One of the most breath-taking reminders of God’s awesomeness this summer has been delivered to me by a song called The Sound of Breathing by Jason Gray. It celebrates the mystery and beauty of God’s name.

Then Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the People of Israel and I tell them, ‘The God of your fathers sent me to you’; and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What do I tell them?”  God said to Moses, “I-AM-WHO-I-AM. Tell the People of Israel, ‘I-AM sent me to you.'”  God continued with Moses: “This is what you’re to say to the Israelites: ‘God, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob sent me to you.’ This has always been my name, and this is how I always will be known. (Exodus 3:13-15, MSG)

The name God gave to Moses was YHWH in Hebrew. It’s pretty much beyond pronunciation. So over the time we’ve added a couple of vowels in the midst: YaHWeH.

Moses bare foot at the burning bush
Wants to know who spoke to him
The answer is unspeakable
Like the rush of a gentle wind

The Biblical scholars tell us that if we look at the original Y-H-W-H,  all the letters represents breathing sounds, transliterated like this:

Yodh (Y)
He (H)
Waw (W)
He (H)

Try it! In-hale, ex-hale! It does make sense!

“The name of God
Is the sound of our breathing
Hallelujahs rise
On the wings of our hearts beating”

What if the sound of our breathing was the name of God?
Then we are praying with every breath we take.
Let us mean it.

He does our praying in and for us,
making prayer out of our wordless sighs,
our aching groans.
(Romans 8:26, MSG)

When you don’t know what to pray or how to pray,
just breath.
God is with you.

“Everybody draws their very first breath
With Your name upon their lips
Every one of us is born of dust
But come alive with heaven’s kiss”

What if God breathed life into us when we were born?
Then our life really is a gift from God.
Let us not take it granted.

The word that saves is right here,
as near as the tongue in your mouth,
as close as the heart in your chest.
(Romans 10:8, MSG)

When you are overwhelmed,
just breath.
God is with you.

“Doubters and deceivers, skeptics and believers
We speak it just the same
From birth to death, every single breath
Is whispering Your name”

What if God really was with us as long as we keep breathing?
Then God is on our lips every breath we take.
Let us not not use it in vain.

But for as long as I draw breath,
   and for as long as God breathes life into me,
I refuse to say one word that isn’t true.
(Job 27:3-4, MSG)

When you don’t know all the answers,
just breath.
God is with you.

“In Him we live and move and have our being
We speak the name as long as we are breathing
breathe in, breathe out
breathe in, breathe out”

What if God was with us when we take our last breath?
Then we can rest in his grace when we die.
Let us rest in his peace.

Life, lovely while it lasts, is soon over.
Life as we know it, precious and beautiful, ends.
The body is put back in the same ground it came from.
The spirit returns to God, who first breathed it.
(Ecclesiastes 12:6-7, MSG)

When it’s your time to die,
just breath.
God is with you.

“Cause the name of God
Is the sound of our breathing
Hallelujahs rise
On the wings of our hearts beating”

We really do breath God’s very name.
Y-H-W-H.
It does make sense.

Like Meister Eckhart has said “I am as sure as I live that nothing is so near to me as God. God is nearer to me than I am to myself; my existence depends on the nearness and the presence of God.”

We are his.
Hallelujah!

Gracious God,
Thank you!
You are so beautiful!
You’ve made praying so easy for us.
We reach you just by breathing.
You are so holy!
You are not far away.
You the very breath of life in us.
You are so amazing!
Thank you!
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: How does this change your view of praying?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you keep your lips holy!

Giving thanks today for
#601 God is closer to us than we can imagine.
#602 God is the beginning and the end
#603 God is in every breath
#604 God is in all life-forms
#605 God is the essence of life
#606 God is praying in us and through us
#607 God has done everything for us
#608 God is always with us
#609 God’s blessings are way more than amazing
#610 God is beautiful, holy, and awesome
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Image courtesy of Meliza Celeridad. Linking up today with Sharing His Beauty & Hear it on Sunday, Use it on Monday &Soli Deo Gloria and