By Rev. Chris Jorgensen

An early version of a breath prayer is called “The Jesus Prayer.” It goes: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner. This language may not resonate with you. That is perfectly okay.

Here is a Process for Writing Your Own:

First, think of your preferred way of addressing God. Write it on a piece of paper in front of you with a comma after it. (You might write, “Loving God, ... Eternal One, ... Lord Jesus, ... Heavenly Father, ... Heavenly Mother,…”) Whatever is most personal to you..

Second, visualize yourself in the presence of the divine. You can think of Jesus standing right in front of you saying, “Name ... what do you want from me?” “Let your response surface from deep within. If more than one thing comes to mind, identify the root desire beneath all the others” (from Thompson, SoulFeast). Strive for a short phrase. Easy to remember, easy to repeat. Write that phrase down after the comma.

Finally, say the two parts of your prayer together like this: Your Name for God, your deepest desire for God. (For example, one of my breath prayers is: Holy One, bring me peace.)

To use your prayer, you could dedicate a certain amount of time in silence repeating the prayer as a meditative practice or you could simply repeat your prayer to yourself as you go about your daily life.

Now write your own breath prayer.