Genesis 28:15-17 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. // 19 He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. ESV Bethel = House of God. Luz = Almond tree. Almond is a nut. So God took a house of nuts and made into the house of God. Look at yourneighbor and say I see what he’s talking about.

The Lord is in this place, and I didn’t even know it. God is at work and many times we aren’t aware. The nearness of God is never a question. We must develop a deep awareness of the nearness of God at all times.

The House of God is the gate of heaven Ps 24:7 Lift up your heads oh ye gates that the King of Glory may come in. The House of God is the gate of heaven. 1 Cor 3:16 you’re the temple. The House of God is the gate of heaven.

The breath of God brought life to dust, elevating us to a unique and special place in creation. Gen 2:7 “..God breathed the breath of life into the man..” NLT

The word “inspired” literally means to be breathed into. When you choose to live a life that is inspired by God daily you grow in a deep awareness of the nearness of God and this awakens your destiny! 

The House of God is the house of prayer because of THE BREATH OF GOD!

It takes practice to keep God in the forefront of our minds. This is why we must purpose spiritual disciplines or practices of Jesus silence, solitude, fasting, prayer, scripture = these are the practices that awaken a deeper abiding in Christ in our lives. 

Christianity is about deep communion and constant communication with God. We become awakened to an intercessory disposition as our way of life learning to live interactively with God. (John 10:27)

Every decision is just a discussion when I’m discerning God’s desires in that situation. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us (Acts 15:28).

This is moving from pursuing a prayer life to pursuing a life of prayer where we pray without ceasing (2 Thess 5:17) – just like we breathe.

Air is to the body what prayer is to the spirit. In both the Old & New Testament the same word that translates spirit also translates breath. Breath Prayers

About 3 centuries after Christ men and women known as the Desert Fathers and Mothers went out into the Egyptian desert to pray and meditate on God’s Word. This was after the years of intense persecution when many Christians were martyred.  These monks and nuns were separating themselves from the worldliness in the church, which was increasingly adapting to and being accepted by Roman culture.

The Desert Fathers and Mothers lived in cells or huts made of reeds and practiced austere and rigorous spiritual disciplines like silence, solitude, simplicity, fasting, penance, and obedience to an elder.  Their asceticism was their “internal martyrdom” that purged their souls of sin and worldliness and led them into lives of intimacy with the Lord and ministry to others.  Their testimony to the transforming life of Christ was so powerful that thousands of people traveled to visit them in the desert to receive spiritual direction or healing.

One of the beautiful things that emerged from the disciplined life of the Desert Fathers and Mothers was their soul-full practice of Breath Prayers.  They contemplated Christ’s presence in quiet solitude, meditating on short, one breath prayers. Often they did this while sitting outside their cells and weaving baskets from reeds.

They breathed in God’s Word slowly and deeply.  Gently, they repeated their prayer, over and over, letting it descend with their minds into their hearts, to form their will in the image of Christ.

They would breathe their prayer before going to sleep at night until it prayed itself within their souls while they slept.  Then when they awoke in the morning the prayer was still on their lips!

It is our responsibility to release heaven into earth bringing the full impact of a good God and a prosperous Kingdom to a broken world in desperate need of God’s Love.