Prayer shouldn’t be a lot of work. It can be as simple as breathing. In fact, you might consider this. Make your breath a prayer.
Sit in a quiet place. Take a deep breath, let it out. Breathe again, let it out. Then imagine that each breath is a prayer.
Remember how Paul said that if you don’t know the words for prayer, let the Spirit do the praying for you. “We don’t know what we should pray, but the Spirit itself pleads our case with unexpressed groans” (Romans 8:26). The Spirit is a breath, like God’s breath that He first breathed into Adam when he was created.
I often get all tangled up in my thoughts when I’m praying, a thousand ideas racing through my head, demanding attention. They all seem to be waving at me, sometimes pulling me in a thousand different directions.
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Then I take a deep breath. Breathe out, breathe in. And imagine that as my prayer. Prayer that is beyond words. Prayer that is no work at all.
People think prayer is hard. They wonder if they’re doing it right.
I like to tell them that you can’t go wrong with prayer. There is no failing at it. There are tons of prayers in the Bible if you need some inspiration, like the prayer that He gave to the disciples, “Our Father, who art in heaven…” Or read the psalms with all their beautiful imagery.
But don’t be intimidated by any of that. Just say what’s on your mind. Prayer is the only thing I can think of where trying is doing. Trying to pray is to pray.
Take that deep breath. Take it whenever you need it. The breath of God is breathing through you as Jesus is moving in us and through us.
It is the breath of life.
