Choir, Singers, Voice
Breathing by Lara Marriott
#EverythingThatHasBreath
Are You Breathing?
(Branon Dempsey) When we consider all our Lord has done, we have every breath to worship Him. No matter the times of doubt, fear or victory, he has filled our lungs with life to breathe in His grace and breathe out His praise.
Have you considered spiritually, what you are breathing in and how you are giving out praise to God?
Biblical Foundations
Here are some Scriptures regarding the breath of Life God gives and the breath we take to live: We can trust the Scriptures that He is real. The Author and finisher of our faith. The One who gives us life and gives His word.
Praise be to the Lord for the breath He’s put into our being, heart and mind. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” 2Tim3.16 “Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.” Lk23.46 When Jesus gave His last breath, it was an offering to God of His Spirit. He knew it was not the end, but the beginning. Jesus was breathing out His life to man.
Interestingly, in Genesis 2.7 We see God breathing in life to man: “Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” “And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20.22 Here, we have the receiving of the Holy Spirit. This is the second time, God breathed into man. Now, not by a physical creation of life, but by the eternal – spiritual form. This is the first time God breathed in His spirit to man.
This is a parallel event from God forming Adam – the first time; then God forming the Second Adam, who is Jesus, now breathing in the Holy Spirit, as we see here in John 20.22 and Acts 2:4,8, 38. “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.” Ps33.6 It’s fascinating and so loving, to see Our Lord care for us, more than He cares for all of creation. He has given us His breath, how can we not return it back in praise. This is how worship is a response.
We don’t give God’s breath back, we have no power to contain such a Holy God. What we give is our lives, being transformed as a living sacrifice in daily worship according Rom12.1. We live to breathe in His Life and breathe out His praise.
Every fiber in our being responds to God according to Who He is and what He has done and what He is doing. #EverythingThatHasBreath Praise the Lord!
Vocal Foundations
(Full Post by Lara Marriott) Have you ever stopped and thought about how you breathe? How do you breathe when you are sleeping? How do you breathe throughout the day?
How do you breathe after you’ve hiked up a mountain? How do you breathe when you are leading worship? Most of us never even give our breathing patterns a second thought. As a vocalist and vocal instructor it is a passion of mine to understand the importance of breathing when it comes to singing. The fact is breathing is 80% of singing.
That is an incredible percentage! Shouldn’t we as singers and worship leaders make it a priority to learn how to breathe properly while we sing? Absolutely! Here are a few tips that will help you. If you can find a mirror to do this exercise with the better. First, take a deep breath.
What did your body do? Did you breathe through your mouth or your nose? Did your shoulders and chest rise? Did your diaphragm go down, pushing your stomach and sides out? The most supportive way to breathe is to relax your shoulders, breathe in from your mouth, and expand all around your waist.
A really good exercise is to lay down, putting a book on your stomach, and trying to move it up and down, keeping your shoulders and chest from moving upward. You need to retrain yourself to breathe deeply in this fashion. When you’ve got that down and you can do this standing up, try this other exercise. Sit on the edge of a chair.
Put your hands behind your back on your waist with your fingers touching. When you take your deep breath, try to expand the back, pulling your fingers away from each other. This will strengthen your back muscles, giving you a deeper, more supportive breath. If you are a guitar player, focusing on expanding your back as you breathe will really help take the pressure off the awkwardness of pushing your stomach into your guitar. I actually prefer to focus on my back and sides as I breathe. I could go much more in depth with the art of breathing.
However, this is a good beginning and will help you become a stronger singer.
@LaraMarriott @worshiptt
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