Episode #79 Psalm 23:3 He Restores Your Soul- Breath Prayer

Welcome to our series of breath prayers as we align our physical bodies and our breathing with the prayers that we are praying. And I am so excited to have you join me for these next few minutes of having uncommon conversations with God in the everyday moments of our day.

And if you are new to the concept of breath prayer, I encourage you to check out the very first episode in this series where we're talking a little bit more about this practice and how I practice it personally, and the different ways that it can help us connect with God.

There is nothing special that we're trying to accomplish in our breathing other than slowing down.

We are slowing down to engage with God with a few words. We get to practice resting with God and resting in God as we pray, knowing that we don't need a lot of words, that we don't need eloquent words for Him to want to connect with us, but that God always longs to connect. That God always wants to reveal more of his character and his nature and his truth to us. And we can trust him as our Good Shepherd.

And so as we're navigating through this series, we're using verses in Psalm 23 and for the fun of it, I'm going to read just a quick verse for us from the message translation today, which is more of a creative paraphrasing of scripture. It's not a literal translation. But I love the way that it states verse three. It says,

"True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction." (Psalm 23:2 MSG)

True to your word, God. You let me catch my breath. And that's what we're practicing here. We're taking a minute, we're catching our breath, and we're slowing down to engage with God.

We know in human-to-human communication that genuine communication requires both talking and listening. And one of the aspects of breath prayer that I really enjoy is that it causes me, it kind of requires, that I slow down to listen. And when I'm praying Scripture, I'm listening on repeat, to the things that God has already said, and I'm receiving them anew.

I'm not just remembering what he said before, but I'm hearing him. I'm listening to him say them again to me. And often, that brings greater awareness, that brings greater connection in the moment, and furthers our relationship and our connection even beyond those few minutes by themselves.

Our breath prayer for today is only the first few words of Psalm 23:3. And reading for us in the ESV version, it says,

"He restores my soul." (Psalm 23:3a)

That's it. As we inhale and we exhale, we repeat the prayer, recognizing that God is the one who restores our soul.

He the Good Shepherd who provides what we need, who makes us lie down, who leads us beside waters of rest. He restores my soul.

As you're engaging in this moment, consider what restoration you need right now. What aspects of your soul, of your strength, of your heart do you need restored by the Lord?

This is one of those prayers where sometimes I can feel him bringing restoration to me, speaking restoration to me, renewing my strength, affirming his loving care, even in the moments of praying. And so I encourage you, as you engage in this moment with God, listen to what he would have to say.

And so here's our prayer, and our request. The question that we're asking him, even as we're affirming back to him, that we know it is true.

Inhale: He restores

Exhale: My soul

Inhale: He restores

Exhale: My soul

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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