Breathing for Five Minutes

Today I am participating in Five-Minute Friday (back from a holiday hiatus). On these posts, I am following the one-word prompt from Kate at Heading Home. 
If you want to join, click that link to her blog. Every Friday is a new word, and the only rules are:  Write for 5 minutes.  Link your post on hers.  (You have a whole week to get your post up.)
   It's pretty cool, and I find a new blog every week. (Now if only I would make the time to revisit more often during the week.)

This week's one-word is "Breathe".
 
Timer starting...
 
I do a lot of yoga. A big part of that is focusing on your breath. So I've learned a thing or two.

I also meditate, and focusing on your breath is the best way to clear your mind. "Breathe in...breathe out..." doesn't really count as a thought, and focusing there helps random thoughts to pass on through instead of lingering.

Oddly, I don't hear a lot of talk about meditation among my Christian friends and family - maybe without the "Prayer and" before it, "meditation" sounds too Eastern, too Buddhist or Hindu or Eastern. I look at meditation as the oft-forgotten side of prayer.

If prayer is a conversation with God, why do we do all the talking? A few years ago, I realized that, when I meditate: when I breathe, sit still, and quiet my inner voice, I can listen more freely to God's part of our conversation. 

We are blessed to serve a God who wants to be an integral part of our daily lives. He listens, yes, and He will guide, if we just stop, breathe, and hear Him.

Stop Timer.