Breath Prayers

A couple of weeks ago I traveled to one of my favorite "Life Experiences" for the 3rd time. It is called Come Before Winter. It is a ministry that exists to  refresh, renew, uplift encourage and strengthen women in ministry. I first attended in Bosnia, from there to Texas and this time Ukraine.  This is an awesome ministry. You can learn more about Come Before Winter here. 

Every time I am there, I create a piece of art, do something new I never knew I could do, cherish the time in the word and make new friends. It all enriches and equips me to have a deeper, stronger and more meaningful walk with the Lord. They essentially reserve time for you and the father and facilitate opportunities to grow and commune with him. I even took my 5 month old this time and was able to do all of that just as I did alone. I always learn something new. This time I learned some tools to help me do something I need to do greatly in my life. BE STILL. I really struggle with being still. Seriously, I am often up in the middle of the night doing things instead of sleeping. I have always been busy. I have always moved non stop. I remember my dad putting his hand on top of my head often and saying stop bouncing, I am listening. so the practice of being still has been a life long need of mine. 

At CBW this time I learned about breath prayers. Have you ever heard of them? It is basically breathing in and out deeply while reciting scripture. One of the sessions I benefited from the most was the one on meditation. This is funny to me because I missed half of it nursing my baby. I participated completely in the active part after the session. I remember laying on the floor breathing in and out and being very aware of how relaxed I was and hoe my mind was clearing. Later I was reviewing the material from the session and read about breath prayers.

I have been practicing them since I learned about it. So good for someone like me who is always doing something. Good because it helps clear my head, physically relaxes me and spiritually calms me. It is so easy, you can do it anytime, anywhere and in any way you want. I also tend to fill my mind with negative thought, or with instant replay of recent events where I made a mistake or something like that. This practice replaces the negative with the word of God. How awesome is that?

Here's how it works. 

Take a deep breath and say the first part of prayer 

Breathe out and finish the prayer.

Here is an example with the scripture John 3:30:

Breathe in: He must become greater

Breathe out: I must become less.

What a great prayer to pray when I want to take matters into my own hand and react swiftly to something. A great reminder of who he is and who I am not!

You can also shorten/adapt scripture to make it short enough for one breath. That is an important point. It needs to be short enough for one breath. Take Psalm 4:8 for example:

Breathe in: I can sleep in peace

Breathe out: For you keep me safe.

I must say one more thing. Breath was a big theme for me this entire month. I recently learned that in the time of Abraham people would breath on one another to seal a covenant. The part of AbraHAm that God added when he was confirming his covenant, is like breathing out and sounds like the Hebrew word for breath how cool is that? So the giver of life, the one who gives us our first breath, who breathes life into us can be praised and glorified with every breath we take. I just love that!!!

This has helped me to clear my mind, be focused and keep things in a proper perspective. You can ask my kids, they have noticed that I am learning to be still.

Give it a try I know you will be blessed!