When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. Ephesians 3:14-18 (NLT)
Take some time to focus on your breathing. Concentrate, as you inhale and exhale. Have you ever really thought about the exchange of air being made as you breathe? Think about the process. How as you take oxygen in- filling your lungs- it causes the toxic gases and air to be expelled from your body. Think about the function of oxygen and the importance of it to your physical well being! Think about what happens if you are deprived of it!
Just as our physical body needs to breathe so does our spiritual body. Prayer is our spiritual breathing. As we pray to God we are able to release all of our toxic emotions, thoughts and feelings....our sins.... we are able to ask God for what our souls need- EXHALE! As we do this our hearts are able to open up to receive God's Spirit, our spiritual oxygen- INHALE! God's Spirit in our hearts - restores, renews and revitalizes our souls.
For the cleansing power of the Spirit to be at maximum capacity in our hearts we must pray in total surrender to God... deep breathing! To sustain our spiritual life we must surrender our will to God's will. We must be willing to be controlled completely by His Spirit thus causing death to our sinful nature.
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groaning that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will.
Romans 8:26-27 (NLT)
Let us focus on our spiritual breathing! It is a matter of LIFE or DEATH!
Heavenly Father, we thank You for our life! Thank You for providing a way for us to detoxify our spiritual life. As we confess our sins and surrender our will to Yours, You in turn give us the cleansing power of Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' Name. AMEN!
