About Those "Breath Prayers"

" With practice you can develop the habit of praying silent “breath prayers” for those you encounter."

Source, 
How to think like a world class Christian

by Rick Warren

This is Rick Warren's advice.  Apparently, he advocates that Christian people, (evidently he is speaking to those who want to be  important, "world-class" Christians,) to practice, this thing he calls, "breath prayers."

If you take time to look up "breath prayers" on the Internet and you will see that "breath prayers" are equivalent to mantras used in Hinduism, occult practices and some forms of Roman Catholic mysticism.  One must surely ask if this is an appropriate way to pray.  One who wonders such a thing might consider that when Jesus answered the disciples about prayer and how to pray, he did not teach them anything like this.  What Jesus taught his disciples to do was something quite different. In fact, there are teachings that would lead us to believe that we are not only supposed to pray to God in Spirit and in truth, but to tell him what was on our mind and heart, to talk to him and revere him as God Our Father, not to simply " breathe" words at him as if he was some inanimate thing.   


In Rick's own words.... he admits that breath prayers are "mantras." He tells his reader:

"Breath prayers are nothing more than mantras. Say “Father, help me to understand what is keeping this person from knowing you.”  

Really?  "Nothing more than...."mantras?" And here is some more advice from Pastor Rick....

"Shift from local to global thinking "

and he says,

"God is a global God."

So... to be a world-class kind of Christian... say mantras...(to God)... quit thinking local and think globally.... and remember, God is a "global God."

 Actually, for the record here, God is a more than "global;" he is universal... omniscient and omnipotent.  

Before you listen to Rick and start praying in mantra fashion so you can be a world class anything, you might want to consider that Jesus' disciples asked Jesus how to pray.... and this was not Jesus' answer.  Rick didn't get these ideas from the scriptures, and he wrote about them not only here...  you will also find "breath prayers" in his Purpose Driven Life book.