God, Please Breathe on Me

In my prayer time, I said these words “Thank You for your breath, Lord!” What? Where did that come from? To who do we ever say “Thank you for your breath”, because breath can be stinky?

But not so with the breath of Jesus. In asking for His breath, I knew that I was asking for the very essence of everything He represents – His love, His peace, His hope, His gentleness, His meekness, His comfort, His joy.

I wanted God’s breath to impart new life to me like He imparted life to Adam in the beginning. Genesis 2:7 says: “Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

We all know breathing is the most fundamental need for sustaining our physical life. But continually breathing in the life of God is essential for maintaining our spiritual lives. I know that is what I meant as I prayed “Thank you for your breath, Lord.” His breath represents abundant life.

I turned that “ask” into a challenge to understand those words. One of the first acts as we emerged from our mama’s birth canal was to respond to the prayers of our parents to “Breathe, baby, breathe.”

The breath of life. Those cries were music to our parents’ ears. Like that newborn baby, when we first believed in Christ, we started breathing spiritually. As we grow in our faith and commitment to Him, we grow in His likeness daily. Breathing in His life-giving Spirit is our greatest need in living a positive, overcoming life in this world.

Physical breathing involves both inhalation and exhalation. In the same way, as we breathe in all the positive things of the Lord Himself, we also exhale all the negative things in our being. We’re revived and strengthened by the fresh supply of the Spirit, and most importantly of all, we gain God Himself.

When we’re going through tough times, we might find ourselves “holding our breath.” When we’re spiritually and physically weak,, we can have a bundle of emotions built up inside us! But during those times, it’s especially important to breathe! We need to absorb the life and breath of God to survive those times.

Praying is spiritual breathing. Much like working out, if we don’t schedule time to pray, we won’t do it. We can exhale all of the things that are bothering us and focus on enjoying Christ. Matthew 14:23 tells us Jesus “went up to the mountain privately to pray.” He left the crowds, even His disciples, to be alone and spend uninterrupted time with the Father.

How well I know when I am NOT breathing in the breath of God. After these many years of walking with God, I have come to know the enemy’s trickery and distractors. I know to put away my phone and get on “mountain-time” with my Lord — breathing Him in. When I do, I get a grip on WHO my breathing comes from!

I get into God’s Holy Word — the place that is God-breathed. Psalm 119:15 says, “I will mediate upon Your precepts and regard Your ways.” By praying with the words in the Bible, we can meditate on and take in every God-breathed word, so we can be infused with God and nourished by Him. So breathe, Baby, breathe!