Abide | Midyear Prayer and Fasting (Family Devotional)Sample

The Word of God Is Like the Breath of Life

CONNECT

Take a deep breath and see how long you can hold your breath. Take turns doing this. Now exhale completely, and see how long you can hold it until you need to inhale. Share your experience with one another.

Breathing air is so essential for life that we cannot live without it. A person could survive more than a week without food and much less without water. However, a person can not survive beyond a few minutes without breathing. It is that important!

In Genesis, we see that it is God who breathed into the first man, Adam, the breath of life, and he came to life:

Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7 (NIV)

God is the source of life. Just as breathing air is important for us to live physically, there is also something that we need to live spiritually. We will see what that is today.

READ THE WORD

“Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?” John 6:54–62

In John 6:54–62, Jesus was teaching His disciples the importance of believing in Him. He used the metaphor of Him giving His body and blood to the people. And those who would eat His body and drink His blood will live forever. Of course, Jesus did not really mean that the people were supposed to take a bite out of Him. They did not understand then that He was really talking about Him sacrificing His life on the cross for people so that those who believe in Him will have eternal life. So, the people said that what Jesus had said was difficult to accept and some even left Jesus. So Jesus responded:

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” John 6:63

The word translated into English as “spirit” is also translated as “breath” in other parts of the Bible. Jesus was using the image of God’s breath of life in Genesis 2:7 to describe the words He just taught them. Jesus was basically saying to them that His words are just like the breath of life. In the same way that breathing air is needed in order to live physically, receiving and believing in His words are also essential so that we may have spiritual life and live forever. His words also produce faith and spiritual power in order to live the kind of life that God wants us to have in this world.

Today, we have the Bible as a record of what God wants to communicate to us. It was the Holy Spirit who inspired and guided the writing of the Bible. In 2 Timothy 3:16–17, Paul describes the words of the Bible as being breathed out by God.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16–17

It is through the Bible that we get to know and believe in Jesus and His words.

HUDDLE

Parents to Kids

4–6 years old

• What are some things you need every day that keep you alive (e.g., air, food, water, love from your parents)? What do you think will happen if you do not receive these?

7–12 years old

• What would you say truly gives meaning and purpose to your life?
• During our prayer and fasting, what can you refrain from doing as part of your fasting?

Kids to Parents

• What would you say truly gives meaning and purpose to your life?
• How can I start devoting myself in learning more of God’s word and starting to pray and fast?

Just like we do not neglect breathing, let us not neglect reading God’s word, so that we may know and believe what Jesus did for us. By this, we can experience true life.

Will you take in this breath that God gives you?

PRAY

Dear God, thank You for breathing life to us and for giving us Your word that truly satisfies all our needs. Thank You for giving Your Son, Jesus, to mankind so that we can have a relationship with You. Please help us enjoy learning and growing in Your word as we walk with You and share Your good news to others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

DISCOVER

Do you know how long you can live without the following?

• air
• water
• food

Different people and different circumstances can yield different results, but generally, the rule of threes applies to the majority: three minutes without oxygen, three days without water, and three weeks without food.

How about our spiritual lives? How long do you think we can live a life that honors God without God’s word in our lives? Never be in the habit of living without God’s word!

Source:

Kane, Sean. “Here's the longest people have survived without air, food, water, sunshine, or sleep.” Science Contributors. Insider. June 9, 2016. Accessed March 28, 2022.