“Prayer is the breath of the soul. Just as the body without fail needs air to breath, so the soul needs constant remembrance of God, that is, prayer.”
- Hiermonk Gregorios, The Orthodox Faith, Worship, and Life, pg 208.
Reflection:
Just like a doctor will evaluate our symptoms to see if we are sick, so must we care for the state of our souls. If we ever feel weighed down by the pressures of our circumstances in life, when we are afflicted by stress, anxiety, depression, or overwhelmed we should ask ourselves, are we constricting the breath of our soul through lack of prayer? How can we give our soul more fresh air?
The moment we realize our soul is ‘short of breath’ is when we email or call the Church and ask the priest for spiritual guidance of how to build up our prayer habits.
We can give our soul several small breaths throughout the day, saying the Jesus Prayer in short moments. We can allow our soul to take deep breaths in the morning and evening. We can and must allow our soul to be nourished before nourishing our bodies, praying before each meal. Prayer is how our soul comes into contact with the Breath of Life, the Holy Spirit.(1)
When we choose to let our souls breathe then our lives and all the tasks within it are manageable, since we are constantly inviting the help of God. “In all circumstances, before we act, we should ask, ‘have I thought about this? Have I prayed about this?’”(2)
Let each breath of air remind us that we need to take another breath of prayer.
