Breathing in, breathing out
Breathing in, breathing out
2 September 2022
Sarah Healey: National Prayer Focus ‘Salvos Field Guide’ Day 13
Day 13 – National Prayer Focus 2022
Pause for a second. Take a deep breath, then breathe completely out.
Hold it ... hold it ... hold it ... keep holding ... holding ... hold for as long as you can. Your whole body soon cries out for relief. That relief only comes when you breathe in again.
Now take a good deep breath in. Instantly your body relieves all the tension it has built up. Yet, in a brief flash, your body cries out to breathe out again. The cycle must continue for you to function and to live. Too fast or too slow, and your whole body suffers.
Jesus spent much time doing big things – preaching to crowds, surrounded by listeners, healing, teaching, being challenged and challenging back, breathing out. Yet he knew that to sustain, be prepared and stay focused for this, he must spend time pausing and breathing in. He spent so much time in quiet prayer with his Father before and after many of the events of our Scriptures.
Jesus didn’t just equally balance all the expectations and demands on him. He instead had a healthy rhythm of ‘on’ and ‘off’ times.
It’s a rhythm, not a balance. You cannot do much on an empty tank, spiritual or otherwise. Jesus didn’t juggle. He breathed.
Reflection Questions
• When in your life have you felt like you’re breathing out more than in? Have you tried to run on a spiritually empty tank?
• Looking back, how much time had you spent intentionally breathing in spiritually before this?
• There are many ways to breathe in; most involve just spending time with the source of the very air you breathe. Prayer, journalling, reading, nature, good conversation and company, exercise, or just quiet listening. What have you tried? What could you intentionally give a go today?
Excerpt from The National Prayer Focus Salvos Field Guide daily devotions.
The Salvation Army Australia’s National Prayer Focus 2022 is based on the book Jesus Centered: Focusing on Jesus in a Distracted World by Steve Brown.
The Salvation Army Australia’s National Prayer Focus 2022 will be a powerful time of connection, rejuvenation and joy as we seek God and seek good together.
The National Prayer Focus ‘Salvos Field Guide’ daily devotions and corresponding nightly online meetings will provide a deep and valuable prayer resource as we walk forward into the future.
For National Prayer Focus 2022 resources, including the guide, click here
Join the nightly online meeting at 7pm (AEST) here
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