By Rev. Dorothy S. Boulware
Every Black Christian worshiper has heard this phrase at one time or another: “Oh, you can do better than that.” It’s often said in reference to the vim and vigor of the phrases of praise offered by the congregation–or the lack thereof.
“You can do better than that” is repeated, as if what’s being uttered is never good enough for the recognition of God’s blessings. As if more vigorous praise is a more acceptable offering with an added benefit for the “praiser.”
Psalm 22:3 says God inhabits the praises of his people. (Photo courtesty Unsplash / Rod Long)
And maybe rightfully so. For many people of faith, praise is more than just a spiritual practice — it’s a tool for better health. From the familiar call to “do better than that” in expressing praise to the quiet strength of individual worship, faith and wellness have long been intertwined.
”I’ve seen it close up, that people of faith health quicker and require less pain medicine, even if they have had a more extensive disease,” says Baltimore-based licensed practical nurse Tammy Saunders. who’s been a nurse for years and is now a consultant.
Referring to her work on a cancer unit, she said, “I’ve always been meticulous about getting meds to my patients on time and often, more often than not, more women than men, would not need the medicine at that time. They’d ask for help going to the bathroom or answering some other need, but it would be almost time for the next dose before they needed more meds.”
Saunders added, “And I wasn’t even saved then to understand what was going on. I just easily recognized the difference.”
What Exactly Is Praise?
Not to be confused with worship, praise is a show of appreciation for what God has done. Worship is the acknowledgment of God’s essence, the “isness” of God.
Churches often establish a sort of praise character — some loud, others not so loud. And within that collective praise is the added expression of all the arts, instruments, dance, singing, artistic expression and even reading of scriptures of praise.
This generally describes the time of “praise and worship” in the average Black church, if there is such a thing as an average Black church.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, many traditional Black churches began to exchange choirs for “praise and worship” teams who led the entire church in a section of congregational singing of repetitive choruses in lieu of hymns with three to five stanzas and the gospel hymns that had previously been the mainstay and staple of church music. As an addendum to the singing, congregants are encouraged to lift their voices with chants of phrases like “Praise the Lord,” “Hallelujah,” “God is good,” and “We bless you Lord,” — or whatever else flows out of the heart and soul.
And studies seem to highlight the correlation between the utterances of praise and the health of the praisers.
Studies suggest that people who attend services at a church, synagogue or mosque are less stressed and live longer. (Photo courtesy Unsplash / Avel Chuklanov)
The Praise and Health Connection
A 2017 study, “Church Attendance, Allostatic Load and Mortality in Middle-Aged Adults” suggested that “people who attend services at a church, synagogue or mosque are less stressed and live longer.”
The study used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. Researchers found that middle-aged (ages 40 to 65) adults—both men and women—who attend church or other houses of worship reduce their risk for mortality by 55 percent.
One of the researchers, Vanderbilt professor Marino Bruce — who is also a Baptist minister — wrote that they “found that being in a place where you can flex those spiritual muscles is actually beneficial for your health.”
In “Neurophysiological Benefits of Worship,” Michael Liedke, a nurse practitioner, suggested that worshiping God causes an increase in BPNF, a neurotransmitter that helps grow healthy brain cells. “Every morning, we wake up with 300 million more brain cells. When we worship, gamma waves are created in our brain that can actually help us feel the presence of God.”
Psalm 22:3 says God inhabits the praises of his people, and “we actually get a physical boost as these gamma waves fire in our brains while we worship,” he wrote.
According to Liedke, gamma waves do more than just make us feel better, they actually increase our intelligence, too.
“Research has shown that as you worship, you increase in wisdom, and there’s an increase in your capacity to understand the goodness of God,” he wrote. “So your relationship with God deepens as you worship him. As you worship, your brain is comprehending wisdom from the living Word helping grow your capacity to understand that God absolutely adores you. Interestingly, just seven minutes of worship every day will change your brain.”
This article was originally published on WordinBlack.com.
