Breathe a Prayer

The flicker of the single candle was reflected in the eyes of the birthday boy. His attempts to fulfill the encouragement to “blow out the candle” succeeded in only a slight quiver in the flame. He tried and tried but his little body did not seem capable of producing the necessary breath to extinguish the flame.

Flash ahead 16 years. The same boy is now a young man. Swimming is his sport and he is currently engaged in a volunteer competition against his team mates to see who can make it to the end of the pool, underwater, with only one breath. He is determined to win and when his head breaks the water at the end of the pool he gasps in a huge breath.

So what do these stories have to do with prayer? Here’s the application. Most of us pray the way that the little boy tried to blow out his candle. We breathe a prayer, usually a request, in the general direction of God, hoping he will see fit to deliver us from whatever mess we are currently in.

And isn’t it amazing how often God actually honours those prayers? 

Again and again he cares for us, protects us, and meets our needs as he continues to build a relationship with us.

But what if we look at things differently. What if, rather than breathing a whisper of a prayer out to God, prayer becomes a deep, filling inhale of God’s presence. 

Prayer must be more than a few words uttered to an impersonal, unfamiliar deity.  This is God you are talking to! The one who knows you better than anyone else and still loves you the most. The one who can see the whole picture of your life, past and future, and knows for sure what is best for you. Soak him in before you dare utter a word of instruction or request to him. Turn you attention toward his presence and breathe a prayer.