"For in Him we live and move and have our being." Acts 17:28
You are seated on Holy Ground.
You have removed your sandals and closed your eyes.
Although you sit on a mat with your legs crossed, this is not yoga.
This isn't about weight loss or athletic ability or even mindfulness.
This is a personal prayer to the Living God. This is Romans 12 :1.
"Therefore I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy...to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy (set apart) and pleasing to God...
this is your true worship." Romans 12:1
We start with a long, deep breath.
"The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" Genesis 2:7.
The very first gift given to you on this earth was the breath of God.
God formed you with His loving hands. He took great care in making all that is "you", inside and outside.
"You formed my innermost being, shaping my delicate inside, and my intricate outside, and wove them all together in my mother's womb. I thank you God for making me so mysteriously complex!" Psalm 139: 13-14
Then He breathed the breath of life into you.
A breath that never leaves you.
Your life, His breath.
It is a gift given to every human who walks the earth He created.
And it is filled with perfect love.
When we breathe deeply our body responds. Our nervous system calms down instantly. Our heart relaxes and slows. Our brain functions at a higher level.
We can see the moment we are in, clearly.
Our breath on Holy Ground allows us to breathe in deeply His promises over us and His truth.
We breathe in this promise:
"His love is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit." Romans 5:5
We breathe Jesus' own words:
"Believe in Me. I am the resurrection and the life. My eternal life is in You. I will never leave or forsake you. I will be with you until the end of this age"
John 11:25, Matthew 28:20.
We inhale this Word that surrounds us:,
"Child, I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11.
We exhale earthly pain. We exhale fear. We exhale our grief.
In this fallen world, the air can be filled with unbelief.
We exhale all the burdens.
When we come to Holy Ground and pray, we are wrapped with God's Holy Presence.
This is the air we breathe.
As we move and pray, we pair our breath with each movement.
We begin to move, breathe and have our being completely in Him.
Prayer, breath and movement begin to dance as one.
As we move the air in and out of our lungs gently, we also move our bodies gently.
One of the results of being in God's presence is gentleness.
We become more gentle with our bodies.
Breathing into those areas we have harbored anger.
When there is a weakness in our body, we can get frustrated and angry. But it only causes more weakness.
Instead, we focus on His grace.
God told the apostle Paul,
"My grace is enough, my power is made perfect in your weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9
The grace of God is His strength made perfect in your weakness.
We breathe His grace -His perfect strength- into those areas that need healing.
Gently moving. Gently stretching and strengthening.
God's love poured into us makes us able to love ourselves...and then we can love others.
Finally, as we move on Holy Ground, we listen.
We listen to our bodies and we listen to our heavenly Father.
David tells us in Psalm 40,
"It is not sacrifices that move Your heart. Sin offerings don't bring you joy. But when You open my ears and speak deeply to me, I become Your willing servant, Your prisoner of love for life."
Psalm 40:6 TPT
Our hearts are turned toward Him. We shut the door to the noise of this busy world and listen.
He leads us on Psalm 23 "paths of righteousness" during this time.
He teaches us to lay our cares at His throne and leave them.
He untangles our minds from ceaseless problem solving.
On Holy Ground our prayer dance is a perfect balance of hearing and responding, rest and activity, receiving and release.