Breath prayers
When I challenge people to write down 100 things for which they are grateful most people can list between 30 to 40 things easily.
When I review their lists with them I have yet to find someone that lists breathing or oxygen! Imagine that! The most precious resource we have available on this planet often goes unappreciated and unnoticed. That has changed now in light of the COVID-19 pandemic that is sweeping across our planet. Breathing and oxygen have gained new notoriety.
As a certified Spiritual Director, incorporating breath and prayer seems natural. I learned how to connect fully with God by concentrating on my breathing. When I pondered about what to write for my final installment of Pulpit Reflections, the Centering Prayer came to mind.
This is a prayer I often incorporate in our Sunday morning worship. This prayer instructs and welcomes us to simply breathe in the breath of God.
I like to record and listen to it being read as I sit in a quiet and prayerful attitude. You can also take turns reading out loud with a prayer partner.
As each line is read, I think about the specific events, people or circumstances that have caused me to be anxious and I imagine letting them all go with the exhalation of my breath.
If you don’t feel you have enough time to listen and release, I would welcome you to journal about each line. What are your cares and concerns, your doubts and despairs, your fears and frustrations, your tensions and turmoils?
Releasing these and replacing them with the breath, love and grace of God is an excellent way to calm your spirit.
As we “sit quietly before the Father who gives life and love to all creation,” we feel his love for us. As we “sit in adoration before the Son who redeems us from all our sins,” we feel security in knowing eternal life awaits us. As we “sit in peace filled with the breath of the Holy Spirit who renews every fiber of our being,” we realize that our strength comes from God.
So in the coming weeks, I invite you to cut out this prayer and put it on your mirror or in your Bible or someplace where you will see it every day. When you feel fear and anxiousness begin to overtake your thoughts, return to the Source of all well being, God.
Stay safe. Stay connected. Stay well.
Centering Prayer
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 grace of God,
Breathe out your fears and frustrations.
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 grace of God,
Breathe out your waste and worry.
Sit quietly before the Father who gives life and love to all creation.
Sit in adoration before the Son who redeems us from all our sins.
Sit in peace filled with the breath of the Holy Spirit who renews every fiber of our being.
Sit in awe before the Glory of the One God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Source: Unknown