Prayer Mindset E-Book

Jillian Dean

• Herausgeber: Spines
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2026

Beschreibung

Explore the transformative connection between faith and neuroscience in Prayer Mindset. Jillian Dean reveals how prayerful thought can rewire the brain, renew the mind, and restore inner peace. Blending scripture with scientific insight, she shows how gratitude releases joy, forgiveness frees the heart, and faith reshapes fear into strength. Through relatable stories and practical exercises, readers learn to train their minds like they train their bodies, creating new neural pathways for calm, confidence, and resilience. This powerful guide bridges divine truth and modern science, offering a roadmap for anyone seeking lasting transformation. Prayer Mindset is an invitation to live with intention, gratitude, and unwavering peace—a journey to align thought, faith, and purpose with the abundant life you were designed to live.

Jillian Dean is a scientist, speaker, and author passionate about the intersection of faith and neuroscience. Drawing from her background in science and her journey of spiritual growth, she empowers others to rewire their thoughts, strengthen their faith, and live with purpose. Through her writing and workshops, Jillian inspires people to transform their minds, deepen their peace, and discover the power of a prayerful mindset.

Leseprobe

Jillian Dean

Prayer Mindset

All rights reserved

Copyright © 2025 by Jillian Dean

Manuscript Status: Working Draft for Developmental Review

Contact Information: Jillian Dean

Email: [email protected]

Delusional Positivity LLC

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Published by Spines Publishing Platform

ISBN: 979-8-90222-046-6

Prayer Mindset

Transforming Your Thoughts to Renew Your Mind and Strengthen Your Faith

Jillian Dean

To my three incredible children.

Being your mother is the greatest blessing God has ever given me. He chose each of you for my life with a wisdom far beyond my own, and I carry deep gratitude for the way you have shaped my heart. Your courage, your creativity, your discipline, and the fearless way you pursue your dreams have been a quiet echo in my spirit, reminding me to rise, to try, to believe.

It is a rare and beautiful gift when children become the ones who inspire the parent. Your confidence in me became a light in the moments I doubted, and your faith in what I could create helped bring this book to life. Thank you for the way you live, for the way you lead with heart, and for the way you lift me with your belief. I love you more than you will ever know.

Contents

Introduction

1. Worry

2. Gratitude

3. Fear and Anxiety

4. Trust and Faith

5. Resilience

6. Joy

7. Forgiveness

8. Pain

9. The Prayer Mindset – Transforming Thought Into Peace

Conclusion

References

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Romans 12:2

Introduction

Renewing the Mind

Scripture Anchor

Romans 12:2 – “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Rewiring Belief

I was seven years old when a single moment at the town pool became a life moment that would alter my sense of what was possible, though it would be years before I fully understood it.

I was sitting on a bench with a couple of friends, watching the older kids do tricks off the dive. There was one lifeguard whom I really looked up to. She was beautiful, with long brown hair and a smile so kind, and she even treated us bratty kids well.

I watched her approach the end of the diving board and bounce so high into the sky that she blocked the sun from our eyes as she curled into a ball to complete her somersault flip. She did one and a half flips and sliced into the water like an Olympic diver. I was beyond impressed. I was mesmerized by her skill, her courage, and the finesse with which she completed the dive.

I wanted to do it too.

I replayed that vision of her in my head as I walked home from the pool later that evening. I can still smell the chlorine in my hair and feel the tightness in my skin from my lack of proper sunscreen, a real sign of a Generation X kid. I replayed her dive over and over until I could feel what it would be like to do it myself. I became obsessed. I would think about it all the time, imagining myself doing the trick and sliding into the water with ease. I went from watching her to actually being able to feel myself in that moment.

After a few days and a couple of hundred repeats of this feat in my mind, I felt like I could actually do it. I could feel it. I could see and feel myself completing the dive. I didn’t tell anyone what I was going to try. I got on the dive and took a deep breath. As I approached the end of the board, I raised my knee like I had done so many times during my mental practice and brought it down with tremendous force. I sprang into the air with more velocity and force than I had felt before. Yet it was all very familiar… and my body seemed to instinctively roll into the somersault portion, which I held until it was time to open up and dive into the water.

I did it….flawlessly (ok, this is from the mind of a seven-year-old- maybe flawless is a stretch, but I did it). I completed something totally new just by practicing in my mind. I did it by believing that I could do it. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was my first experience with the magic of neuroscience!

Neuroscience Insight- Your Brain Can Change

Let’s start with the obvious… our brains. You don’t need to be a scientist to understand this book. Chapter by chapter, we will break down the intricacies into bite-sized pieces that help you gain a better understanding of how your thoughts direct your brain, and how your brain works with your body. You will learn how switching to a prayer mindset can change every aspect of your life. And guess what? YOU CAN TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS!

Our brains are remarkably adaptable and can be trained in much the same way muscles are strengthened through exercise. Every time you imagine a thought, visualize an action, or rehearse a skill in your mind, your brain responds as if you are actually doing it. Neuroscientists call this “mental rehearsal,” and studies show that the neural circuits activated during imagination largely overlap with those used in real-life practice. In other words, the brain does not fully distinguish between what you vividly imagine and what you physically experience.

There is one more key part of the brain that makes all of this possible. It is called the Reticular Activating System, or RAS, and it functions as your brain’s internal filter. Every second your senses take in far more information than your conscious mind could ever handle, so the RAS decides what gets through. And what determines its choices? The thoughts you repeat, the beliefs you hold, and the things you consistently focus on. In simple terms, the RAS looks for evidence to support the stories you tell yourself. If your thoughts are grounded in fear, your RAS will highlight things that confirm fear. If your thoughts are shaped by prayer, gratitude, and faith, your RAS will scan the world for what aligns with those truths. This is why your mindset matters: your brain is not just reacting; it is actively selecting and filtering your reality based on what you train it to notice. Your thoughts are teaching your brain what is important.

This is exactly what happened with my dive: by repeatedly rehearsing the movements in my mind, my brain forged the pathways that made my body capable of performing the trick, as if I had already lived it a hundred times. This means that by intentionally focusing your thoughts on faith, gratitude, and God’s truth, you are literally shaping your neural pathways, making it easier for your mind and body to follow those patterns in everyday life.

Every time you think of a thought, electrical signals fire between the cells of your brain, called neurons, creating or reinforcing a pathway. The more often you repeat that thought, the more efficient and automatic the pathway becomes. This is why habits, whether helpful or harmful, feel so powerful. The encouraging truth is that those pathways are not permanent! New pathways can always be built, and old pathways can weaken when they are no longer used. Neuroplasticity is the scientific term for the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. For centuries, scientists believed the brain was fixed after childhood, like hardened concrete. Research now shows the opposite: the brain is more like clay, able to reshape, rewire, and adapt at any age. Old dog, new tricks.