Worship Forever: A 5-Day Devotional by Michael W. SmithSample

BREATHE

“This is the air I breathe. Your holy presence living in me.”

I often pray this prayer, “Lord keep me on a short leash.” That prayer may sound silly to some, but it’s a real desire of my heart. I never want to wander away from my dependence on God and start living by my own power. Our talents can only take us so far. Our own wisdom just won’t cut it. And our strength will always fail us if that’s the only thing we’re relying on.

Over the course of my life, I have found this to be true time and again. That He really is the “air I breathe”. I can’t be the husband or the father I need to be without His help. 

Even the gift of music is just that, a gift. These hands I use to play the piano and the breath I use to sing were given to me by His sheer grace.

Breathing is something we can take for granted because we barely notice it throughout the day. And in the same way we can forget that God is really the one holding us all together. That every good thing in our lives actually comes from Him.

Are you desperate for Him? I am. Not because I am a spiritual giant. In fact, it is often my spiritual weakness that draws me back to His feet. To lean on Him. To rest in Him.

And you know what? The door is always open to you, too. The Bible says if we “draw near to Him, He will draw near to us.” Every single time, without question, He will be there when you call on Him!

You may not always feel Him, oh but He is there. His strong arms are holding us up. His oxygen filling our lungs and His whisper calling us closer.

Take a deep breath and rest in His goodness today.