What Your Body Knows About God – How We Are Designed to Connect, Serve and Thrive

Have you ever had an experience where you felt particularly aware of God? If God is real, and we are created in God's image, then it makes sense that our minds and bodies would be designed with the perceptive ability to sense and experience God. Scientists are now discovering ways that our bodies are designed to connect with God. Brain research shows that our brain systems are wired to enable us to have spiritual experiences. The spiritual circuits that are used in prayer or worship are also involved in developing compassion for others. Our bodies have actually been created to love God and serve our neighbors. Award-winning journalist Rob Moll chronicles the fascinating ways in which our brains and bodies interact with God and spiritual realities. He reports on neuroscience findings that show how our brains actually change and adapt when engaged in spiritual practices. We live longer, healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives when we cultivate the biological spiritual capacity that puts us in touch with God. God has created our bodies to fulfill the Great Commandment; we are hardwired to commune with God and to have compassion and community with other people. Moll explores the neuroscience of prayer, how liturgy helps us worship, why loving God causes us to love others, and how a life of love and service leads to the abundant life for which we were created. Just as our physical bodies require exercise to stay healthy, so too can spiritual exercises and practices revitalize our awareness of God.Heighten your spiritual senses and discover how you have been designed for physical and spiritual flourishing.

"If Psalm 139 were published as a contemporary book, it might look a lot like Rob Moll's What Your Body Knows About God. Channeling the psalmist's wonder at having been 'woven together in the depths of the earth,' Moll, a CT editor at large, wonders at the marvel of humanity: its dynamic blend of body, mind, soul and spirit. Christians don't worship God, serve their neighbors and connect with other people merely because of external rules; such impulses are inscribed in our DNA. . . . Moll offers realistic and inspiring examples of what it looks like to walk this path, crookedness and all. Anyone who has struggled to pay attention in prayer can resonate with his account of sitting against the wall in his children's bedroom after they are tucked in bed, praying in the quiet darkness, sometimes finding focus, other times wander. The psalmist rejoices 'because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful' (139:14). With smart, tender and authentic prose, What Your Body Knows About God beautifully sings this in a 21st century key.", "In What Your Body Knows About God, Moll leads the reader on a tour through cutting-edge science about brains and bodies, bodies that are not a bit less fearfully and wonderfully made even if little about them remains, as the psalmist said, a 'secret place.' . . . [I]t is revelatory to learn that science emphatically does not suggest that selfishness, social isolation and godlessness define the 'natural' human condition. Mirror neurons and mimicry that happens below the level of consciousness—as when you slip into imitating the speech and mannerisms of your conversation partner without realizing it—suggest that there's something in us that wants to connect deeply with others.", "Reading this book left me amazed, and the rich food for thought fueled a desire to discuss it with others and proclaim this great and wonderful truth: You and I are wired to know the One who created us."

Rob Moll is an award-winning journalist and editor-at-large with Christianity Today. His work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Books Culture and Leadership. Rob serves World Vision as communications officer to the president and lives in the Seattle area. He is the author of The Art of Dying. In a career that spans 30 years, Michael Card has recorded over 31 albums, authored or co-authored over 24 books, hosted a radio program, and written for a wide range of magazines. An award-winning musician and performing artist, he has penned such favorites as "El Shaddai," "Immanuel" and many other songs. He has branched his ministry beyond music and written numerous books, including A Sacred Sorrow, A Violent Grace, The Parable of Joy and Sleep Sound in Jesus (a children's book). He has also written the Biblical Imagination Series, with a book and accompanying music CD for each of the four gospels. A graduate of Western Kentucky University with a bachelor's and master's degree in biblical studies, Card also serves as mentor to many younger artists and musicians, teaching courses on the creative process and calling the Christian recording industry into deeper discipleship. Card lives in Tennessee with his wife and four children.