Episode #78 Psalm 23:2 Waters of Rest – Breath Prayer

How is your breathing? Hi friends, today we're continuing in a short series utilizing the practice of breath prayer: short phrases that can be prayed as quickly as an inhale and an exhale. To spend literal moments connecting with God. And we're praying through Psalm 23 and today we're in verse two.

"He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters." Psalm 23:2

I wonder what visuals or emotions that evokes for you.

He makes me lie down.
He leads me beside.

I love thinking about the relational nature of God in this passage, but also in so many different passages of scripture, especially in the Psalms. But here, as we look at it, he makes me lie down. He leads me beside. There's action on God's part to bring care, to slow us down. And sometimes, especially with my Achiever-self, I can think about slowing down as a bad thing. As being held back or hindered by obstacles that are in my way. But God, as our Good Shepherd, also makes us lie down in green pastures. He takes us beside still waters.

Even the notes in the margins of my Bible, indicates that still waters in Hebrew means waters of rest.

Green pastures, waters of rest. He leads me there, he makes me lay down, he brings me beside. There is so much gentleness in the work of the Shepherd, caring for his sheep in this way.

I wonder for you if there can be resistance to allowing yourself to lie down? To accept God's invitation to just rest. Maybe you find yourself in a season that doesn't have a lot of space for that. Or maybe you find yourself in a season where your body requires that, maybe you're going through a healing journey, emotionally or physically, and it can be difficult to allow yourself rest.

I know sometimes I have felt guilty or called my resting lazy, when in reality, it's what my body needed. It is fruitful in the resting and my Good Shepherd actually makes me lie down. He brings me to places of rest.

We're going into what normally is our question to ask God, but instead we're going to be sitting with this verse and allowing ourselves to receive it as we pray it. And asking God to let it be true. And if there's more conversation that's prompted through it, I encourage you to follow God wherever he leads that conversation.

And so here's our prayer.

Inhale: He makes me lie down.
Exhale: In green pastures.

Inhale: He leads me beside.
Exhale: Waters of rest.

Inhale: He makes me lie down.
Exhale: In green pastures.

Inhale: He leads me beside.
Exhale: Waters of rest.

Have a good talk.

And if you've been encouraged by this content, please share it with a friend and help them grow in their conversational relationship with God too!

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