Welcome to Battles of
Faith, we're your hosts,
00:00:14.86\00:00:16.89
Ivor and Atonte Myers.
Today's program is entitled
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"The Art of Deep Breathing".
If you've been watching
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the last few programs we
have been talking about several
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different arts, and this helps
us fight in the battle against
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our enemy. The
first one was stillness,
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learning how to be still;
silence, learning how to be
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silent; and the last one was
focus, learning how to focus,
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and today is the
art of deep breathing.
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As you can see, we're
kind of forming a thought here,
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a pattern that will at the end,
you'll see how this can all work
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together so that we can fight
the battle more effectively.
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That's right. We've
seen in our previous
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programs that the art of
stillness prepares us for
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the art of silence, and then
the art of silence prepares us
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for the art of focus, and
now we're going to go ahead
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and take a look at
the art of deep breathing.
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What does it mean to breathe
deep as a spiritual warrior?
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I want to illustrate this
with a story found in the book
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of John 20, and in John 20
the disciples gathered together,
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this is right after
the resurrection of Christ.
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They're gathered
together for fear of the Jews.
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Christ is about to appear
to them and empower them to go
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out and to witness to the world.
And notice what John 20:21 says:
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"Then said Jesus to them",
this is after He had appeared
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to them, "Peace be unto
you. As My Father has sent Me, "
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"even so send I you. And when
He had said this, He breathed"
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"upon them, and sayeth
unto them, Receive ye the Holy"
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"Ghost. " How is He
going to prepare them
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to go out and to do this
work, the Bible says He breathed
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upon them, and His breath
was likened unto the receiving
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of the Holy Ghost.
That lets us know that we're
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talking about deep breathing.
If you could just imagine Jesus
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breathing out to the disciples,
and the disciples inhaling,
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or breathing in that Spirit.
They were to be filled with
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the Spirit to go out
and do the work of the Lord.
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In return, so are we supposed
to be filled with the Spirit,
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and the deep breathing, if
we receive of the Spirit is also
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another way that we can fight.
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That's right. Now, I
want to jump to another verse,
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it's Job 32:8, Atonte, I'm
going to ask you to read that
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because there is another reason,
there is something that Jesus
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wanted the disciples to
understand when He did this.
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- So go ahead and read Job
32:8. - It says: "But there is"
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"a Spirit in man, and the
inspiration of the Almighty"
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- "giveth them understanding.
" - Okay, we know that according
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to this verse the Bible
says that a spirit, actually,
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the margin actually says
"The breath of the Almighty"
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"giveth understanding", so
when Jesus breathed upon these
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disciples, Jesus, He is God,
there was something that Jesus
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wanted the disciples to
understand, and what was
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that thing? The
Bible tells us in
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Zechariah 4: "Not by might, nor
by power, but by My Spirit, "
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"sayeth the Lord. " They
were to go out and conquer
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not by might, not by
power, but by the indwelling of
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the Spirit of God within their
lives. This is how they were
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to go forth and
conquer in the name of Christ.
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That's right, and it's
interesting, that same verse in
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the Amplified version says
"But there is a vital force, "
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"a spirit of intelligence
in man, and the breath of"
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"the Almighty gives
men understanding. "
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That's right, and we're going
to look at another translation,
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the Revised version says "the
breath", or "the inspiration"
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"of the Almighty
giveth understanding. "
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Now, when we use that word
"inspiration", another word
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that we can use in its place
is inhalation. When you inhale,
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take deep inspirations
of breath, you're saying
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"take a deep breath, inhale
deeply". It's interesting that
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as we consider this art of
deep breathing, that what God is
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trying to say to us as
Christians is that we are
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to be breathing in deep the
Spirit of God, and in breathing
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in deep that Spirit,
that empowers us to go forward
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and to conquer not by might,
nor by power, but by His Spirit.
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- And breathing deep is prayer.
- That's right, if you take
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a look at the book of Acts
2, and we know what event took
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place, in Acts 2 the Bible
says the disciples were gathered
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together, it was on the day
of Pentecost, and then there
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fell from heaven the
sound of a mighty rushing wind.
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Incredibly enough, that word
of "wind" is actually the word
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"breath", so what were
the disciples doing on the day
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of Pentecost? They were praying.
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- They were breathing deep.
- They were seeking the Spirit
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of God, they were in earnest,
and deep prayer, and in answer
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to that earnest and deep prayer
the Bible says that the breath
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of God, the Spirit of
God, the wind of God fell on
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the disciples and filled
them with the Holy Spirit.
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And from this infilling of
the Holy Spirit the disciples
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went forth, conquering,
and to conquer, they went forth
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to spread the gospel
message. In the very same sense,
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as Christian warriors we
must understand this art of deep
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breathing. What does
it mean to be filled with
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the Spirit of God? As
you said, deep breathing
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is really symbolic of
prayer, and we, as Christians,
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ought to be taking in the deep
Spirit of God, we ought to be
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drinking it in, we ought to
be spending that time in prayer
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that takes us deeper
than we have been before,
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- and the things of God. -
This is not your quick, fast,
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"let me get kinda up late, in
a rush, bustle" kind of prayer.
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These other arts prepare
you for this type of prayer,
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first you have to be still, you
have to learn how to be silent,
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focus, and then you'll be
able to have deep breathing,
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prayer that actually connects
you to God, where you're not
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just rushing around, not
focusing and things like that.
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You know, it's interesting
that as you look at Pentecost,
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they were gathered together
for 10 days, and the Bible does
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not record any account of
preaching per se, going on,
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what were the disciples doing?
They were gathered together
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and they were praying,
and praying, and praying.
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Now that's what I would
call deep breathing, they were
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into deep prayer. Can
you imagine what it would
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be like if all the churches
were to gather together in their
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various churches for
10 nights to do nothing
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but prayer,
even for just 1 hour.
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All the churches around
the world, they were gathered
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together and prayed for 10 days,
I believe that we would see,
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and we could very well see,
the beginnings of that later
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rain, because that deep
breathing, the disciples
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gathering together and
praying in the way they pray
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is what brought about that
incredible revival in the days
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of Pentecost, and that's what
will bring about the incredible
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revival in the last days, but
the problem is that we are not,
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as Christians, used to deep
breathing, so we have no power
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in our fight, we have no power.
In fact, if you're breathing is
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shallow, you have poor
circulation, you don't have
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a lot of energy, breathing
deep gives a person energy,
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and this is what we're talking
about when we say the Christian
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must learn the art of breathing
deep. Be still, be silent,
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focus and breath deep, allow
the Spirit of God to fill us,
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to enter into our lives, to
direct our thoughts and this
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is where we begin to
really experience the victory
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- in our conflicts. -
And again, all of this takes
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time. You're not going to
breathe deep in a 5 minute
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prayer session, or even
a 10 minute prayer session,
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it takes time, and again,
these are lifestyle changes.
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When we're talking about being
in a war, and needing to learn
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how to fight, we need to be
diligent students and to learn
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of Jesus, so that He
can teach so that we can be
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victorious, it is the only way
we're going to beat our enemy.
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Because Satan is coming at
us at so many different angles,
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and with so many different
attacks, we have to have
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this type of power to be
able to fight in this way,
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and God is the only one
who can teach us how to do it.
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That's right. You know, deep
breathing is a sign of life.
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If you're not breathing you're
dead, and the same is true
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with prayer, if you're not
praying you're spiritually dead.
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Prayer is a vital sign for
a Christian warrior, you look
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at the account of Adam.
After God had created Adam
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and formed him out of the dust,
Adam was not alive, not until
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the Bible says God bent over
and breathed into his nostrils
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the breath of life, and
that is exactly what prayer is,
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it is the breath of
life, filling us with the life
00:10:03.33\00:10:07.71
of Jesus Christ.
We receive that life
00:10:07.74\00:10:10.41
through prayer. As we
sit, and as we learn to pray,
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and to pray long, and to pray
hard, and to pray earnestly,
00:10:14.40\00:10:18.47
to hear the voice of God,
something happens in that moment
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of prayer, in that time
of prayer, the life of Christ
00:10:22.24\00:10:25.72
is given to us in a
very special way, and we are,
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as it were, filled with power.
Now, it's interesting that
00:10:29.31\00:10:32.89
in New Age circles they
will meditate, and meditate
00:10:32.92\00:10:36.95
for hours to be filled
with some kind of spirit.
00:10:36.98\00:10:40.32
I believe that that is a
direct counterfeit of what
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the Christian ought to be
doing, a direct counterfeit of
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the truth, because God tells
us that ought to be praying,
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that we ought to be praying
diligently, praying fervently,
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and as we pray we would be
filled with the Spirit of God,
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and remember, how are
we going to conquer self?
00:10:58.20\00:11:00.70
Not by might, nor by
power, but by His Spirit.
00:11:00.73\00:11:05.78
We need to learn how to deep
breathe. We were just talking
00:11:05.81\00:11:10.40
a short while ago and someone
mentioned yawning as sign
00:11:10.43\00:11:14.23
of deep breathing, and how often
to you go into prayer and deep
00:11:14.26\00:11:18.23
breath, not in the way we're
talking about, but yawning?
00:11:18.26\00:11:21.77
You go down, as soon as
you hit the floor, you're deep
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breathing, you're
yawning, you're tired.
00:11:24.38\00:11:27.04
That's not the kind of deep
breathing that we need to be
00:11:27.07\00:11:29.67
exercising as Christians,
we need to be breathing
00:11:29.70\00:11:32.39
in deep the Spirit of
God, that means being willing
00:11:32.42\00:11:35.69
to spend that time in
prayer, and to go beyond
00:11:35.72\00:11:39.11
the surface. When we
breathe shallow, shallow power,
00:11:39.14\00:11:43.06
when we breath deep, deep power.
00:11:43.09\00:11:45.71
I have learned that Satan is
hoping that I will not be able
00:11:45.74\00:11:50.67
to spend that quality time
with the Lord that day because
00:11:50.70\00:11:53.13
he knows if that happens
I'm an easy target, it's like
00:11:53.16\00:11:56.69
"Oh, she's going to be
blown away easy today because"
00:11:56.72\00:11:58.71
"she didn't spend the time
that she needed to spend. "
00:11:58.74\00:12:00.91
And God has shown us that
this is a weapon, or an art,
00:12:00.94\00:12:05.78
in the battle that we have
to learn, it is a necessity,
00:12:05.81\00:12:10.13
or the enemy will over come
us. Jesus did not come and die
00:12:10.16\00:12:14.15
on the cross for that to happen,
everything is available for us
00:12:14.18\00:12:19.95
- to win. -
That's right, this point
00:12:19.98\00:12:22.30
is also illustrated in the
book of Ezekiel 37, and in this
00:12:22.33\00:12:27.11
particular chapter God has
taken Ezekiel to what is called
00:12:27.14\00:12:32.37
"The Valley of Dry Bones",
and Ezekiel sees this valley,
00:12:32.40\00:12:36.92
and they're full of dry bones,
they're scattered, and God
00:12:36.95\00:12:42.34
asks Ezekiel the question:
"Ezekiel, can these bones"
00:12:42.37\00:12:45.93
"live? " And you
can imagine in Ezekiel's
00:12:45.96\00:12:48.69
mind, he's looking, he's saying
"From what I see, and from"
00:12:48.72\00:12:51.52
"what I know, these bones can't
live", but God is asking him,
00:12:51.55\00:12:55.02
and so he says "Lord, You
know". Then God says to Ezekiel:
00:12:55.05\00:12:58.73
"Ezekiel, I want you to prophesy
to these bones that they"
00:12:58.76\00:13:02.72
"may live. " He says
"Prophesy and let these bones"
00:13:02.75\00:13:05.65
"comes together. " The
Bible says that Ezekiel
00:13:05.68\00:13:07.82
began to prophesy, and it
describes the bones coming
00:13:07.85\00:13:13.34
together to form this army
that stands up on its feet,
00:13:13.37\00:13:19.51
but it says that the army was
not yet living, and now notice
00:13:19.54\00:13:24.36
what it says in verse
9: "Then He said unto me, "
00:13:24.39\00:13:27.83
"Prophesy unto the
wind, prophecy son of man, "
00:13:27.86\00:13:31.38
"and say to the wind, Thus
sayeth the Lord God, come from"
00:13:31.41\00:13:35.12
"the 4 winds, O breath,
and breathe upon these slain"
00:13:35.15\00:13:40.30
"that they may live. So I
prophesied as He commanded"
00:13:40.33\00:13:43.50
"and the breath came into them,
and they lived, stood up on"
00:13:43.53\00:13:48.10
"their feet, an
exceeding great army. "
00:13:48.13\00:13:51.84
That is a powerful illustration
because we understand that we,
00:13:51.87\00:13:54.93
as Christians, are in a
holy war. God wants us to be
00:13:54.96\00:13:59.70
an exceeding great army,
but in order for us to be
00:13:59.73\00:14:03.50
an exceeding great army
that is alive, that is powerful,
00:14:03.53\00:14:08.14
the wind of God, the
breath of God must come upon us.
00:14:08.17\00:14:12.67
We must learn to breathe deep,
to breathe this breath in us,
00:14:12.70\00:14:17.37
and it is then that we become a
mighty soldier, a mighty warrior
00:14:17.40\00:14:20.73
for Christ. And it
may be that there's
00:14:20.76\00:14:23.82
things in your life
that are like the dry bones
00:14:23.85\00:14:26.93
that Ezekiel saw, it could
be alcoholism, it could be drug
00:14:26.96\00:14:30.61
addiction, it could be a
child that you have, a wayward
00:14:30.64\00:14:34.05
child that you just don't think
is every going to come back
00:14:34.08\00:14:37.43
to the Lord. The deep breathing
can work such a miracle
00:14:37.46\00:14:42.47
in your life, and in that
person's life that you can
00:14:42.50\00:14:45.20
- finally have victory. -
That's right, there's studies
00:14:45.23\00:14:50.19
being done that show that
pollution in the atmosphere
00:14:50.22\00:14:54.10
greatly reduces one's
power to breathe correctly.
00:14:54.13\00:14:59.72
Asthma, which I used to have,
asthma, but they say asthma
00:14:59.75\00:15:04.32
can be cause by the atmosphere,
the air that we breathe in,
00:15:04.35\00:15:10.10
by the pollution in the air.
I believe that one of the ways
00:15:10.13\00:15:13.88
the Devil tries to eliminate
our breathing capacity, to stop
00:15:13.91\00:15:19.16
this art of deep breathing,
is by polluting the spiritual
00:15:19.19\00:15:22.93
environment with the junk
of the entertainment industry,
00:15:22.96\00:15:27.61
with the junk of the everyday
things of life, so that when
00:15:27.64\00:15:35.20
it comes time to deep breathe,
we're not deep breathing,
00:15:35.23\00:15:37.61
we're shallow breathing.
Shallow breathing brings about
00:15:37.64\00:15:40.35
shallow Christianity. "I
don't want to pray", "Why?"
00:15:40.38\00:15:42.97
"Because it's boring",
"how do you pray for more than"
00:15:43.00\00:15:47.29
"5 minutes, or 2 minutes?
" And what happens is we get
00:15:47.32\00:15:50.47
into this cycle of shallow
breathing, and then when it
00:15:50.50\00:15:54.43
comes time for the battle
and we lose, we're wondering
00:15:54.46\00:15:58.13
"Why don't I have enough energy
to fight this fight of faith? "
00:15:58.16\00:16:01.64
It's because we're breathing
in the Devil's pollutants,
00:16:01.67\00:16:05.47
we're breathing in his lies,
we're breathing in his agenda
00:16:05.50\00:16:09.81
for our life, and in so doing
we end up not having that real
00:16:09.84\00:16:14.95
spiritual power that we need
in order to fight against self.
00:16:14.98\00:16:19.35
Many of us, when we fall
we grit our teeth and say
00:16:19.38\00:16:22.85
"I'm never going to do that
thing again", but the will power
00:16:22.88\00:16:25.98
alone doesn't work, you have
to have the supernatural power
00:16:26.01\00:16:28.75
of God, and these arts that
we're talking about, these are
00:16:28.78\00:16:32.84
the steps, these are the
practical steps that you can
00:16:32.87\00:16:35.46
take every day.
People preach about the Word,
00:16:35.49\00:16:38.10
they preach about what
Jesus has done, and we want
00:16:38.13\00:16:40.70
to do those things, we
want to overcome in those ways,
00:16:40.73\00:16:43.90
but we never really know
practically how to do it.
00:16:43.93\00:16:46.66
Apply these things into
your life, and you will have
00:16:46.69\00:16:49.33
- victory. - Right.
Now, when we talk about
00:16:49.36\00:16:52.60
breathing deep, we do
not want people to think:
00:16:52.63\00:16:55.23
go home, sit down on
your floor, or kneel and start
00:16:55.26\00:16:58.75
to inhale and exhale, that's
not what we're talking about,
00:16:58.78\00:17:02.02
we're talking about the
breathing deep, the spiritual
00:17:02.05\00:17:05.80
breathing of the Holy
Spirit, asking the Spirit of God
00:17:05.83\00:17:09.20
to come in, asking
God to breath upon you.
00:17:09.23\00:17:12.21
In fact, in "Messages
to Young People", page 249,
00:17:12.24\00:17:16.37
powerful statement here, it
says: "Prayer is the breath"
00:17:16.40\00:17:20.20
"of the soul. It is the
secret of spiritual power. "
00:17:20.23\00:17:24.77
"No other means of grace can
be substituted and the health"
00:17:24.80\00:17:29.00
"of the soul be preserved.
Prayer brings the heart into"
00:17:29.03\00:17:33.89
"immediate contact with
the well spring of life, "
00:17:33.92\00:17:37.71
"and strengthens the sinews,
and muscles of the religious"
00:17:37.74\00:17:41.13
- "experience. " -
And that's what we need.
00:17:41.16\00:17:43.74
That's what we need, and this
is the reason the Devil is happy
00:17:43.77\00:17:47.21
with shallow breathing
He does everything that
00:17:47.24\00:17:49.71
he can to cause self to
breathe shallow. We have to make
00:17:49.74\00:17:55.44
a determined effort to learn
how to pray deep, how to really
00:17:55.47\00:18:00.69
get down, and not 2 minutes:
"Dear Lord, watch over me, "
00:18:00.72\00:18:05.25
"amen", but to really get
deep into prayer, because it is
00:18:05.28\00:18:09.24
in those deep sessions with
God that the mysteries of God,
00:18:09.27\00:18:13.73
the mysteries of the
Word, the mysteries of victory
00:18:13.76\00:18:17.50
over sin begin to open up
to us, and it is there that we
00:18:17.53\00:18:21.44
come back and say "Man, I
cannot believe what the Lord"
00:18:21.47\00:18:24.33
"just shared with me. "
It's like an ocean, the top
00:18:24.36\00:18:27.82
of the ocean is beautiful,
but the deeper you go into
00:18:27.85\00:18:30.31
the ocean the more treasure
there is, and God calls us
00:18:30.34\00:18:35.07
into this deep
communication with Him.
00:18:35.10\00:18:38.93
Nobody likes shallow
communication: "Hi", "Hi".
00:18:38.96\00:18:41.40
"How you doing?" "Great".
00:18:41.43\00:18:43.77
"Okay, see you. "
No, you can't build
00:18:43.80\00:18:45.85
a relationship off of
shallow communication, God wants
00:18:45.88\00:18:48.60
us to learn how to deeply
communicate with Him so that
00:18:48.63\00:18:55.32
He can deeply communicate
with us the deep truths of this
00:18:55.35\00:18:59.88
- war of faith. - And
breathing also, we look
00:18:59.91\00:19:03.52
at the body, it
purifies the blood.
00:19:03.55\00:19:05.95
That's right. You look at
prayer, when we breathe deep
00:19:05.98\00:19:09.67
it's a process of purifying
the blood, when we pray
00:19:09.70\00:19:12.86
deep it's a process of purifying
our lives, when we breathe
00:19:12.89\00:19:17.51
deep, when we pray deep,
that is, the Spirit of God
00:19:17.54\00:19:21.49
can come in and cleanse
our lives. The blood brings
00:19:21.52\00:19:26.06
oxygen to every part of the
body, so when we breathe deep
00:19:26.09\00:19:29.96
the Spirit of God is moving
into every area of our life,
00:19:29.99\00:19:33.75
cleansing us, purifying
us, and that's what we need
00:19:33.78\00:19:37.63
the Spirit of God to
do. Again, this is be still,
00:19:37.66\00:19:42.16
be silent, focus, and breathe
deep because in doing this
00:19:42.19\00:19:48.22
the power of God becomes a
reality in your life, and you
00:19:48.25\00:19:51.32
begin to become
cleansed, every area of you life
00:19:51.35\00:19:55.14
begins to be
cleansed by the Spirit of God.
00:19:55.17\00:19:57.73
And when you're breathing
deep then you start to get
00:19:57.76\00:20:01.44
an appetite for the Word,
you want to be in God's Word,
00:20:01.47\00:20:04.49
God's Word feeds you where
you're more fulfilled by His
00:20:04.52\00:20:08.16
Word then you were when you
were just shallow breathing.
00:20:08.19\00:20:11.54
That's right. They say that
as you breathe deep it creates,
00:20:11.57\00:20:15.33
or it stimulates your appetite,
and a lot of people do not
00:20:15.36\00:20:19.27
have an appetite for the
Word of God because they see it
00:20:19.30\00:20:21.58
as boring, they don't have an
appetite for the Spirit of God
00:20:21.61\00:20:24.30
because they've never
tasted of the Spirit of God,
00:20:24.33\00:20:27.67
but when you begin to breathe
deep and have those experiences,
00:20:27.70\00:20:31.12
something incredible happens,
prayer becomes more than
00:20:31.15\00:20:34.63
a duty, it's a privilege, it's
a desire, you yearn after God
00:20:34.66\00:20:39.06
with all your heart, and
with all your soul, and with all
00:20:39.09\00:20:41.83
your might, and all this
is a result of breathing deep.
00:20:41.86\00:20:44.92
But we will not breathe deep
if we do not know how to focus,
00:20:44.95\00:20:49.01
and we will not focus if
we won't take the time to be
00:20:49.04\00:20:51.32
silent, and we will not
be silent if we're not taking
00:20:51.35\00:20:53.99
the time to be still, these
are all arts that are necessary
00:20:54.02\00:20:59.02
- for us to overcome self. -
You know, when you're dating,
00:20:59.05\00:21:01.91
when Ivor and I were dating
no one had to make me spend
00:21:01.94\00:21:05.75
time with him, I wanted to
spend a lot of time with him,
00:21:05.78\00:21:08.38
and that's what God is calling
for us. When you're in love
00:21:08.41\00:21:11.91
with someone, you want to spend
time, and Jesus is in love with
00:21:11.94\00:21:15.36
us and He wants us to be in
return deeply in love with Him,
00:21:15.39\00:21:19.23
and spending that time, the
deep breathing will just bring
00:21:19.26\00:21:22.21
us closer and closer to Him,
and all of these things will
00:21:22.24\00:21:25.15
- follow. - That's
right. When we look
00:21:25.18\00:21:27.74
at prayer, most people
consider prayer to be a 1 way
00:21:27.77\00:21:32.88
communication: "I talk to
God, and then that's it, "
00:21:32.91\00:21:37.21
"the prayer's arrived, said
everything I needed to say",
00:21:37.24\00:21:39.80
but prayer in God's
eyes is communication 2 ways.
00:21:39.83\00:21:46.03
Not only does God want to speak,
or want us to speak to Him,
00:21:46.06\00:21:51.02
but God wants to
speak to us as well.
00:21:51.05\00:21:55.65
Very often, if you had an
interview with some famous
00:21:55.68\00:22:00.27
person and you came back
and you were telling all your
00:22:00.30\00:22:03.31
friends "Guess what, I had
an interview with so-and-so",
00:22:03.34\00:22:05.95
the first question
they'd probably ask you is
00:22:05.98\00:22:08.30
"Well, what did he or she
say? " And the same is true when
00:22:08.33\00:22:11.82
we pray to God. When
we say that we are praying
00:22:11.85\00:22:15.25
to God we are actually saying
that we have had communication
00:22:15.28\00:22:19.37
with Him, that God has spoken
to us, we've spoke to Him,
00:22:19.40\00:22:23.55
and if you were to ask
most people "What did God say? "
00:22:23.58\00:22:27.42
after your prayer time it would
be an "Ahhh, I don't know, "
00:22:27.45\00:22:33.54
"I wasn't listening". If
you said you'd interviewed
00:22:33.57\00:22:36.23
somebody famous [?],
and you came back to me
00:22:36.26\00:22:39.01
and went "I interviewed
so-and-so", and I said
00:22:39.04\00:22:41.39
"What did he say? ", and
you said "Oh, he didn't say"
00:22:41.42\00:22:43.90
- "anything". -
"I wasn't listening".
00:22:43.93\00:22:46.32
I'd say "you didn't even
interview the guy, you're just"
00:22:46.35\00:22:49.16
"pulling my leg",
or something like that.
00:22:49.19\00:22:51.74
No, God desires to speak
to His people, He desires
00:22:51.77\00:22:54.98
to communicate, and when you
learn this art of deep breathing
00:22:55.01\00:22:59.06
prayer becomes, as
I've said, a privilege.
00:22:59.09\00:23:02.89
It's also interesting that
when we breathe deep it soothes
00:23:02.92\00:23:11.11
the nerves, and that's really,
really important in this art
00:23:11.14\00:23:16.25
of holy warfare, because you
may hear people all the time say
00:23:16.28\00:23:20.37
"so-and-so gets on my nerves,
and this gets on my nerves, "
00:23:20.40\00:23:23.92
"that gets on my nerves",
and everything makes the person
00:23:23.95\00:23:26.50
angry, or irritated,
or whatever it might be.
00:23:26.53\00:23:29.55
Sometimes you say "Man,
why don't you just take a deep"
00:23:29.58\00:23:32.09
"breath, and
breathe, and relax. "
00:23:32.12\00:23:34.77
Well, God calls us to learn
how to breathe deep because
00:23:34.80\00:23:37.50
in so doing we get control
over our spirit, we get control
00:23:37.53\00:23:44.16
over the renegade self, the
self that wants to do whatever
00:23:44.19\00:23:49.25
he wants to do, and go
wherever he wants to go, and say
00:23:49.28\00:23:51.38
whatever he wants to say.
We learn how to control self,
00:23:51.41\00:23:55.55
we learn how to be
relaxed, and how to be calm.
00:23:55.58\00:23:59.40
Whenever somebody is
nervous they say "Breathe deep",
00:23:59.43\00:24:03.00
and in our last program we
talked about the importance
00:24:03.03\00:24:07.75
of remaining calm in the midst
of a crisis, and how focusing
00:24:07.78\00:24:11.79
upon Christ can
help us to remain calm.
00:24:11.82\00:24:14.35
Well, this is one of the
ways in which we learn to remain
00:24:14.38\00:24:17.94
calm, it's learning how to
breathe in deep of the Spirit
00:24:17.97\00:24:21.86
of God, the deeper we breathe
in, the calmer we will be
00:24:21.89\00:24:26.20
- in our crises. -
These are lifestyle changes,
00:24:26.23\00:24:30.64
none of this is going to happen
if we're not willing to fit
00:24:30.67\00:24:36.27
this into our life, if you will,
if this doesn't become a major
00:24:36.30\00:24:40.52
portion of our daily activities,
if we just keep going,
00:24:40.55\00:24:45.43
busy, in a hurry, 5 minute
prayer here, and a quick little
00:24:45.46\00:24:50.36
1 verse reading, not even really
thinking about what it's saying,
00:24:50.39\00:24:53.36
it's not going to happen
with that, it's like we regret
00:24:53.39\00:24:57.79
it when we don't spend
that time, when we fall,
00:24:57.82\00:25:00.75
and we've done something
that we don't want to do,
00:25:00.78\00:25:03.47
but it could be prevented
if we spend that time with
00:25:03.50\00:25:06.07
the Lord, and take these arts of
war, and really begin to fight,
00:25:06.10\00:25:08.61
because again, this is
what I tell my kids: Satan never
00:25:08.64\00:25:11.16
takes a holiday, he
never takes a break, we cannot
00:25:11.19\00:25:14.05
afford to not apply
these things into our life.
00:25:14.08\00:25:17.34
That's right. One
other thing that deep
00:25:17.37\00:25:21.38
breathing does is it
gives us sound sleep.
00:25:21.41\00:25:27.64
Jesus invites us as His
people, He says "Come unto Me"
00:25:27.67\00:25:31.89
"all ye that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give"
00:25:31.92\00:25:35.12
"you rest. " As
we learn to take in
00:25:35.15\00:25:39.31
the Spirit of God and allow
the Spirit of God to fill us,
00:25:39.34\00:25:42.70
in fact, as this church, as
Christians as a body, learn how
00:25:42.73\00:25:48.76
to breathe deep, just like
the disciples did on the day
00:25:48.79\00:25:52.56
of Pentecost, not only
must it be a corporate thing,
00:25:52.59\00:25:55.22
but it must also be an
individual thing because
00:25:55.25\00:25:58.14
as we learn how to breathe
deep the Spirit of God is poured
00:25:58.17\00:26:01.38
out and we are empowered to
do the work, not only of winning
00:26:01.41\00:26:05.42
souls, but winning the
victory over ourselves.
00:26:05.45\00:26:09.65
We get that rest that
we've been looking for.
00:26:09.68\00:26:12.99
God says "When you
breathe deep, when you take in"
00:26:13.02\00:26:17.02
"that Spirit and allow it fill
you, I will give you that rest",
00:26:17.05\00:26:22.99
"that sound sleep". You'll
be like Jesus in the midst of
00:26:23.02\00:26:25.41
the storm while the boat was
being rocked to and fro, He was
00:26:25.44\00:26:29.51
able to rest in peace,
and that's what we want,
00:26:29.54\00:26:33.97
we want to be able to rest
in peace. So many people do not
00:26:34.00\00:26:36.98
have peace. They're saying
"Well, I don't know why I don't"
00:26:37.01\00:26:40.15
"have peace, I'm Christian,
I'm trying to do right,",
00:26:40.18\00:26:44.07
but part of the
problem is shallow breathing.
00:26:44.10\00:26:48.27
Remember, shallow breathing
equals shallow Christianity
00:26:48.30\00:26:51.78
- and shallow power. -
That's right, and when we
00:26:51.81\00:26:54.76
apply this into our lives,
then we can really and truly
00:26:54.79\00:26:57.65
be a light in the world because
people will be attracted to us
00:26:57.68\00:27:01.99
and we'll be able to share
the Gospel with them, and we can
00:27:02.02\00:27:05.03
evangelize, and
soon Jesus can come.
00:27:05.06\00:27:08.05
That's right. So we want
to put into practice the art
00:27:08.08\00:27:12.67
of being still, being silent,
focusing, and breathing deep.
00:27:12.70\00:27:18.80
When we begin to do these
things they will prepare us for
00:27:18.83\00:27:21.91
the further arts of
fighting against self.
00:27:21.94\00:27:26.44
These arts are so incredible,
so powerful that unless we
00:27:26.47\00:27:30.25
do these things beforehand,
when it comes time for
00:27:30.28\00:27:33.65
the actual, face to
face, hand-to-hand combat,
00:27:33.68\00:27:36.87
spiritual combat with self,
we will not be able to do this,
00:27:36.90\00:27:40.55
it's like the levels in
any fighting system, you've got
00:27:40.58\00:27:43.43
to learn the foundation,
and then as we continue to move
00:27:43.46\00:27:46.27
on we learn the deeper
things, and that's where we move
00:27:46.30\00:27:50.15
- in this war against
self. - Amen. We challenge you
00:27:50.18\00:27:55.92
to take some time out of
your day, start today, and spend
00:27:55.95\00:27:59.47
that time with the
Lord, and He will teach you.
00:27:59.50\00:28:02.15
Well, we're all out of time,
until next time, God bless.
00:28:02.18\00:28:06.23