Reaching For Joy // Ever-Present Peaceনমুনা

Dealing with Comparison and Envy

Pay attention to your dreams, the ones in the night when your mind is not reined in by distraction. Your subconscious shows you what rests deep within your heart. What lingers there. What troubles you. What stirs deep within that you have not recognized before or what you have pushed down, felt shame about, and had wished would just disappear.

In the night, when all is quiet, comparison sneaks in like a thief. Envy is right behind.

Connections, relationships, acclaim, financial success, ease in social situations—all can look so much better than what you have, than what you have been given.

Here, in this place of doubt, you isolate yourself from me. I am here, like I am always here, but you pull away from truth and love and goodness—and you sabotage gifts I give you, wonderful gifts specific to you and your relationship with me.

So, in the night, when the ache is heavy—turn back to me. I build you up; I do not tear you down. I free you from comparison and envy. I give you gifts of gratitude and hope and peace and a clear way for your heart to see.

Let me bring clarity, purity. Let me isolate comparison and envy and destroy them so they are no longer able to rob you of love . . . and distract you from Me.

You are whole and all together perfectly made. You cannot realize the gifts I give you when comparison and envy steal faith and joy. What I give you—and what we get to do together—can never be stolen by thieves, unless you let them be taken.

So, live with Me—where love is pure and gifts are real and comparison and envy have no place. 

I have your heart. I am with you. You are My beloved.

Exercise:

Comparison and envy are brothers . . . and they are thieves. They come and conspire and rob us of peace and joy and energy. And we open the doors. And we let them in. We open our lives to them when we decide to pursue lives of self-glory—rather than ones pursuing more of God.

It is exhausting worrying and obsessing about how we measure up with other people, isn’t it? And when we don’t measure up, we’re left with self-contempt and bitterness. And when we do measure up, we often become conceited and callous.

God wants to bring you “clarity, purity.” He wants to “isolate comparison and envy and destroy them so they are no longer able to rob [us] of love . . . and distract [us] from [Him].” To do this, God invites us to “turn back” to Him. For when our hearts are focused on God—on His love, on His truth—we cannot help but be filled with contentedness and gratitude for who He is and for His outrageous love for us.

So, in these next few minutes, let’s turn our hearts to God by engaging in an ancient Christian practice—a practice that dates back to at least the sixth century AD. It is called Breath Prayer, although other names for it are the Jesus Prayer or the Prayer of the Heart.

Early practitioners of Breath Prayer simply repeated, to the rhythm of their breathing, something like the phrase, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” In time, the prayer was shortened to, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy” or simply, “Jesus, mercy.”

But Breath Prayer can, of course, be personalized to fit whatever God puts on your heart. It just needs syllables to match the inhale and exhale of your breath.

Typically, the first part of the prayer (on the intake of breath) is praise—employing one of the names of God (Father God; Lord, Jesus; Holy Spirit) or any other term of adoration. And the second part can be a request—your heart’s cry to God. For example, as you breathe in, you might imagine God and say, “Abba Father.” And then, as you breathe out, you might say, “Keep me close.” Or, you might imagine Jesus and say, “Jesus, my King,” as you breathe in and “More of you,” as you breathe out.

So, the first question, as we construct our personalized Breath Prayers, is this: “What is the cry of your heart today?”

Now, I know, in the rush and charge of modern life, we often lose touch with our hearts. So, let’s just be still before God for a moment. Let’s ask the One who knows us better than we know ourselves what we ought to pray.

Close your eyes, if you can, and let God speak.

What do you want most from Him, right now?

What did you hear? What did you feel? What thought arose?

Now, if what you heard fits within the principles of Scripture, let it become the foundation of your Breath Prayer for today . . . or for this season.

Now, choose the member of the Godhead to whom you are most comfortable speaking. And choose the name for Him you are most comfortable using. And then simply combine it with the cry of our heart.

And this is your personalized Breath Prayer.

And let’s use it now.

But, just to recap one more time, you’re going to breathe in your name for God and then breathe out your request or need or your heart’s desire.

You can pray silently, in your mind, so you can be aware of your breath. Or you can do it quietly, but out loud. Whatever is most comfortable for you. 

And try to do it continuously for a few minutes.

In 1 Thessalonians chapter five, the Apostle Peter urged you to “Make your life a prayer.” And this practice, Breath Prayer, is just one more way you can take a step in that direction.