One of my pastors recently recommended Brother Lawrence’s excellent book, The Practice of the Presence of God, as a means to learn how to focus one’s mind on the things of God throughout the course of the day. While Brother Lawrence said that he had “abandoned all particular forms of devotion, all prayer techniques” and that his only “prayer practice was attention,” I’ve often found myself struggling to know exactly how, practically, to keep my attention on the things of God, especially with all the distractions modern life brings.
In the last few months, I’ve been thinking a lot about prayer and what it means to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17). Brother Lawrence’s book has been immensely helpful, as has John Mark Comer in his discussion on contemplative prayer, a form of prayer that is quieter, less verbose, and more focused on a posture of heart toward the Lord rather than continual speech. Finally, I recently discovered breath prayers which incorporate phrases or themes from Scripture into the natural rhythm of breathing. Breath prayers typically focus on a verse or passage of Scripture, praying one phrase on the inhale and another on the exhale. For example, one might silently pray Psalm 51:10 by praying on the inhale “Create in me a clean heart,” and exhaling, “and renew a right spirit within me.”
In our current culture where new age meditation dominates, you would be forgiven for thinking that breath prayer is a recent invention, intended to redeem a space typically reserved for unbelieving spiritualists. But this form of prayer is nothing new. Its earliest origins go back to the time of the Desert Fathers who used the practice as a way to “pray without ceasing,” meditating on the Word of God. As breath is our constant companion, the practice has the advantage of not only quickly refocusing the Christian’s attention on God, but even aiding in the memorization of Scripture. This type of prayer is especially helpful for Christians struggling with anxiety as it connects the mind and body in a posture of prayerfulness toward the Lord. As a caution, it must be said that breath prayer and Christian meditation as a whole are not the same as pagan meditation, which focuses on the self attaining some higher level of consciousness. Instead, Christian meditation is about a redirection of our minds, wills, and affections toward God. It is by necessity reliant on the Word of God as its source.
With all that setup, I’d like to introduce a new YouTube channel (@SelahBreath) I’ve recently started dedicated to breath praying through Scripture, starting with the Psalms. Some breath prayers will be reciting Scripture verbatim so we can memorize exact verses, while others will summarize the themes present in the passage of Scripture being utilized. For example, the first video focuses on Psalm 1. On the inhale, we pray “I delight in your law.” On the exhale, “I will walk in your ways.” This pattern attempts to capture the message of Psalm 1 and instill that idea in our minds.
My hope is that these prayers will aid us in meditating through Scripture and will become a part of the habit of our days, that whenever we find ourselves in distraction, we can easily sync our breath to God’s Word. Much in the way a song’s lyrics will stick in your mind, these prayers become a mindful cadence of meditation on the truths of God. Breath prayers are certainly not the only form of prayer a Christian should utilize, but merely another means by which we can commune with God.
Whether or not you find the practice of breath prayer useful, please consider how you can practice the presence of God in your own life, praying without ceasing and meditating on His Word.
Bone of Bones 