Stop trying to survive on a spiritual vacuum. If you feel exhausted, stagnant, or overwhelmed, the issue might be your “respiration.”
Charles Spurgeon famously noted that asking whether Bible reading or prayer is more important is like asking, “Which is more important, breathing in or breathing out?” For the believer, Christ is our Bread, our Water, and our very Breath. But how do we maintain this vital cycle?
1. The Inhale: Sanctified by the Word
To live, we must take in. We cannot “exhale” prayer or a godly witness if we haven’t first “inhaled” the truth of God.
In 1 Timothy 4:13, Paul gives the command for our spiritual intake:
“Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.”
This isn’t just an academic study; it is a means of survival. When we bring our daily needs and our food before God, 1 Timothy 4:5 tells us how that life becomes holy:
“For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”
The Lesson: You cannot separate the two. The Word provides the “oxygen” (doctrine), and prayer is the act of breathing it in to sanctify every part of your earthly existence.
2. The Hold: Integrity and Sound Doctrine
A healthy body doesn’t just breathe; it protects its lungs. To stay “contextually sound” in a world of “vain talkers,” we must hold our breath—not by stopping, but by holding fast.
Titus 1:9 provides the defensive posture of a mature believer:
“Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.”
Whether you are a man or woman, young or old, your ability to stand firm depends on how tightly you “hold” the Bread of Life. If you don’t hold the Word, the world will fill your lungs with smoke.
3. The Exhale: A Living Example
Prayer is communication in agreement with God. It is the “exhale” of a soul that has been filled by the Word. This outward expression defines our influence on others.
Paul encourages the young (and the young at heart) in 1 Timothy 4:12:
“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
When you breathe out, what do people see? Do they see the “carbon dioxide” of complaint, or the “spirit and faith” of a soul that has been in the presence of God? (Sometimes I may seem like a complainer, but trying to advise against men’s traditions because of what I have learned from God’s Word. You?)
4. The Source: Mercy, Not Mechanics
Finally, we must remember that we don’t breathe to earn our place in the Kingdom. We breathe because the Spirit has made us alive.
Titus 3:5 reminds us:
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”
Because we are saved by mercy, we are commanded to avoid the “unprofitable and vain” breath-wasters of the world. Titus 3:8-9 tells us to be “careful to maintain good works” but to “avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions.”
The Encouragement: Don’t waste your breath on arguments that don’t matter. Focus on the “mercy” that saved you. Inhale the Word, exhale your prayers, and let the “renewing of the Holy Ghost” keep you vibrant. Fundamentals