Brainwave Activity Levels and Their Spiritual Significance

Biblical meditation involves down-shifting from my normal daytime state where I live in Beta waves, and entering the Alpha brain wave state, which is more relaxed. Alpha is also the state we are in during light sleep where we have our dreams and receive revalation from God.

I find the best times to meditate are morning and evening or when I awaken during the night (Gen. 24:63; Ps. 4:4) as these are times that the door to the heart/subconscious is wide open. The Lord has told me that when I awaken in the morning, I am not to go to my emails or the news or any other busy work. Since I am still in the Alpha state I am to tune to flow and do two-way journaling, releasing the creative solutions God has birthed through my spirit during the night. This is a golden time for me to be with Him and to receive His wisdom. This is my most creative time of the day. (If you are not a morning person, you may find evening is your most creative time of the day.)

Brainwave activity levels: What they feel like and their spiritual significance

Gamma waves (40-100 EEG’s) 

This state is generally entered when one is relaxed and in Alpha or Theta, and the Holy Spirit takes over in a powerful way. Illumination, insight, revelation, compassion and spiritual experiences occur. New neural pathways are created in the brain when such insight take place. Some people are overcome and fall down under the power of God when this happens, while others experience it as a deeply moving spiritual encounter or one of great revelation and insight (Acts 9:1-9).

Application: Ask yourself, “When have I experienced this state?” Record the answer in your journal.

Beta waves (14-32 EEG’s)

The normal daytime state of adults; conscious thought; more aware of the outer world than the inner world. You analyze, reason, evaluate, anticipate, forecast, set your will, and choose intentions. You are self-conscious and conscious of world around you. It is the survival state or stress state, which consumes your energies. Brainwaves are not coherent. Parts of the brain are not communicating well with other parts of brain.

Spiritually speaking, when you are controlling your mind yourself, you are doing what the Bible calls a dead work or a work of the flesh (Heb. 6:1, 2; Jn.6:63). A better approach is to reason together with God (Isa. 1:18). You present your reasoning powers to the Holy Spirit and allow His flow to guide your reasoning process (Jn. 7:37-39).

To reason together with God, we: 1) picture Jesus at our right hand (Acts 2:25), 2) ask for His input on the situation we are facing, and 3) tune to flow (Jn. 7:37-39) allowing His flowing thoughts to fill our minds. Now, we are reasoning TOGETHER with God, and are experiencing what the Bible calls the “mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16).

Application: Ask yourself, “When have I experienced the Beta state?” Record the answer in your journal.

Alpha waves (8-13 EEG’s)

It is a relaxed, meditative, imaginative state. This is when you are more aware of the inner world than the outer world. In this state you ponder and meditate. Closing your eyes and choosing to go inward aids you in entering the Alpha state (as 80% of sensory information is derived from sight).

Children five to eight years old live normally in this state. We are commanded to become as children so we can enter the Kingdom (Matt. 18:3). We see how this works by reflecting on how kids live. They live in the Alpha state of imagination/spirit, talking with "invisible" playmates in "make believe" worlds. Their inner world is more real than their outer world.

This is the state you are in when you dream. Ask for illuminating dreams as you fall asleep (Song of Solomon 5:2). God promised that He would speak to you and reveal Himself in dreams (Num. 12:6). Dreams can instantly transform your heart attitudes as well as your body as God gives to you even in your sleep (Ps. 127:2 NASB).

This is the inspired state where what you are seeing is transforming you (2 Cor. 3:18; 4:18; Heb. 11:3). Using the eyes of your heart and seeing Jesus at your right hand (Acts 2:25; Ps. 16:7; Eph. 1:17,18) is a great aid in entering and living in this state, as is ceasing your own strivings (Heb. 3, 4).

This is the place where habits and behaviors reside. This is a creative state – which means your energies are free to re-create your body. Coherent brain waves appear. You lose self-consciousness and become “in spirit.” One can cultivate this lifestyle. It is called “abiding in Christ,” tuned to the heart or spirit or tuned to God. You are tuned to flowing thoughts, flowing pictures, and flowing emotions.

Both “tapping” (part of Emotional Freedom Techniques) and praying in tongues take you into the Alpha state. Evidence you are in this state can be confirmed through biofeedback or even better, with the heart monitor we describe in Chapter 11 of our book Unleashing Healing Power Through Spirit-Born Emotions (available December 2017).

Twenty years ago, I learned through biofeedback that I needed to put my feet up on a footstool, lean back and put a big smile on my face in order for me to enter this relaxed state. During this last year, I learned even more by using the emWave®2 heart coherence monitor.

It taught me I needed to be tuned to my heart, sensing God’s Kingdom emotions of love, joy, peace, compassion and thankfulness and to be radiating them out to others to be in this state. When doing these things, the emWave®2 would register that I was in high heart coherence.

Application: Ask yourself, “When have I experienced this state?” Record the answer in your journal.

Theta waves (4-8 EEG’s)

Experienced as sleep, hypnosis, part of the subconscious. Children two to five years old live continuously in the Theta and Alpha states.

Delta waves (0.5-4 EEG’s)

Deep sleep, part of the subconscious. Re-creation takes place here. Children birth to two years old live in this state.