Breath prayer is an active, reflective prayer linked to the rhythm of our breath.
We are encouraged to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). We can do this with a breath prayer in the stillness of our quiet time and in the business of the day.
Breath prayer brings our awareness and attention to the nearness of God, revealing the Truth that God’s Holy Spirit is closer to us than our own breath.
In celebration of the Advent season let’s use Luke 1:46-47. This was Mary’s response to God’s call on her life and the unknown road ahead. Let it be our response too.
Inhale: my soul
Exhale: glorifies the Lord
Inhale: my sprit
Exhale: rejoices in God my Savior
In 1719 Isaac Watts, a minister and hymn write, wrote the famous Christmas song Joy to the World. But it didn’t start out as a song. He wrote it as a poem based Psalm 98. Ironically. This famous Christmas carol wasn’t even written about the birth of Jesus, but about His second coming.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing
Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
No more let sins and sorrows grow
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found
He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love
Before Jesus’s birth, the whole world waited in great anticipation. They waited for the promised Savior to come. Now that He has come we are no longer waiting for the promise, we have the promise. The promise of salvation and forgiveness of sins.
Now, we are waiting for His second coming- the time when He comes back to make everything new, wipe away every tear, and to make His home with us. The new heaven and the new earth.
This season offers us the opportunity to share in the ancient longings for the coming Messiah and the current anticipation for His second coming. During this advent season let’s prepare our hearts and make room for Him by remembering His first coming in view of His second.
Take some time to pause in His presence this holiday season… practice the breath prayer as you sit in the stillness and as you go through your day.
