Breath prayers are short prayers that coincide with inhaling and exhaling. They originate from the “Jesus Prayer” practiced by the Eastern Orthodox Church beginning as early as the third and fourth centuries by Egyptian desert monks. The most well-known Jesus Prayer was inspired by Mark 10:47: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”
In breath prayers, the Christian begins by focusing his or her heart and mind on God. The prayer is then divided into a few words on the inhale and a few words on the exhale. For example, one would inhale and pray, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,” and exhale with, “have mercy on me.”
Breath prayers are an excellent spiritual exercise that enables us to pray often and throughout the day. If I’m cooking and want to pray, I don’t need to go into my bedroom and kneel to say a prayer to God. While I’m in the kitchen, I can breathe in and say, “Lord Jesus Christ,” and then breathe out with “give me strength for today.”
When my child is throwing a tantrum on the floor and I’m channeling every single fiber not to lose my temper, I can approach Jesus in that moment. Breathe in, “Lord Jesus.” Breathe out, “give me patience and understanding.” Even while doing mundane things such as grocery shopping, I can breathe in, “Jesus,” and breathe out, “let me know that you are with me.”
These short breath prayers throughout the day add up. They become spiritual exercises that help us build a healthy spiritual life, similar to building a healthy physical life. Research shows that when a 30-minute workout is broken up into shorter mini sessions throughout the day, the health benefit is the same.
Likewise, whether it’s praying 30 minutes in one sitting, or saying 10-second breath prayers 180 times a day (that does feel like “praying continually,” doesn’t it?), I’ve found the spiritual health benefits are similar. Both the early morning prayer service and the breath prayers throughout the day are ways of coming before God.
In this season of my life, breath prayers are my offerings to the Lord. Perhaps I can still be a “prayer warrior” like I used to be, but my prayer times look much different. Nowadays, whenever I hear someone’s prayer request or hear about the devastating news in the world, I then and there say several short breath prayers for them.
Breath prayers help me realize that I can come into God’s presence anywhere, at any time. I’m able to ask for God’s strength and wisdom throughout the day. I’m also able to give praise and adoration to him all day long. The more often I pray breath prayers, the more I am aware of God’s omnipresence. I now see that God is, and has been, walking with me on this challenging yet wonderful journey of motherhood.
So I breathe in, “Jesus, my God,” and breathe out, “thank you for being a friend who is with me always.”
