Holy Habits - Breath Prayer
The first week of the Lenten series Holy Habits was about Prayer. Here is an excerpt of the sermon I gave at Copper Hill on this subject:
I was initially concerned about preaching about prayer because I always considered prayer to be a very private practice, other than when we pray together in church. I was brought up Catholic and we did not speak about such things. Even now as a Methodist, I wasn’t sure how I could speak to a congregation about prayer without digging into my own soul, which is not in my comfort zone, nor should it be in yours. I hoped that somewhere along my theological journey on this subject, I would stumble upon a concept of prayer that did not feel, well, so personal.
I was reassured by the author of the book Ash and Starlight, Arianne Braithwaite Lehn who wrote: “While I definitely don’t believe prayer must begin with ‘Dear God’ or end with ‘Amen,’ it can be a comforting framework, collecting me into a place when I feel distracted, confused, and stressed. I don’t always pray this way. Sometimes, all I can do is groan. Sometimes, I close my eyes and smile. Sometimes I turn on a piece of music, letting it form the prayers in my heart. And sometimes, I focus on my breath, remembering it is God’s life force right there.”
Lehn’s reference to God’s life force of breath gave me my “AHA” moment, dropping the new concept of Breath Prayers into my lap. The idea is that with every breath we take, we remind ourselves that our life force exists because of God. His breath has filled our lungs. The spirit we cannot see empowers us and drives us to live for God in everything we do.
Breath Prayers brings me to my new word of the day: ‘ruach’ (Roo Ack). In Hebrew, the word ruach means both spirit and breath. Rob Bell, author and former pastor, explains, that the Hebrews “understood this ruach energy to be as wide as the universe and powerful enough to fuel and animate and sustain even the stars, as it’s written in the Psalms, they also understood this ruach to be as intimate as the breath you just took and the breath you’re about to take.”
We each connect with God in different ways, and there are different ways to pray, but if you are interested in trying your hand at a Breath Prayer, there are several easy steps to follow:
1. Begin by thinking of a personal way you would like to address God.
2. Then, identify a need or prayer that's heavy on your heart.
3. Thirdly, determine a time during each day to offer your breath prayer.
4. And finally, you need to put your breath prayer into practice.
A simple example is to focus your heart and mind on God and then divide a phrase into a few words on the inhale and a few words on the exhale. For example, one would inhale and pray, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,” and exhale with, “Have mercy on me.”
Breath prayers allow us to come into God’s presence anywhere, at any time. We can ask for God’s strength and wisdom throughout the day, as well as give thanks. But in the end, it doesn’t matter how you choose to pray, as long as you do.
A couple of years ago, I wrote an essay about John Wesley’s third simple rule, Staying in Love with God. In the essay, I noted these simple guidelines for loving God offered by author Stephanie May Wilson that I believe also work as a foundation for prayer:
· Quality time – building a relationship with someone takes time
· Vulnerability – don’t be afraid to show your weakness to God
· Switch it Up – pray today, journal to God tomorrow
· Don’t forget to say thank you
I will leave you with Wilson’s moving conclusion:
“God is dazzling. His world is a kaleidoscope of color, dimension, and love that we could explore forever without finding an end. But sometimes we find ourselves lost in the woods and need some help figuring out, all over again, that God still hasn’t gone anywhere.”
-Eileen Brogan