Breathe

You can survive maybe forty days without food.

You could live three or four days without water.

But you can go without air for only a few minutes before you permanently fuzz your brain.

A few minutes more and you’re dead.

Get this: Your body can do three kinds of breathing. There’s breathing hard - like when you haul your body through physical ed class. Then there’s breathing for others – mouth-to-mouth emergencies. There’s also breathing you do all the time – short, sweet, automatic bursts.

Prayer is like breathing. Your spiritual life can’t survive without it. And just like you do three kinds of breathing, you can fill your life with three kinds of prayer.

Pray continually. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

You figure God must be joking when he says to pray continually. It sounds like an assignment for your mom – or Mother Teresa. So how can you pray all the time?

By praying different kinds of prayer at different times.

There’s praying hard. That’s setting aside time just to pray – for yourself, friends, family, your whole world! It’s a spiritual workout that’s easy to shove aside, but it causes you steady growth.

There’s code-red prayer for others. Those are the big-time emergency prayers – like when a friend’s parents are divorcing or a family member is critically ill. But mouth-to-mouth moments don’t come every day.

When the Bible says to “pray continually”, it’s talking especially about a third kind, prayer all the time – talking to God wherever you go and whatever you do. It’s a habit as normal and unsweaty as the twelve breaths you take every minute of every day.

If prayer isn’t part of your moment-to-moment life, you can slap your back and jump-start your breathing: Just say, “God, I think…” or “God I feel…” or “God I need…” and tell him what’s going on in your heart, as often as you want.

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No lah, I didn’t write that. That piece above was written by Kevin Johnson, author of a devotion book that I’m currently reading. I came across it and I realized that some of us may need a bit of encouragement at this time of year. Especially when all we think about is to get through our exam papers and go home.

Sometimes we forget to talk to God. Sometimes it becomes a chore. Or sometimes you’re just plain scared.

We each have our own different ways to deal with our spiritual growth and coping, but there’s one thing that always constant: HIM.

Am halfway through packing, and looking forward to home. For those of you who still have papers, press on okay? You’ll be home in no time. And for those going home already, have a safe journey, and see you again in two months’ time! Remember to BREATHE!