When my husband and I got married, we were poor college students who were thrilled to rent a duplex from our university for about $550 a month. (It was a wild deal even back then.)
We shared an old two-story house that was split into a duplex. We got the upstairs, and two frat boys had the downstairs.
It wasn’t fancy, but it was ours. And it was more than enough.
We found furniture at the thrift store and repurposed it. We put wedding pictures in frames and bought a small bistro table that would fit in the kitchen. (We ate the top of our wedding cake there on our first anniversary.)
Somehow we managed to fit a bed, a desk, and a small plastic dresser in the bedroom. (You could touch all three at once.) The entire home was about the size of our current living room, but I felt so rich in that little apartment.
Psalm 4 asks, “Why is everyone hungry for more?” It’s a question as old as humanity. We think that one more purchase, one more promotion, one more like, or one more milestone will fill the ache inside us. But the math never adds up.
Billionaires want more money. Celebrities want more fame. Even neighbors who seem to have it all keep saying, “More, more.” No amount of wealth or health can bring lasting peace. They can comfort us, but they’ll never complete us.
We live in a culture that preaches a kind of prosperity gospel. We’re told that if we just accumulate enough, we’ll finally be content. But the gospel of Jesus completely flips that script: Peace comes from trusting that God is already enough.
INHALE: No matter what,
EXHALE: You are enough.
Get Breath Prayers that Bring Peace
“Fill us with goodness,” the psalmist prays. Maybe that’s the antidote to “more.” When we breathe in the goodness of God, we can stop reaching for what will never satisfy.
May the breath in your lungs and the belonging that holds you be enough for today.
Why is everyone hungry for more? . . .
I have God’s more-than-enough,
more joy in one ordinary day
than they get in all their shopping sprees.
PSALM 4:6-7 (msg)
Have you ever sighed with contentment or breathed a sigh of relief?
We’ve all felt that subtle settling in our bodies and souls when we realize—for this moment—that we have enough. We are safe.
Sighing is one of the ways our bodies keep us healthy. We sigh spontaneously many times an hour, taking deeper breaths that reinflate the millions of tiny air sacs in our lungs before releasing a long exhale.
Scientists refer to sighing as a natural reset for our systems. That deep, audible breath has been shown to affect not just our bodies but our minds too.
The next time you sigh as you sink into the couch after a long day, remember that God created your body with built-in pauses to help you feel calm and connected.
I wrote a daily devotional of 365 breath prayers because they’ve been a transformative resource for me in this complicated, heartbreaking, beautiful world—and I think they’ll be the same for you, too.
Breath prayers are simple phrases as you pray with your inhale and exhale. These short prayers match the rhythm of your breathing, helping you focus your body and mind on the One who gives each breath.
Do you have one minute to spare while commuting to work or standing in line at the grocery store? Then you have enough time to borrow a breath prayer.
For me, practicing simple breath prayers like “You are with me” on the inhale and “In every breath” on the exhale has been a powerful part of my spiritual journey.
By simply praying (silently or aloud) the inhale words as you breathe in and the exhale words as you let your breath go, you can find solid ground for your body and your soul. These simple prayers can return you to the Spirit of God, who is always with you (even when you forget that sacred truth).
When you integrate breath prayer into your day, you don’t need the perfect place or the perfect words to pray. Anyone with breath in their lungs and a heart that beats can pray alongside their breath.
In Isaiah 42:5, we read that our breath is a gift from the Creator, “who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it.”
No matter who you are or where you are, whether you’re aware of it or not, you have your breath. And that’s all you need to awaken to the presence of God in you and around you.
Breath prayers help us stay mindful of God’s loving presence, which permeates every nook and cranny of our busy days. They are a grab-and-go practice, an offering to tuck into your heart and unfold throughout the day.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Paul encourages the people of God to “pray without ceasing.”
As we pray with our inhale and exhale, we become more awake to the presence of God in our messy, holy lives—our real lives, not the lives we wish we had, the ones we feel like we should have, or the ones we shine up for social media.
As we breathe deep the presence of Christ and then release our worries and fears with each exhale, we open ourselves to the transformative work of the Holy Spirit.
Prayerfully breathing into your day is one way to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And in God’s generosity, it’s a way to receive the grace of God too.
Intentional breathwork (like mindfully praying alongside slow, deep breaths, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth) can lead to lower inflammation, more energy, and stronger immunity.
The daily use of breath practices can reduce stress, improve quality of life, and, in some cases, even counteract disease progression.
Researchers have found that diaphragmatic breathing (deep, slow breaths into your core rather than fast, quick breaths into your chest) can lower cortisol levels and increase the body’s sense of calm. When we breathe in God’s presence, we begin to remember what safety feels like.
INHALE: I am safe
EXHALE: With You.
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Keep reading for:
a breath prayer to borrow for every day this week
a new curated playlist of instrumentals to bring peace to the chaos
Scripture to carry into the week
a breath prayer phone wallpaper
reflection prompts to help you bring intention to the week
a box breathing prayer practice to try
a benediction to send you into the week with hope
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