*SIGH*
June 2, 2020Sigh.
This wasn’t my intention. For my first post, I imagined that I would write something light and inviting, maybe even a bit funny. This is a place of community and encouragement. It is not political or divisive or judgmental. But with everything being piled on our hearts at this moment – the unknowns of Coronavirus, the ugliness of racism, the peaceful protests turned violent, the isolation of shelter in place orders and the politicizing of it all – that’s not how my heart has been feeling lately. And this is a place of truth and sharing how we really feel. And so I sigh.
A friend recently shared with me that a sigh is a complete prayer. She said that whenever she’s with someone and they sigh, she tells them that she hears their prayer. It’s a prayer that our souls speak when we are too anxious or burdened to form prayers in our minds or to put the words together that make sense of what is going on inside us. It’s automatic and it tells the truth of how we’re really feeling. It is, in it’s most basic form, a prayer…an opening of our hearts that we can all identify with. In Psalm 38:9, David, in despair over all he has done, cries out to the Lord saying, “Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.”
Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You. Psalm 38:9
“And my sighing is not hidden from You.” God sees our hearts and hears our unspoken prayers. He knows when our hearts are burdened. Before we are even able to verbalize how we are feeling, He knows what we need. He hears the sacred prayers of our sighs.
So now, whenever I sigh and my heart is weary, I try (“try” being the key word) to take a moment for prayer. A simple breath prayer to follow the sigh. I take a deep breath in and a slow exhale (just like a sigh) and say whatever comes to mind…”Thank you Lord,” “Dear God, please help me,” “Thank you for knowing me,” “Help me to learn and understand.” The words are not what’s important…rather it’s our hearts and the burdens that are weighing them down…and knowing that we can lift them up to a God who listens and cares.
When we sigh, let’s simply add an “Amen” to the end of it and place all that is weighing heavily on our hearts and souls before God…even the ones too big to put into words. He knows our hearts and hears our prayers, even when we can’t form them in our minds. Thankfully, He listens to our heart prayers, our sacred sighs.
What is on your heart today?
What are some breath prayers you could turn to the next time you sigh?
Love this and the notion of transforming our sighs to a breath prayer. I will try this too! What a reassuring message that God knows us better than we know ourselves. Thank you for this reminder!
Erin, I hear your prayer! I’m so very excited for you and so very proud of your leap of faith to share your heart and soul with everyone interested. You have blessed me so many times with your caring, words of hope and comfort. I love being in your bible studies… love you friend! Can’t wait to read your next post!
A sigh is a deep intake of air and a release. One phrase I learned from our Libertyville UMC was on the intake, day the words meaningful to you. Example: I am at peace. On the exhale: with the Lord.
With so many things that may cause us to sigh these days, it is reassuring to know that we are not alone on our journey. Thank you for sharing what you have learned on your journey.
Thanks Erin – very intuitive, as we usually think of our sighs as just weariness and don’t always delve into them to look at what is behind the sigh! Your advice is good – breathe in – breathe out – whisper a sentence prayer to the One who sees and knows us, and move forward to do the next thing.
Thank you Erin , just what I needed to hear today!