I retook Day spring’s 2025 Word of the year quiz. There were a couple of options that really resonated with me for each question. This time I received the word breathe. Ironically, my husband has been telling me to do a lot of that recently. Ha! Which also reminds me of this one quote from the Hallmark movie A Winter Love Story. The female lead in the movie has written a book about stepping out of her comfort zone and facing her fears after a bad breakup. She now is thrown into the spotlight to promote her book, and she is about to go on stage with a talk show. She is feeling all the anxieties and nervous jitters of public speaking, and the male lead gives her the great advice to “just breathe.” And she responds, “Why does everyone keep telling me to breathe. Has any one actuary forgotten how to breathe?” But in all seriousness, we all get caught up in what is happening, and anxiety takes over and instead of taking a moment to pause, take a breath, we react too quickly. And majority of the time at least for me, I overreact.
This word goes hand in hand with my first one, surrender. When I plow headfirst into reacting to a situation, I am trying to keep control in an area where I feel out of control. By taking a moment to stop and breathe I can fully surrender my firm grasp and allow God to lift the burden and take the lead.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”
Philippians 4:6 NLT
Sounds easier said than done, am I right? And while this verse alone is a great reminder of stopping and turning your worries into prayers, we need to also look at the verse that comes next.
“Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
Now that provides more comfort. The more we practice taking all our worries and fears to God in prayer, it releases the weight we have been carrying alone, and we begin to feel lighter and clear headed. We then have the mental ability and clarity to move forward and plan if necessary.
Have you ever heard of breath prayers? I had not until very recently. I stumbled across a book titled Breath as Prayer: Calm Your Anxiety, Focus Your Mind, and Renew Your Soul. The title alone grabbed my attention. The author describes breath prayers as “purposeful prayers centered around Scripture that focus your mind on Christ as you calm your body through intentional breathing.” An example from an article in Christianity Today says, breathe in and say, “Lord Jesus Christ,” and then breathe out with “give me strength for today.” I love how this combines breathing with the act of surrendering to God. It is a very simple act, but a powerful one. Especially in the throws of a hectic schedule. I have not read the book, but plan to and hopefully can add it to another book recommendation list soon. If you are interested in reading more about breath prayers, check out the article I quoted here.
