Prayer: A Christian's Breath
Luke 23:46, “He breathed His last.”
Breathing. It is something that everyone understands. It's something everybody realizes is a necessity. We are dependent on breathing to live. As I was thinking about breathing, some of the things we know about breathing, we know that we breathe continually, we breathe every moment of every day. It's not something that we just do occasionally. It's not something that we just do for a brief period intensely and then stop.
We breathe constantly, regularly, steadily. We know that we must breathe to receive oxygen, oxygen that we need to live. We breathe continually. But at times, we might find that we need to breathe more deeply. I think all of us have experienced this perhaps at times after physical exertion or stress. We experience this need to draw in deep breaths, filling our lungs with air. We might breathe intentionally, seeking to bring in as much air as possible. And we do so recognizing that we have a greater need at that moment for oxygen, oxygen that we get only by breathing.
But then there are also other times in life when we might find that our breathing is very difficult. We have difficulty that perhaps comes in response to something that might be restricting us in some way or blocking our ability to breathe. Have you ever found yourself struggling to breathe? You are, in a way at times, almost even needing to gasp for breath. And you find it urgent, a desperate need to breathe. It's not an experience that any of us ever want to have, but at times I think some of us have felt that.
So I suggest that prayer is like breathing. We need to pray continually throughout each and every day of our life. We are absolutely dependent on God, and we demonstrate that dependence on God to sustain our lives as we pray to God. We pray to Him constantly. We pray to Him to receive the help that we need in every aspect of our lives. So certainly we pray continually.
But in addition to having a heart in which we are constant in prayer to God, I think we also find that there are times in which we need to have a more focused, a more extended time of prayer. Life can be busy. At times we feel as though we're running like a mile a minute, going from one task to another task, scrambling as it were, just to keep up. And then another task comes, and it seems that it never ends and the responsibilities just keep coming and coming. It can be overwhelming. And in the midst of a hectic life, we must not neglect to pray, to set aside time when we can slow down, and as it were, take a breath, take a deep breath and pray, pray to God for help.
But there are also times, seasons of life when we may feel our weakness, our helplessness, our inability; or when we might be facing a significant challenge or trial, or when we're praying for others who are facing or suffering through trials. And once again at times like these, we need to set aside time, time to pray to God, pray intentionally, with at times an intensity and a fervency as we acknowledge our complete and our absolute dependence on Him. As we confess our desperate need of Him and His strength in times of need like we might be experiencing. And we pray to God for wisdom. We pray to God for grace. We pray to God for guidance. We pray to God for direction in our lives. And as we do, we pray trusting in God, trusting in Him because of who He is, and trusting in Him because of the promises that He has given us in His Word.
But also I would say as we pray, there's another time, another season, we need to be careful that we must not ever allow any difficulty that we might experience stop us from praying. Although we may feel that our prayers are restricted or somehow blocked, they may seem like they're not getting through to God. Perhaps it may seem that God is not answering our prayers. We continue to pray, but He's not hearing, He's not listening. But in times of these, we need to persevere. We must never give up. We must cry out to God and keep pleading to God, pleading to Him for His mercy and His grace, trusting in Him and knowing that when He answers, the timing of His answers is the right and the most perfect time. But also know that His answer for us is for our good and for His glory, even if that answer is no.
So as we come to pray, I would just suggest that when we breathe, may this be a reminder of our need to pray, to pray to God as we acknowledge our dependence on God in everything in our life. But then coming back to where we started, as we think of where Christ breathed His last; when we pray, may we remember that we only have this privilege, this great and amazing privilege, because Jesus went willingly to the cross where He suffered and He died and He breathed His last, so that we might be forgiven of our sins, so that we might have eternal life, the breath of life as it were, and be adopted into the family of God, so that we might have access through prayer to our great God, our God who provides for our every need. And surely God will grant us peace and help in the midst of our times of distress.
Breathing. It is something that everyone understands. It's something everybody realizes is a necessity. We are dependent on breathing to live. As I was thinking about breathing, some of the things we know about breathing, we know that we breathe continually, we breathe every moment of every day. It's not something that we just do occasionally. It's not something that we just do for a brief period intensely and then stop.
We breathe constantly, regularly, steadily. We know that we must breathe to receive oxygen, oxygen that we need to live. We breathe continually. But at times, we might find that we need to breathe more deeply. I think all of us have experienced this perhaps at times after physical exertion or stress. We experience this need to draw in deep breaths, filling our lungs with air. We might breathe intentionally, seeking to bring in as much air as possible. And we do so recognizing that we have a greater need at that moment for oxygen, oxygen that we get only by breathing.
But then there are also other times in life when we might find that our breathing is very difficult. We have difficulty that perhaps comes in response to something that might be restricting us in some way or blocking our ability to breathe. Have you ever found yourself struggling to breathe? You are, in a way at times, almost even needing to gasp for breath. And you find it urgent, a desperate need to breathe. It's not an experience that any of us ever want to have, but at times I think some of us have felt that.
So I suggest that prayer is like breathing. We need to pray continually throughout each and every day of our life. We are absolutely dependent on God, and we demonstrate that dependence on God to sustain our lives as we pray to God. We pray to Him constantly. We pray to Him to receive the help that we need in every aspect of our lives. So certainly we pray continually.
But in addition to having a heart in which we are constant in prayer to God, I think we also find that there are times in which we need to have a more focused, a more extended time of prayer. Life can be busy. At times we feel as though we're running like a mile a minute, going from one task to another task, scrambling as it were, just to keep up. And then another task comes, and it seems that it never ends and the responsibilities just keep coming and coming. It can be overwhelming. And in the midst of a hectic life, we must not neglect to pray, to set aside time when we can slow down, and as it were, take a breath, take a deep breath and pray, pray to God for help.
But there are also times, seasons of life when we may feel our weakness, our helplessness, our inability; or when we might be facing a significant challenge or trial, or when we're praying for others who are facing or suffering through trials. And once again at times like these, we need to set aside time, time to pray to God, pray intentionally, with at times an intensity and a fervency as we acknowledge our complete and our absolute dependence on Him. As we confess our desperate need of Him and His strength in times of need like we might be experiencing. And we pray to God for wisdom. We pray to God for grace. We pray to God for guidance. We pray to God for direction in our lives. And as we do, we pray trusting in God, trusting in Him because of who He is, and trusting in Him because of the promises that He has given us in His Word.
But also I would say as we pray, there's another time, another season, we need to be careful that we must not ever allow any difficulty that we might experience stop us from praying. Although we may feel that our prayers are restricted or somehow blocked, they may seem like they're not getting through to God. Perhaps it may seem that God is not answering our prayers. We continue to pray, but He's not hearing, He's not listening. But in times of these, we need to persevere. We must never give up. We must cry out to God and keep pleading to God, pleading to Him for His mercy and His grace, trusting in Him and knowing that when He answers, the timing of His answers is the right and the most perfect time. But also know that His answer for us is for our good and for His glory, even if that answer is no.
So as we come to pray, I would just suggest that when we breathe, may this be a reminder of our need to pray, to pray to God as we acknowledge our dependence on God in everything in our life. But then coming back to where we started, as we think of where Christ breathed His last; when we pray, may we remember that we only have this privilege, this great and amazing privilege, because Jesus went willingly to the cross where He suffered and He died and He breathed His last, so that we might be forgiven of our sins, so that we might have eternal life, the breath of life as it were, and be adopted into the family of God, so that we might have access through prayer to our great God, our God who provides for our every need. And surely God will grant us peace and help in the midst of our times of distress.
Posted in Pastor Devotional