God Hears: Exhales
God Hears: Exhales.
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!” (Ps. 150:6).
When Creator God breathed His breath of life into the nostrils of Adam and Eve, man’s natural response was to exhale that breath back to God. To exhale was to acknowledge and accept God’s gift of life, and to participate in it. Sometimes our prayers are merely exhales of gratitude. Our breathing in and out reveals our desire to cooperate with God in the business of life. We have come a long way in our relationship with God when we are constantly aware of the gift of breath, and we breathe to the glory of God. The Lord listens to our heart when we breathe, and is glad when we breathe out with thanksgiving and joy. “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” (Job 33:4).
The power of God’s exhale is profound and life-giving. He breathed His life at the creation of the world, and He has been breathing it out ever since. Since breath is another word for Spirit, we believers have all received the spiritual exhales of God as he renews our spirit. Mankind can speak with God via the exhale, and God can communicate with man through His exhale as well. Let’s look at Elijah as an example of the power of God’s breath on man:
“And Yahweh said to Elijah, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.’ And behold, Yahweh passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountain, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, a sound of gentle stillness and a still, small voice.” (1 Kings 19:11-12, AMP).
Elijah is on the run, fleeing from evil Queen Jezebel, and he finds himself on the holy mountain, Mt. Sinai, also known as Horeb. After his 40-day fast and journey to the mountain, he is convinced he is alone in his battles against the pagan rulers of Israel. So he decided to retreat to the mountain of God, and he obeys God’s instructions and goes to Sinai. He came to a cave there, and he begins to engage in a conversation with Yahweh. The Lord tells him to go out of the cave and stand at its entrance. The Lord passed by the cave with a devastating hurricane, then an earthquake, then a consuming fire. Those were all natural manifestations of Yahweh’s presence with Moses on the very same mountain a long time ago, but this time was different and unexpected. The Lord did not speak through any of those manifestations. After the fire, Yahweh spoke to Elijah intimately, quietly, with a hush. There are many descriptions of the Lord’s presence and voice in that delicate moment, depending on the translation… a still, small voice; a gentle whisper; a light murmuring sound; the sound of a gentle breeze; a gentle blowing; the sound of gentle stillness. It seems that God is breathing on Elijah, exhaling His breath of life and encouragement into Elijah’s desperate condition. This is God’s exhale that gave Adam life, that brought life to Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones. This is the breath of the Holy Spirit that Jesus breathed onto His disciples after His resurrection (John 20:22). This was the nonverbal breath of love, a breeze from heaven blowing into Elijah’s life at a critical time. God’s whisper coming out of that exhale did indeed encourage this mighty prophet and give him new life and purpose.
As we exhale prayers to our God, may it remind us of the power of His exhale upon us. And may we remember that God inhales our prayers to Him.