Of the necessities of life, breathing is the most important. A study shows that you can live for up to 3 weeks without food. Without water, you can go up to 3 days without it. Without breathing, however, you can only survive an average of 3 minutes.
Breathing is the act of inhaling and exhaling air to sustain life. It's simple, necessary, and every living human must do it. As is the case with many things in the physical realm, there is a spiritual reality behind it. What does it mean to "breathe spiritually?" For the answer we need to go back to the Greek. The Greek word for "breath" is pneuma (πνεῦμα). There is a dual meaning as Pneuma is also the word for "Spirit." In other words, the Spirit is breath! To breathe spiritually is to inhale and receive the Spirit. John 20 is the first mention in the Bible of the Spirit being breathed by man.
Breathing is the act of inhaling and exhaling air to sustain life. It's simple, necessary, and every living human must do it. As is the case with many things in the physical realm, there is a spiritual reality behind it. What does it mean to "breathe spiritually?" For the answer we need to go back to the Greek. The Greek word for "breath" is pneuma (πνεῦμα). There is a dual meaning as Pneuma is also the word for "Spirit." In other words, the Spirit is breath! To breathe spiritually is to inhale and receive the Spirit. John 20 is the first mention in the Bible of the Spirit being breathed by man.
And when He had said this, He breathed into [them] and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit,
–John 20:22
Every believer should be a breather.
There are many ways to breathe, just as with our bodies we may breathe with our mouths or with our noses; we may take large, deep breaths or short, shallow ones. Different people prefer different methods, but what defines something as spiritual breathing is the taking in or receiving of more of the Holy Spirit. In particular, prayer and calling upon the name of the Lord are two well-known and effective ways of breathing spiritually. In addition, singing, reading the Bible prayerfully, and even praying the Bible are other notable ways. My main burden for this post, however, is to highlight the importance of spiritual breathing and to point out some of its characteristics. Here are 5 points related to physical breathing that can apply to spiritual breathing:
There are many ways to breathe, just as with our bodies we may breathe with our mouths or with our noses; we may take large, deep breaths or short, shallow ones. Different people prefer different methods, but what defines something as spiritual breathing is the taking in or receiving of more of the Holy Spirit. In particular, prayer and calling upon the name of the Lord are two well-known and effective ways of breathing spiritually. In addition, singing, reading the Bible prayerfully, and even praying the Bible are other notable ways. My main burden for this post, however, is to highlight the importance of spiritual breathing and to point out some of its characteristics. Here are 5 points related to physical breathing that can apply to spiritual breathing:
1. Breathing must be constant.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, the apostle Paul tells us to "unceasingly pray" or "never stop praying." Is this really possible? If we only consider prayer to be the "in your private room," "shut the door," and on your knees kind of prayer, then it seems impractical to pray continually. However if we realize that prayer also includes calling on the Lord's precious name throughout the day, speaking to Him, singing to Him, praising His name as we go about our daily lives, then Paul's word rings true. Prayer should be constant and unceasing; prayer should be like breathing.
2. Breathing is automatic.
Thank God we don't need to remember to breathe! Often times I forget to eat or to drink water and the consequences can be severe—imagine how much more if we forgot to breathe! Spiritually speaking, we all start from a state where praying or calling on the Lord's name is foreign and unnatural. At our salvation when we called on the Lord for the first time and received Him into our heart, we were like a newly born baby taking his or her first breath. Just as a baby learns to use his/her lungs and breathing gradually becomes effortless, so should be our spiritual breathing. As we learn to exercise our "spiritual lungs," prayer and calling on the Lord become more effortless and spontaneous. Someone cut you off on the freeway—"O Lord Jesus." Waiting in line at the post office—"Lord Jesus, I love you." Taking your last exam—"Lord Jesus, I need you." These kinds of words should flow out of us spontaneously and automatically.
3. Breathing has a calming effect.
When you're stressed, worried, or anxious often the first piece of advice you'll receive is, "breathe." That's because breathing has been proven to have a calming effect on both your body and your soul. That's why there are so many lists of breathing exercises to calm yourself down. This same principle applies to spiritual breathing. Many Christians can testify that through prayer they've experienced an inexplicable, almost supernatural calm in the depths of their soul. I myself have experienced this in times of distress. I don't need 6 breathing exercises to relax in 10 minutes or less; I only need 1— calling "O Lord Jesus."
4. Cardio
To be healthy, every person needs physical exercise. When someone thinks of physical exercise, they typically think of aerobic exercise, or cardio. Cardio is any type of physical exercise that increases the work of the heart and lungs. In other words, it strengthens both your circulation and your breathing. The benefits of cardio are many, ranging from general fitness to disease prevention. To be spiritually healthy, we likewise need to exercise our heart to love the Lord and our spiritual lungs to breathe God in. The apostle Paul was clear about which one he valued more.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, the apostle Paul tells us to "unceasingly pray" or "never stop praying." Is this really possible? If we only consider prayer to be the "in your private room," "shut the door," and on your knees kind of prayer, then it seems impractical to pray continually. However if we realize that prayer also includes calling on the Lord's precious name throughout the day, speaking to Him, singing to Him, praising His name as we go about our daily lives, then Paul's word rings true. Prayer should be constant and unceasing; prayer should be like breathing.
2. Breathing is automatic.
Thank God we don't need to remember to breathe! Often times I forget to eat or to drink water and the consequences can be severe—imagine how much more if we forgot to breathe! Spiritually speaking, we all start from a state where praying or calling on the Lord's name is foreign and unnatural. At our salvation when we called on the Lord for the first time and received Him into our heart, we were like a newly born baby taking his or her first breath. Just as a baby learns to use his/her lungs and breathing gradually becomes effortless, so should be our spiritual breathing. As we learn to exercise our "spiritual lungs," prayer and calling on the Lord become more effortless and spontaneous. Someone cut you off on the freeway—"O Lord Jesus." Waiting in line at the post office—"Lord Jesus, I love you." Taking your last exam—"Lord Jesus, I need you." These kinds of words should flow out of us spontaneously and automatically.
3. Breathing has a calming effect.
When you're stressed, worried, or anxious often the first piece of advice you'll receive is, "breathe." That's because breathing has been proven to have a calming effect on both your body and your soul. That's why there are so many lists of breathing exercises to calm yourself down. This same principle applies to spiritual breathing. Many Christians can testify that through prayer they've experienced an inexplicable, almost supernatural calm in the depths of their soul. I myself have experienced this in times of distress. I don't need 6 breathing exercises to relax in 10 minutes or less; I only need 1— calling "O Lord Jesus."
4. Cardio
To be healthy, every person needs physical exercise. When someone thinks of physical exercise, they typically think of aerobic exercise, or cardio. Cardio is any type of physical exercise that increases the work of the heart and lungs. In other words, it strengthens both your circulation and your breathing. The benefits of cardio are many, ranging from general fitness to disease prevention. To be spiritually healthy, we likewise need to exercise our heart to love the Lord and our spiritual lungs to breathe God in. The apostle Paul was clear about which one he valued more.
For physical training is of some value (useful for a little), but godliness (spiritual training) is useful and of value in everything and in every way, for it holds promise for the present life and also for the life which is to come.
–1 Timothy 4:8 (AMP)
5. Breathe in and Breathe out
The purpose of breathing is to take in something necessary—oxygen. Just as important is the exhaling of a waste product—carbon dioxide. With each breath, we taking in what we need and expel what we don't. Spiritually speaking, when we breathe in, we take in the Spirit, the pneuma, as everything we need and we breathe out everything of what we are—our sin, self, old man, basically everything of our fallen, corrupted nature. As we pray or call on the Lord, we should have not only the sense of receiving and being filled with the Holy Spirit, we should also have the sensation of releasing and expelling everything of our dirty, fallen human nature. What a marvelous cycle! How we need to breathe!
A.B. Simpson wrote a marvelous hymn on spiritual breathing and here is the chorus:
The purpose of breathing is to take in something necessary—oxygen. Just as important is the exhaling of a waste product—carbon dioxide. With each breath, we taking in what we need and expel what we don't. Spiritually speaking, when we breathe in, we take in the Spirit, the pneuma, as everything we need and we breathe out everything of what we are—our sin, self, old man, basically everything of our fallen, corrupted nature. As we pray or call on the Lord, we should have not only the sense of receiving and being filled with the Holy Spirit, we should also have the sensation of releasing and expelling everything of our dirty, fallen human nature. What a marvelous cycle! How we need to breathe!
A.B. Simpson wrote a marvelous hymn on spiritual breathing and here is the chorus:
I am breathing out my sorrow,
Breathing out my sin;
I am breathing, breathing, breathing,
All Thy fulness in.
–chorus of a hymn by A.B. Simpson
Especially in times of failure, this hymn has been a huge source of encouragement to me—particularly the aspect of breathing out all my sin. I'm so full of sin but I can breathe it all out! Another wonderful hymn declares, "Less of self , and more of Thee." It's by this kind of breathing that we grow in this process. Lastly, I'm reminded of John the Baptist's prophetic statement, "He must increase, but I must decrease." May this be all our testimonies through our constant breathing in and breathing out.