritual, relationship, but some people can get away with the other. The thing, and so that's been my

Starting point is 00:38:35 opinion. And so, and I'll give you example of this, I had a friend who grew up. I think he had one parent that was Catholic, another that was Lutheran, and he was very much, he had tended to did a number of worship things, but he never really felt connected with God. It would be like if you were in a relationship, but the relationship was dead. Do you know what I'm talking about? If you ever been in a relationship, you just don't connect with a person, you don't feel like you understand them. There's just real no, you might be together or you go through the motions, but there's

Starting point is 00:39:05 really no strong sense of, I love this person or I even like this person. There's no love there. There's no connection or intimacy. And that's what his relationship was like with God. but so he would pray and do certain things, and it was very cold. And amazing man, by the way, guy attended West Point.

Starting point is 00:39:23 I mean, talking about a 10 out of 10, like virtuous, amazing guy. And I remember having a conversation with him. And I said, Kyle, you know what? I know that you go through all these rituals in attending this mass and some of the things you're doing. But I really want to encourage you to know that just like you, you and I are connecting right now.

Starting point is 00:39:42 That's how we connect with God, you know, in terms of, you're pouring out your heart and soul. He hears everything you have to say. If you listen, you'll hear via your conscious that still small voice. And for him, I said, listen, the thing I kept saying over again, remember this. It's a relationship.

Starting point is 00:39:59 It's a relationship. It's a relationship. It's a relationship. You are building a true relationship. Like you and I have a relationship. Like you have a relationship eventually with your spouse, with your mom now, like that. Part of the reason I think he was cold as well is he had a father that was in the military. and so his dad was cold and hard to him.

Starting point is 00:40:19 And probably, you know, and I can share this as well. I had a family member who his father never told him he loved him. And it was very cold, very hard as well, strict. And so there was not that sense of love. And so he thought or felt like God was similar to his father and he never felt connected to his father in that same way either. So all that being said, I think that when it comes to prayer, remember, it's a relationship. Cancer, dementia, heart disease, they're coming for so many people.

Starting point is 00:40:51 And it's not just because of what most people think, which is that it's bad luck or bad genetics. The truth is your daily choices are either creating health or setting the stage for disease and your doctor is probably reading your blood work all wrong. They're missing the cellular issues behind the symptoms. I'm currently offering a simple at-home blood test that actually test for the right things. And just as importantly, it comes with proper interpretation of the results. This new test flips the script. The future of interpreting test results is here.

Starting point is 00:41:25 If you want to check it out and grab one before they're gone, just go to mybloodwork.com now. So I want to share with you how my grandfather taught me to pray. Here's what he told me. He said, Josh, when you're praying, if you're getting down in your hands and knees, imagine that Jesus is sitting in a chair right next to you or on the bed. So I would get down to my hands and knees and lean up against my bed. And I would imagine Jesus, he's sitting right there on me and he's got his hand on me. So that's how I would pray and think about it.

Starting point is 00:41:53 And then my grandfather encouraged me to use one of two acronyms, acts that's a CTS or pray. I want to share what those are. Axes, adoration, confession, Thanksgiving, and supplication. So adoration is sort of speaking out who God is. And so you're sort of aligning your prayer with making sure that you know who. who God is. God, you are good. There's no one like you. You are the alpha and the omega. You are my father. You are, you know, in recognizing Jesus, you know, thank you for your sacrifice for me. So there's this adoration of getting into this state of awe and wonder and being blown away

Starting point is 00:42:33 that you have a God who created the entire universe, who knows you to the very hair on your head, who knows everything about you, who's constantly working things out for your good. So there's this adoration of praise of, I recognize God, who you are. This really aligns with A.W. Tozer who said, the most important thing about you is your belief about God. So it's really saying, and this also helps someone like my friend Kyle, who, again, had a cold father. But then now he's recognizing that he has a perfectly loving and compassion and intimate father. So it's adoration for acts. See his confession.

Starting point is 00:43:07 God, I am so sorry when I was unkind to that customer service representative yesterday. I'm so sorry that I lost the cool with my kids. I'm like like it's repentance. It's confession. So number one's adoration to his confession, confessing our sins. Number three is Thanksgiving. God, thank you for my amazing wife. Thank you for my two daughters.

Starting point is 00:43:28 Thank you for healing me. I'm in the process of healing. Thank you. Right. And then supplication is making your requests known to God. God, I could really use help this week. I've got this work thing coming up and this challenge. God, my daughter's been struggling with, you know, tonsillitis or ADHD or, hey, would, I'm

Starting point is 00:43:51 praying for healing for her and her body, right? So that's acts. It's adoration. It's confession. It's Thanksgiving. It's supplication. And then there's another acronym, which is very similar called pray, which is start off with praising gratitude, praising God for who he is and for what he's done for you. Two is repent. Three is ask. for is yield, which really aligns with the Lord's prayer. Yield is a sense of surrender. Say, God, I'm praying for these things. But I surrender my life. I surrender my kids' lives. I surrender my plans for your plans. Thigh will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So pray is another great acronym of praise, repent, ask, and yield there as well. So I want to encourage

Starting point is 00:44:42 when you pray, do a couple things. One, imagine to know that God is with you in that moment, okay? And know that it's a relationship first. Number two, follow one of these acronyms like pray when you're praying as well. And the last thing is this, you know, the Bible talks about pray without ceasing, literally. So, you know, I have a practice where every morning when I wake up, I pray. when I'm in my daughter, my bed putting my five-year-old daughter now down to bed, I will pray for her and with her. So I have two times a day I pray.

Starting point is 00:45:18 And then I always try and pray around my meals, right? Breakfast, lunch, dinner. But also just throughout the day, listen, I am at my best when I'm just living in a state of prayer all day. There's a great book called Practicing the Presence, which is written by an amazing monk named Brother Lawrence. And he talks about just living in a state of prayer all day long. It's really amazing. So I would say this. One, have your rituals that you put in place of regular prayer, but also in addition, try and really have that sense of praying without.

Starting point is 00:45:46 ceasing. And also invite God into things. If I have a big call coming up with somebody, I will say, Jesus, I am requesting your manifest presence on this call. Holy Spirit, I invite you in and I ask you, would you work through me and speak through me on this call coming up or in this presentation or in this difficult thing I have to do? So, and then remember, prayer is two-way communication. You're speaking, but then take a moment and really listen to what God's saying to you. And I think this also really ties into meditation. You know, the Eastern sense of meditation, and I don't mean actually Eastern because the Middle East, where Jesus grew up, is in alignment with all of this. But some of these Eastern religions like Buddhism as an example of this, they tend to believe sort of meditation is

Starting point is 00:46:35 clearing your mind of everything. Okay. And then sometimes inviting whatever spiritual thing is in, which I think can actually be incredibly dangerous because how do you know if the spirit you're inviting in is good or evil. Okay. So I think that there's there's some issues there. But biblical meditation when the Bible talks about it is meditating not on nothing, but on something very specific, and that's God's words. An example of this is Psalms 1,2, where David says, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law, he meditates day and night. So it's meditating in something in God's Word. You know, right now, my wife is doing such an incredible job on training our five-year-old to memorize verses of the Bible.

Starting point is 00:47:22 So every time we get in the car, the first thing that happens is my wife says, okay, honey, say you're a Bible verse. And so my daughter, Arwin, says a Bible verse every time she's in the car seat of the car. So right now we're having her memorize 1 Corinthians 13, which says love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not arrogant or rude. so she's memorizing that verse, but you're going to take a verse like that and think about that. And you can start off with a few words.

Starting point is 00:47:48 Love is patient, love is kind. Or love is patient, three words in God's word and meditate on, what does it mean to be kind? What does that look like? How can I apply that? How is Jesus kind and think about that? So you're going to take that and you're going to meditate that on chew on that and talk to God about that. God, show me where I can be more kind. How can I be more kind?

Starting point is 00:48:13 That's biblical meditation, is you are reading something in the Bible, and you are meditating on those words and allowing it to fill you and transform who you are. That's biblical meditation. These other forms of meditation today, they pale in comparison. They're not effective. Oftentimes, they're opening people up to negative things. I mean, there's a form of meditation maybe that's good for relaxation, where people are kind of just there's a lot of busyness happening in life. So they're sort of cleansing their mind

Starting point is 00:48:45 and just thinking about nothing. So I mean, there really are some benefits of just emptying your mind. But imagine being empty in the benefits of that versus filling your mind with love, joy, peace, with perfection, right? One is better than the other. So modern mindfulness and meditation practices are aimed at detachment or emptiness. But biblical meditation is about intentional connection with the divine, with God, and chewing on the word of God and letting it transform who you are from the inside out. And we do know via the scientific studies, there's so many benefits around this that show that reduces stress, improves your immune system, increases self-discipline and self-resilience, fosters great relationships. But also,

Starting point is 00:49:33 I think the big thing is healing breakthrough. You know, when my mom was sick with cancer, we prayed every day, all day. We were living in a state of prayer. And we made her at least at breakfast, lunch and dinner, we were constantly praying for her. My mom had many people praying for her. So we had the whole church praying for her, close friends praying for her,

Starting point is 00:49:52 her family praying for her. She was praying for herself. And we were living in a state of prayer. And I believe that prayer is effective at healing. Now listen, we all know people who we prayed for and who prayed themselves and they weren't healed and they didn't see a breakthrough.

Starting point is 00:50:09 And I don't have a great answer on exactly why that is outside of as Jesus asked God, Lord, if it be your will, take this cup from me. He prayed that if it was God's will, that he wouldn't have to go through that crucifixion, that his death. But he said, your will be done. So sometimes God's will is better than that.

Starting point is 00:50:34 And think about that. Jesus, because he died for us, our sins, what that did for us, where he sits right now at the right hand of the throne of God, but what it did for us now and being able to heal and have an abundant life. So I believe that God knows something we don't in those situations, but overall we are still called to pray, and we know that generally we're all better off if we pray. And in many cases, people do see healing miracles, like my mom being healed from cancer. I was healed from a condition where I was told I might have to have my spine fused and be permanently disabled.

Starting point is 00:51:08 That was just three years ago. And I prayed daily. I had so many people praying for me, by the way. I literally had Heidi Baker praying for me. John Bevere, Lisa Bevere, just pastors from all over the world, Johnny Inlow, Bill Johnson, you know, just amazing people. I've had so many people praying for me and for my healing. And it meant so much.

Starting point is 00:51:32 And I believe that that's one reason why 100% again today. So know that prayer, as it says in the Bible, is powerful and effective, especially when it's coming from a person that is obedient to God. And these biblical principles I want to share with you as well, these aren't outdated. These are modern. These are meant for yesterday, today, and forever. And I'm so excited today that I think that more and more people now are embracing and realizing that science today, pharmaceuticals, a lot of this sort of superficial stuff of materialism and technology. technology, it's not the thing that matters most. Our connection to God, our connection to others, our connection to the planet, that matters more than all these other things in taking communion,

Starting point is 00:52:19 meditating, fasting, and more than anything, prayer is so incredibly powerful at allowing us to be our best spiritually, mentally, and physically. I want to encourage you to try incorporating these rhythms into your week and notice how your health and your faith begins to flourish and change. I want to say thanks so much for tuning in here to the Dr. Josh Axe show. We're each and every week we dive deep into the science and principles of how you can heal physically, mentally and spiritually. Make sure to subscribe, like, and share. You know, there are so many people who don't necessarily know how to pray or the healing

Starting point is 00:52:57 power of community or who to fast in the right way. And this could really help them. So thanks so much for sharing. Thanks so much for subscribing. I'll see you on the next episode.

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