A Breath of Surrender – One Prayer at a Time

Making Room, One Breath at a Time

Pastor Calvin Cook

February 16, 2026

If you are like me and I know most of you are. Our days are filled with so much. From the requirements of life and living that have become common practice like family responsibilities, work, paying bills, eating and drinking and having something to eat and drink, dealing with minute to minute circumstances and emergencies and everything else. It seems that there is little room for God.

Life rarely slows down on its own. The days fill quickly with these responsibilities, conversations, concerns, expectations. Before we realize it, our attention is scattered and our focus divided. It isn’t that God has moved away. It’s that our lives have become crowded.

Scripture reminds us where peace is found: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3)

Peace comes not from controlling everything around us and crossing everything off our to-do list, but from staying, remaining, making room for God in the middle of it all.

In seasons like this, long prayers can feel heavy. Words are hard to find. That’s when breath prayers become a holy practice. I am so glad that many years ago I was introduced to breath prayers. Often, I find that my only source of coming into the presence of God.  One breath. One phrase. One moment of making space for God to meet us right where we are.

When the mind starts to wander and distractions pull us in every direction, I pray: “Lord, keep me focused on what matters most.”

This prayer is not about getting something done and sometimes not even about rescue. It’s about presence. It is an invitation for God to gently reorder my attention and bring me back to what truly matters.

When the day feels overwhelming and decisions stack up, I whisper: “God, focus me and guide my steps.”

This prayer makes room for trust. It acknowledges that we don’t need the whole path revealed, only the next faithful step.

And when the heart feels unsettled, when focus slips because weariness has set in, I pray the simplest prayer of all: “Jesus, give me strength.”

Each of these prayers does the same holy work. They clear space. They quiet the noise. They open the door for God’s presence to dwell in me and me in God.

I often need times of disconnect. A time with no social media, no phone, no one asking for anything. I’m finding in a crowded life and mind that I need it more and more. It becomes holy space. Making room for God doesn’t require a perfect schedule or uninterrupted silence. Sometimes it begins with a single breath and a surrendered moment. Stepping aside with God even in a crowded space to just be alone with God.

As we return our attention to Him—again and again—He meets us with the peace He promises.

One breath.

One moment.

One prayer.

Room enough for God to work.

Now all I and you and all of us need to do is to allow it to happen.

Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a busy, burdened, troubled miserable wretch like me.