As Easy as Breathing

The following devotional is intentionally written by a fictitious character to illustrate common missteps in Christian resources. It is not an endorsement of these ideas, but a tool to help you practice discernment. ​

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Prayer: As Easy as Breathing  by Quill Meanwell

For many people, prayer seems like a struggle. We have trouble remembering to pray and are easily distracted during prayer. Prayer isn’t meant to be hard or complicated. In the very act of creating man, God gave us what we need to pray. In Genesis 2:7 after God formed Adam, he gave him the breath of life. From that moment, Adam became a living soul. Every human being while alive has this breath. 

Each time we breathe - we speak the name of God as we inhale and exhale. The sound of our breathing corresponds to the personal, covenant name of God (YHWH - pronounced YAH - WAY). When we inhale, we are saying “YAH”. When we exhale, we are saying “WEH”.  Yah-weh.  As you breathe, you are praying to God. As we breathe, we are acknowledging that he sustains us and gives us our very breath (Acts 17:28). This is how we know that we can pray unceasingly (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Our very breath is a prayer. We don’t need to be discouraged or frustrated by struggling with active prayer because our breath is praying for us.  Even as we breathe, we are speaking God’s name.  

Yah. Weh.  Yah. Weh. 

We can also add words to our breath prayers. Choose a short phrase (5-6 words) from a Bible verse. As you breathe in, say the first few words, then as you breathe out, say the last few words. 

For example: Psalm 36:7  How precious is your unfailing love.
                                    INHALE (How precious is)  EXHALE (your unfailing love)

Repeat this until the words become as natural as breathing. You will be breathing and speaking God’s word. As the words calm your soul, you will be ushered into the presence of God.

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Now that you have read the devotional, it’s time to examine it. Rather than immediately pointing out concerns, let’s begin with guiding questions to help you practice discernment for yourself.

• What is the purpose of the devotional? 
• What biblical truths is Quill claiming, and what Scripture is used to support it?
• Read the verses in context. Do the verses support what Quill is stating?
• How do breath prayers minimize God’s attributes?
• What are the potential ramifications of this teaching? How would this affect someone’s prayer life?

Commentary

Quill addresses a common struggle —prayer can be hard. The very purpose of the devotional -- to make prayer easy — contradicts Bible passages which show that prayer can be challenging. In Romans 15:30, Paul asks them to “strive together with him in prayers”.  Jesus tells the disciples to “watch and pray” when they had trouble staying awake (Matthew 26:41). Scripture presents prayer as dependent, personal, and intentional rather than effortless and involuntary.

Genesis 2 highlights the creation of mankind in the image of God. To emphasize the difference between man and the rest of creation, we see that God forms man from dust and breathes life into him. Nothing in Genesis 2 suggests that breathing is the way in which God expects man to communicate with him. Likewise, the verse in Acts 17 is not from a passage that teaches us how to pray or that our breathing is praying. Paul is speaking to pagan philosophers to explain God’s sovereign sustaining power and our dependence on him.  

Quill’s use of these two verses is an example of “prooftexting”. Prooftexting is the practice of lifting a verse out of its context to support an idea.  As you read or listen to Christian resources, it is important to take the time to go to Scripture and read the full context of verses when they are quoted. 

Curiously, Quill does not give us a verse that would seem to support the claim that breathing produces the same sounds that are in God’s personal name. The concept of breathing as praying has its roots in some strands of Jewish and Eastern mysticism. The practice of repeating several words and combining it with breathing techniques attempts to facilitate access to a higher power. Quill uses some of those concepts but reinvents them with Christian lingo (calm your soul, ushered into God’s presence).

Breathing as praying minimizes God’s attributes in several ways. First, his personal, covenant name is reduced to nothing more than an involuntary bodily function. This pulls our focus away from the reverence that is due his name. God’s sovereignty is diminished when we treat communication with him as an automatic reflex, rather than an intentional act of humble worship. Finally, Quill tells us that breath combined with words will bring us into God’s presence. This leads us to think that God is not omnipresent and that we must do something specific to draw him to us. 

While Quill certainly means well by trying to help us with our prayer lives, these techniques can lead us away from a godly discipline of prayer. If praying were as easy as breathing, it would no longer be necessary to study examples of prayers in the Bible to enrich our prayer lives. Repeating phrases in combination with a special breathing technique may lead us to think that it is our work (our breathing) that is key to a relationship with God.  Our frustration with our attempts to pray should lead us to acknowledge our weaknesses and rely on God’s strength.

Prayer is not easy. There are not simple solutions, but we do have a sufficient Savior. Jesus understands that we are weak and easily distracted. He is sitting at the right hand of God as our intercessor. Because of Jesus we can actively pray with confidence, despite our imperfections.

 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:14-16

See also: Cookie Crumb Prayers, Biblical Meditation Part 1, Devoted Dorcas Part 1

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