What Are You Breathing In?

Right now, as you read this post, there is one thing you are doing that you probably just take for granted. Assuming you have no medical condition that limits this necessary function, it just happens without you even thinking about it. You guessed it, breathing.

Technically speaking, breathing is called is external respiration, or in other words, the exchange of gases. In simple terms, respiration occurs by breathing. We inhale to deliver oxygen to our lungs, and we exhale to send carbon dioxide out of our bodies. The respiration rate for an average adult at rest is 12 to 20 breaths per minute. When your circulatory system transports these gases to and from your cells, cellular respiration occurs. Over-breathing is called hyperventilation and under-breathing, hypoventilation, both of which cause distress to your body.    

Other than sustaining life, breathing has other important functions as well. For example, speech and speaking are directly related to breathing. A normal speech pattern is first inhalation to fill your lungs with air then speak during exhalation. If you know me then you know I have a speech impediment. Unlike many speech impediments, mine is not a mechanical defect. Instead, somewhere during my developmental stage I began trying to speak while inhaling. Go ahead, try it, how does that work for you? And to compensate, throughout the years, I formed improper habits, none of which make for “normal” or easy-flowing speech.

Just as breathing on a human level is necessary for physical life, spiritual breathing is necessary in order to interact with the Holy Spirit. To breathe physically is to take in air containing oxygen to facilitate energy production. To breathe spiritually is to interact with (“breathe”) the Holy Spirit, and thereby, living by (producing “energy”) the Spirit.

The most common reference to “God’s Spirit” and “Holy Spirit” in Scripture comes from the Hebrew word “ruach” and the Greek word “pneuma.” The biblical language uses these words in three ways: spirit, wind, breath. The Old Testament uses “ruach” as a name of God, for example Ruach Elohim as the Spirit of God, Ruach Adonia as Spirit of the Lord. Job 33:4 says this: The Spirit of God (Ruach-El) has made me, the breath of the Almighty gives me life. The New Testament uses “pneuma” close to 380 times when referring to the Holy Spirit. And today we have words like pneumonia (infection in the lung’s air sacs) or pneumatic air cylinder (operated by air/gas under pressure). In theology, pneumatology is the study of the Holy Spirit.  

The breath in a person is the most obvious sign they are alive. Without the air we breathe, we are dead.

So, I ask – Are you spiritually alive, breathing in the presence of God, filling your lungs with the His Spirit? Why not ask the Spirit of God to give you life today, then ask again tomorrow, the next day, and every day after that. Let me end with these lyrics from the song “Breathe,” written by Marie Barnett – “This is the air I breathe, this is the air I breathe, your holy presence, living in me.”

If you are encouraged by this or any of my writings, you can subscribe to be notified by email when I post something new. To subscribe, click here. Once you put in your email address you will then get an email confirming that you wish to subscribe. Thank you.