By Hannah Brenchner
When I get fearful, I say a tiny prayer. It's called a breath prayer.
During a series my pastor in Connecticut taught on the Beatitudes, he taught us how to say breath prayers-- short, gritty prayers that get right to the point. You can say them anywhere and in any posture. You pick a sentence, something that
looks like a prayer, and repeat it under your breath over and over again. Not long after, the breath prayer makes a little space in your heart and stays there.
I love the idea of breath prayers. Many times, I can't find the words or don't have the energy to get on my knees and pray. Sometimes I feel like my prayers aren't good enough, as if God won't meet me in my mess. There are days when I feel like every word that comes out of my mouth is fake or forced. Breath prayers help me bridge
the gap between praying sometimes and without ceasing.
My breath prayer for when fear tries to take back the lead role is simple: Reduce me to love.
My prayer expands and gets bigger as I say it more: Reduce me to love. Teach me to see beneath the surface. Please help me to be a familiar face in a crowd, a light in a dark room. Turn me into love and wipe out all the excess fear.
The prayer is not asking that I'll be propelled into something more significant for
this world. The prayer is a plea for reduction. Make me smaller. Help me get out of my way.
It's a classic John B kind of prayer. In John 3, John the Baptist says flat-out, "I'm not it. I'm not meant to be the center of attention."
He tells his disciples that he was sent ahead to prepare the way for the bridegroom. "He must become greater; I must become less."
My heart needs this reminder constantly: You are not the center of the universe. You are not the most important.
That's God. If I want to be open to what God has for me, I must also be open to decreasing and becoming less.
