Anxiety. Stress. Worry. How can you give your burdens to God when your heart is hurting and you just don’t have the words to say? Breath prayers are short, one-sentence prayers that are directly rooted in Scripture, thought or spoken while breathing deeply. The science of breathing and the practice of praying God’s Word can work hand- in- hand to help calm your body and reorient your mind toward Christ.
HarperCollins/Zondervan/Thomas Nelson
Day 1
Scriptures: Psalms 23, John 10:14
What is Breath Prayer?
It was nearly 2 AM when they wheeled my daughter from the emergency room to her inpatient room on the fourth floor of a children’s hospital in Atlanta. Outside the small window, city lights poked holes against the black veil of night and cast shadows on the wall above the bed. A too-big hospital gown fell loosely over her tired body, and wires strung from her chest to the monitors beside her bed, blinking with the rhythm of her heart as I held her hand and she drifted off to sleep. My bed would be a hard vinyl couch beside the wall as a nurse sat with us, checking in every fifteen minutes. My precious girl looked so small and frail in that hospital bed. She was sicker than we’d realized, and this latest crisis had left me overwhelmed and unsteady.
As I lay there in the darkness of that hospital room, my eyes welled with an overflow of pain and helplessness. The familiar signs of anxiety began to flood through my body. My chest grew tight and heavy, and my hands began to tremble as I struggled to catch my breath. I felt small and scared and so very alone. I tried to pray, but only worry and fear filled my mind. I lost my words. I had nothing left to say, nothing left to pray.
As I grasped for hope and gasped for breath, I remembered: There are words I can pray when I have no words to pray, when all I have to offer is my trembling breath. A few months earlier, I had read about breath prayers for the first time and was captivated. I wrote a few down and tucked them in my heart. Now, months later, the words of one of those prayers suddenly came to my mind. It was just a handful of words from Psalm 23, broken into two small lines. I took a deep breath, and as I inhaled, I tried to focus my mind on the words, “The Lord is my shepherd,” and as I exhaled, I whispered, “I have all that I need.” Again, breathing in deeply, I focused my thoughts on “The Lord is my shepherd,” and then breathed out, “I have all that I need.” As I focused on my breathing and the words of Scripture, my body calmed, and my soul was reminded of a truth that will never change, no matter my circumstances: “The Lord is my shepherd”—even here in this hospital, next to my daughter hooked up to monitors. “I have all that I need”—because even here, in the dark, I have Him. The good shepherd. The One who tenderly guides us and holds us when we’re wounded and weary, the One who keeps watching over us through the night. He is all that I need. That simple prayer helped quiet my worries and fears. The deep breathing helped to calm the physical symptoms of my anxiety, and the prayer helped me to recenter my thoughts on Christ and His love for me.
In the following weeks, as I sat by my daughter’s side day and night in that little room, I kept repeating short passages of Scripture to myself as I intentionally slowed my breathing, inhaling and exhaling to the rhythm of the Word. Breath prayers filled my days. Sometimes I’d walk the hospital halls when I felt overwhelmed, and anxiety was tugging hard at my heart. I’d slowly breathe as I walked, repeating the words of a short prayer over and over like a steady rhythm of grace until my body calmed and peace, once again, returned. Breath prayers changed me during those weeks. They’ve continued to be a lifeline as I’ve walked through dark and difficult days since. They’ve become a comfort to me, not just in times of high anxiety but on any day, strengthening my body and soul by helping me tuck important truths in my heart and paving paths of peace in my mind.
I humbly offer these words from my anxiety-prone soul to yours as a friendly and compassionate guide to the simple but powerful technique of breath prayers. No matter what condition your mind and body are in right now, no matter the reason you’re here, I hope you will find grace in these words and that breath prayer will open the door to an even deeper connection with the God who made you and loves you, the One who rescues you and redeems you, the One who is with you always, no matter what you are feeling.
– Jennifer Tucker, author of Breath As Prayer.
Understanding Breath Prayers
Breath prayers are:
- Short, mostly one-sentence prayers
- Rooted in Scripture
- Repeated several times for the purpose of meditating on God’s Word by actively processing the words and reflecting on them
- Mind-FULL: focusing the mind on Christ and filling the mind with His Word
- Directed upward to God
Breath prayers are NOT:
- A new-age, humanistic, self-healing practice
- Rooted in eastern spirituality or pagan practices
- “Mantra Meditation” with the purpose of blotting out thoughts or repeating a word or phrase over and over until even that phrase loses all meaning
- Mindless: focused on emptying the mind to obtain inner peace
- Directed inward, to self
Today’s Breath Prayer
Inhale: The Lord is My Shepherd
Exhale: I Have All That I Need
Day 2
Scriptures: Philippians 4:6, Psalms 55:22
You Can Give God Your Burdens
Breathe Deep and Know: You can let go of the burdens you’re holding. You can trust God to take care of you.
Very often, anxiety is directly tied to the burdens and worries we’re carrying. You know that feeling when circumstances are out of your control, uncertainty is pressing in, and the future is unclear. It’s so easy to worry and let the weight of that worry weigh you down. It often seems like an instinct that is hard to control, like worry is just an automatic response to stress.
But the truth is, no amount of worry ever does us any good. We may feel like we are taking action when we worry, but worrying has never solved a problem, predicted an outcome, or calmed a heavy heart. Worry often leads to anxiety, which activates our stress response and dysregulates our bodies, and for believers, worry reflects our doubt in the care and provision of God, ultimately. Instead, the Bible tells us, “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).
What burdens are you holding onto today? What do you need to give to God and entrust to His care?
Today’s Breath Prayer
Inhale: I Give My Burden to You
Exhale: You Will Take Care of Me
Day 3
Scripture: 1 Peter 5:7
You Can Surrender Your Worries
Breathe Deep and Know: God cares about you. Give Him all your worries – He’ll carry them, and He’ll carry you.
When life’s many burdens and worries weigh me down, I often have to remind myself that God cares for me. I can give Him my deepest worries, most irrational fears, wounds, and doubts. He carries my cares, and He carries me. He has sustained me until now and will sustain me still— no matter what.
What cares are you holding onto today? What worries are weighing you down? What burdens are heavy on your heart? Take a moment to name them. Write them down. As you pray, lay these worries down—literally, set the words you’ve written down on the floor in front of you—as you would lay them at His feet. Surrender them all to God today.
He wants you to give Him your worries because He cares about you. He already knows the heavy weight that you’re carrying, and He invites you to give it all to Him. Let Him carry you and all your worries, too.
Today’s Breath Prayer
Inhale: I Give You My Worries and Cares,
Exhale: For You Care For Me
Day 4
Scripture: Isaiah 46
You Are Carried
Breathe Deep and Know: He is carrying you. You are held safe in His hands.
Sometimes we forget that we are held. The darkness of suffering closes in, and it’s hard to see—hard to see those around us, to see our support systems, to see the gifts and mercies present even in the darkest of times. We feel alone, abandoned, and left to fend for ourselves. Prayer adjusts our eyes to see the truth: in the darkness, His hands are enfolding us; through the unknown, His arms are carrying us. The God who made you, who knit together every cell and fiber of your being, is the One who sustains you. Right now, in this moment, He is holding you. He will never ever stop— not today, not tomorrow, not on days when hope is hard to hold, or the dark is closing in—there will never be a day in all of your days when His loving arms aren’t carrying you through.
Today’s Breath Prayer
Inhale: You Made Me and Sustain Me.
Exhale: You Carry Me All of My Days
Day 5
Scripture: Philippians 4:7
You Can Have Peace Amid the Waves
Breathe Deep and Know: You can experience God’s peace even in the fiercest storms.
Think of your heart and mind like a boat. A boat floats because of its buoyancy— the balance between the boat’s weight pushing down and the force of the water pushing up. As waves crash against the boat in a storm, it stays afloat as long as it doesn’t take on too much water or tip too far. The boat must maintain balance. A low center of gravity helps keep the boat stable even in high and heavy waves.
The stresses you experience are like the waves that rock the boat of your heart and mind as you navigate the waters of life. God’s peace is like that center of gravity, a balancing, buoyant force holding your little boat steady as it’s tossed about on the waves of fear, anxiety, and difficult circumstances. His peace guards your boat against filling with too much water, keeping the waves from capsizing you.
A little boat staying afloat in a severe storm may seem impossible, but a boat remains steady not because of the size of the waves but because of its stable center. You can have peace in the middle of your biggest storms when the Person of Christ is at the center of your life. Pray this prayer today and invite Christ into the very center of your life, to protect you and fill you with His peace.
Today’s Breath Prayer
Inhale: Guard My Heart and Mind
Exhale: With Your Indescribable Peace
Day 6
Scripture: Psalms 107:28-29
God Calms Your Anxious Heart
Breathe Deep and Know: The same God who stills storms to a whisper can calm your anxious heart.
Anxiety can feel like a storm inside you. Thick clouds of fear fill your mind as showers of sorrow and suffering spill from your heart, and the winds of uncertainty blow in from every side. It’s easy to feel tossed on the waves, drowning in a raging sea of worry or pain.
God is powerful. With a word, He can calm the waves. With a breath, He can still the storms. His presence alone turns thunder to a whisper and crashing waves into hushed silence.
The same God who calms the storms of the sea can calm your heart today. The waves of your circumstances may keep rising, and the thunder of fear may continue to boom, but there can be peace and calm in your soul when you focus on the One who is with you rather than the storm surrounding you.
What waves are crashing into you today? What thunder is drowning out His voice?
Name the storm you’re in; then trust that God has the power to calm it to a whisper. Trust that if He doesn’t calm the storm, He will calm you through the storm. He’s riding those waves with you, right by your side.
Today’s Breath Prayer
Inhale: You Still the Storms to a Whisper
Exhale: You Hush the Waves of the Sea
Day 7
Scriptures: Romans 8:38-39
Nothing Can Separate You From God’s Love
Breathe Deep and Know: No matter how you feel, you can be confident in the truth that God truly and deeply loves you, and absolutely nothing can separate you from His love.
The love of God is unrelenting and unending, passionate and persistent, faithful and enduring.
Even when you are the most unlovable, He still loves you.
Even when you don’t feel His love, it is still there, as strong as ever.
Your afflictions can’t stop His affection. Your problems can’t stop His promises. Your failures can’t stop His faithfulness. Your questions can’t stop His compassion. Your pain can’t stop His plan. Your mess can’t stop His mercy.
Absolutely NOTHING—nothing you say, nothing you do, nothing you feel, nothing in heaven or on earth, not even life or death—can separate you from His love.
You are safe and secure and fully and completely loved. You can take a deep breath today and let your worries fade into His loving arms. He’s got you.