| Bible Breaths
Each prayer is seven syllables, adapted from a way of praying by the Desert Fathers in the early centuries of the church. Three syllables are associated with inhaling, three with exhaling, with the final syllable on the rest at the end of the breathing cycle.
Often the prayers are simple phrases, using the gerund "ing" form. This helps to enter the living, timeless stream of the prayers offered, quieting the mind's activity and centering the prayer in the heart.
I suggest you post them on your refrigerator, use as a bookmark, place in your wallet, or tape to a slap bracelet. I prefer wearing the bracelet; it's a way to complete the prescription of the Lord in Deuteronomy 6:8 "Bind [these words] as a sign on your hand..."
You'll discover your own way to pray these prayers. However, in the original design of the plan, the four Bible Breaths are each dedicated to a quarter-part of am and pm, joining with others praying the same prayer at the same time around the world. The first of the four Bible Breaths is for 12—3am Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Find the nearest quarter-part of am or pm in your time-zone in sync with 12—3 am GMT and begin the sequence with the first Bible Breath at your particular quarter-part of am or pm. Repeat the sequence once, offering a Bible Breath for each of the eight quarter-parts of am and pm. US Eastern Standard Time is GMT –5 hours. Thus the nearest quarter-part for that time-zone to 12—3am GMT, is 6 pm to 9 pm; this is the evening before the day's reading and Bible Breaths.
Click here
for weekly resources from The Bible Through the Seasons which include a pdf file of the Bible Breaths for each week. Imagine: breathing the same prayer simulateously with others around the world!
Want to learn how to make inexpensive slap bracelets? Write to me at njconnolly7@gmail.com and I send you information.
May your breaths be blessings!
Nick Connolly
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