Compelling Research Questions

1. Does Prayer Relax Us?

2. Does Prayer Make Us More Compassionate?

3. Does Prayer Renew The Mind?

4. Does Speaking in Tongues Impact Addictive Craving? Anxiety? PTSD?

For Donors:

Through a collaboration between the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford and Transcultural Psychiatry at McGIll, we aim to break ground in summer of 2026 on a study of compassion inspired by charismatic prayer. We have raised $25,000 so far and need to raise another $50,000 to adequately fund the first phase of this research.

To a large degree, scientists and scientific institutions have avoided research into prayer and religion more generally. The exception has been studies of Buddhist practices, which have been effectively secularized to make scientific research less controversial.  However, with our research into Christian prayer garnering the support of leading foundations—including the John Templeton Foundation, the National Science Foundation, Wenner-Gren Foundation, Mind and Life Institute, and the Bial Foundation—this is beginning to change. Yet, despite the groundbreaking nature of our work and the support of these institutions, prayer research remains on the periphery of mainstream science. This is why we are turning to private donors to supplement our research.

Our preliminary findings are promising, suggesting significant untapped potential in this field. Nevertheless, the inherent slowness of the scientific process, compounded by persistent biases against religion, hinder progress. With your donation, we can integrate prayer research more solidly within academic circles and accelerate this innovative field.

$30,000 can give us a boost, $100-200,000 can run a solid pilot experiment and $1.2 million gets us a lab that lasts. Our research is currently situated out of the Religious Studies Department at Stanford University, Harvard Divinity School and Transcultural Psychiatry at McGill University so donations that require tax exemptions can be worked out properly depending on where you reside. Please email us @ jbrahins@gmail.com and we will set up a conference. 

For Participant Volunteers:

For people who want to be involved in the next studies, please fill out this form and we will be in touch with an online survey, and depending on where you live, perhaps with an offer for participation in an in-person study.

Whether you're a scientist, a person of faith, or simply curious, we welcome you to explore with us.