A friend of mine, Joe, recently shared a part of faith that I have never learned before. He was speaking at the men's camping trip and he told us about a thing called the breath prayer. It is something that has been used for centuries by Christians to remind them of important Christian principles and help them to focus in prayer. The way it works is you pick a task you do regularly and you decide to say a specific prayer every time you do it.
I have experimented with breath prayers twice now. The first time I decided that I would pray, "Lord, you are the light of the world. Shine through me." every time I thought or said anything critical. Sounded like a good way to change a bad habit. You cannot imagine how much of last week was spent praying that prayer. It was really powerful for me because it began to bring to my attention just how many things I say and think that are not "light". I was surprised at how many things I say that I do not even mean. By the end of the week not only did my behavior begin to change, but I began to see my attitude change also. I noticed that grace was a lot easier. I had a lot more compassion for those around me. I also noticed how much more I enjoyed life.
This week I have decided that every time I walk through a new doorway I am going to pray, "Jesus, You are the doorway to wisdom. Please make me wise." Man, there are a lot of doorways. I should be one wise guy by the end of the week. Ha!
At the end of the day it may seem a little weird to you, but I can testify that it has made an impact on me. I think sometimes we we think we are better than we are and paying just a little bit of attention helps us see not only who we really are, but also a better way to live. Adding Jesus into the routine of my day has been anything but routine for me. Take a chance and see what God has to say to you.
1 comment:
hey man...bookmarked your blog. good stuff.....miss ya.
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