"Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted in the earth."
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted in the earth."
Spiritual growth can be painful — especially when you stub your toe by kicking an obstacle that stands in your way.
A few years ago, I was struggling through a trial, see-sawing between grief and growth. When I asked the Lord what was preventing me from growing spiritually, I felt him saying that there were blockages in my soul, things that needed to be surrendered to him in order for me to connect more fully with him.
When I asked him what to do about this, I felt him respond:
:: When you discover a blockage, get quiet with me. Come to me, bring it to me, sit with me, talk with me about it. Let other things go, and come to me. ... Surrender your love to me, your trust to me. Surrender your time to me. Breathe with me, and I will breathe my peace into you. ::
And so I began to learn how to breathe.
. . . . .
Here are two of the prayers that were born from that conversation, as well as an example of a "breathing prayer" that I have found to be helpful for calming myself.
Teach me to be still
Lord,
teach me to be still
to quiet my mind
to rest in your presence
and to trust that you are in control
that you are Almighty
and All-powerful
and that you are working in this situation
Teach me silence
Lord Almighty,
I know that you are All-powerful
you reign over all creation
and have written every detail of my life story,
so I choose to be still
to quiet my mind
I choose to trust
and to rest in your presence
to breathe in the silence
breathing your name
and your glory
into my soul
and breathing out my trust in you
I was advised by counselors over the years that I really ought to practice deep breathing for reducing the anxiety that has plagued me.
Deep breathing exercises generally involve taking a long, deep breath, holding it for 3 to 5 seconds, and then breathing it out slowly. One counselor suggested focusing on a mantra or a positive statement as I breathed.
Why not, I thought, focus on an internal prayer instead?
So here is what I came up with:
