Breathe Out Worry

When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.

Sometimes as I lie in my bed, an onslaught of thoughts and worries barrages my mind like water over a broken dam. These thoughts rush through without caution, and it’s impossible to catch or contain them. When my mind is running full steam ahead, it doesn’t matter how tired my body is—I’m wide awake under the deluge.

I am desperate for rest, but instead I’m tossed on unrelenting waves of worry. I try to pray, only to find myself without words. Sometimes all I can do is attempt to slow my breathing and focus on the Lord.

Martin Luther described prayer this way: “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”^a Prayer is the respiration of a Christian—the release of toxic worry and the intake of God’s life-giving, undeserved mercy. Prayer is our lifeline; it’s oxygen to our souls, supplying us with life and vitality. Just as breathing enables our entire bodies to function properly, prayer enables our spiritual lungs to inhale God’s promises.

One way to rest in God’s presence during times of worry is to breathe slowly and deeply, to be still and know that he is God, even when the waters rage all around us. When we take a deep breath, pray, and harness the worries swirling in our minds with the help of the Holy Spirit, God will show us a deeper, fuller, more lasting response to anxiety.

When God created Adam in the Garden of Eden, he breathed into his soul, giving him the breath of life (see Genesis 2:7). God created the world by speaking, but he gave life to Adam with his very breath.

God still breathes into us through the indwelling Holy Spirit as we read his living and active Word (see Hebrews 4:12). To read and pray God’s Word is to breathe again spiritually. When the dam of worry breaks and thoughts flood our souls, he invites us to meet with him—and in doing so, to climb aboard the rescue boat of mercy.

There will still be nights when the dam of worry breaks. But God’s grace is sufficient; his mercy is our anchor in the storm. He is still breathing life into our souls through the hope of his Word. Deep breaths remind us to slow down and remember his unfailing mercy. We have something better than simply emptying our minds of worry; we have the opportunity to fill ourselves with the knowledge of his presence.

When we breathe in his mercy and breathe out our worry, our lungs can fill with genuine praise.

Word before World Prayer slows us down so we can rest in Christ in a restless world. When we are consumed by worry, we can breathe in his mercy, like oxygen for our souls.

Grow in Grace The next time you find yourself lying in bed, unable to sleep, try inhaling God’s mercy for a count of five and then exhaling your worry for a count of five. Then rest in God’s sovereignty and sleep in His embrace.