I am in New Haven CT for a week of teaching at the Overseas Ministry Study Centre and it is definitely allergy season. Pollen count is at an all time high, and like almost everyone around me, my eyes are gritty, my sinuses are aching and I am not sure if I really want to breathe the air that is coming through the window. To top it off I went for a walk yesterday and found that my daily walks around Greenlake in Seattle had definitely not prepared me for the hills of New Haven. I kept having to remind myself to breathe in sync with my steps.
As I sat here thinking about this, I could not help but contemplate the importance of breathing and the significance of the times the Bible talks about the breath of God. God breathes on us and we live. In other words we are only truly alive when we are filled with the breath of God and thinking of that inspired this prayer:
Breathe out empty yourself: of hate, of fear, of anxiety
Breathe in fill yourself with love, with life, with mercy
Breathe out empty yourself of busyness, of selfishness of greed
Breathe in fill yourself with peace, with joy, with hope
Breathe out empty yourself of idolatry, of self worship, of false gods
Breathe in fill yourself with God, with Christ, with the Holy Spirit
When I wrote my book To Garden with God, one of the references I used commented on the fact that human beings did not come to life until God breathed His life into us (Genesis 2:7). Then after the resurrection Jesus breathed into the disciples and filled them with the Holy Spirit – the life of the new creation. (John 20: 22) I was stunned as I realized the implications of this verse.
In our present reality, it is the Holy Spirit that is the breath of God – something that is very good for us to remember and contemplate as we approach the season of Pentecost. It is the Holy Spirit breathed into us by Christ our Saviour that gives us new life and the ability to become all that God intends us to be – love of God, love of neighbour, a life lived for others and not for ourselves all become possible when we breathe in the breath of God’s Holy Spirit and give ourselves to God’s purposes and not our own. Which lead to the writing of this prayer:
God breathe on us
in the valley of dry bones; in the midst of mourning; in the place of death
God breathe in us
on our dried up promises; on our abandoned dreams; on our unfulfilled hopes
God breathe through us
may your spirit bring back hope ; may your love renew your promises; may your word refresh and renew
Three in one, one in three
breathe on us; breathe in us; breathe through us
Fill us with resurrection life
Over the years I have posted a number of breathing prayers and have revisited and used several of these over the last few days so thought that I would remind all of us of these this morning. Some feel that the very name Yahweh is designed to sound like breathing so being reminded of this on a regular basis is important.
Jonathan Brink commented on one of my posts that at the Emerging Church Conference in Albuquerque, Richard Rohr talked about breathing YHWH as a way of saying the name of God.
Yoh – Breathe in
Hey – Breathe out
Hah – Breathe in
Veh – Breathe out
Here are links to some of the other posts about breathing prayers that I have written in the past
Breath of God Breathe on Me by Tom Brackett
Is Breathing a Spiritual Practice
A Breathing Prayer by AB Simpson
And let me finish with the original breathing prayer I wrote which I know has been widely used in worship and meditation. it is also my favourite so I thought that I would repost it here
Breathe in the breath of God
Breathe out your cares and concerns
Breathe in the love of God
Breathe out your doubts and despairs
Breathe in the life of God
Breathe out your fears and frustrations
We sit quietly before the One who gives life and love to all creation,
We sit in awe of the One who formed us in our mother’s wombs
We sit at peace surrounded by the One who fills every fibre of our being
Breathe in the breath of God
Breathe out your tensions and turmoil
Breathe in the love of God
Breathe out your haste and hurry
Breathe in the life of God
Breathe out your work and worry
We sit quietly before the One who gives life and love to all creation,
We sit in awe of the One who formed us in our mother’s wombs
We sit at peace surrounded by the One who fills every fibre of our being
Filed under: Christianity, Health, pentecost, Prayer, Prayer and inspiration, spiritual practices | Tagged: breathing prayers, Holy Spirit, pentecost, spiritual practices |
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[…] Breathing prayers which encourage us to breathe deeply and regularly can also be of great value. Evidently many of us spend most of our lives breathing too shallowly and deprive our lungs and other organs of the oxygen we need to remain healthy. And moe than that it can relieve anxiety, stimulate our immune system and even alleviate the symptoms of trauma. Read more […]
[…] sing a song; say the Lord’s prayer or another prayer and then sit in silence. I have also written several breathing prayers that we have found useful in this […]
[…] have written about these in previous posts and provide links to most of these prayers in It Allergy Season But Don’t Hold Your Breath Too Long. This week I have again been reminded for this type of prayer as I have sort to recentre myself on […]