Breathing His Name: A Journey to Find Faith Again

Have you ever lost faith? Have you ever prayed for something so deeply that when it did not happen, something in you shut down?

He turned to me and said, “I want to believe, but I was so hurt that God didn’t spare my brother. I haven’t spoken to Him since. Now I want to, but I don’t know how. I don’t know where to begin.”

Perspective

The devotional I read that morning was simple. A man sitting with another man. No stage. No spotlight. Just a quiet moment where one soul recognized something steady in another and opened up.

This man had prayed the most honest prayer of his life. He was a boy at the time. He asked God to save his little brother. God did not.

It is hard not to feel that. A child pleading for more time with his brother. You can almost hear the prayer. You can see the tears. Then the coffin. The grief on his parents’ faces. The confusion. The anger. Despite his faith, the outcome did not change.

We may not share his exact story, but most of us know what it feels like to pray and not get what we asked for. If we have lived long enough, we have likely had a season where we drifted. Maybe it felt easier to ignore God than wrestle with Him. Maybe walking away felt safer than staying in the tension.

I have had seasons like that. Not because I stopped believing, but because life got complicated and I did not want to sit with hard questions. Looking back, I can see that the Spirit never left. I just stopped paying attention.

So how do you find faith again?

You will not forget the past. But you do not have to let it hold you hostage. There are lessons there. There is growth there. But God is not asking you to relive that season. He is asking for this one.

He wants to walk with you now. Not as a distant idea, but as Father. Not as a concept, but as guide. We are all on our way Home.

Some of us feel it in our bodies. Health issues. Fatigue. The quiet reminders that time is not guaranteed. Truthfully, none of us know how many days we have. Only God does. Maybe He gives glimpses. But no calendar invites.

If we are on our way Home, why not let the One who made us guide us there? Why not trust the Father who has been with us from the beginning. The One who carried us through more than we realized. Maybe finding faith again is not about going back. Maybe it is about finally surrendering.

I once met a man who taught me something I will never forget.

We were in a hospital waiting room. I did not know the outcome of the person I was waiting for. Neither did he. He wore a hat that said something like “Praise God.” I cannot remember the exact words, but it caught my eye. I asked who he was there for. His mother. She had been shot and was in surgery.

He told me she was a woman of deep faith. He was not. He had gotten involved with drugs early in life. Through his mother’s prayers, he eventually got clean. As he told me this, he wept. “This is my fault,” he said. “This is my payback.”

I told him God was not punishing him. God was inviting him. Then he asked me something I will never forget.

“Do you know when you take a deep breath, you say God’s name?”

I shook my head.

So we did it together.

Inhale. Yah.

Exhale. Weh.

Yahweh.

It still gives me chills.

I never saw that man again. I do not know if his mother survived. But a former addict sitting in a hospital waiting room reminded me that every breath is a gift. Every breath speaks His name.

Finding faith is not about having all the answers. It is about surrender. Letting God do His work in you and through you. Trusting that even when you do not understand the path, you are not walking it alone.

So now, slow down. Take a deep breath. Speak His name. And find faith again.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, You are worthy of our trust and our surrender. We want to give You everything, yet our humanity holds us back. Teach us to trust You more. Help us not just believe in Jesus, but follow Him. Shape our hearts. Steady our steps. Draw us close to You and guide us Home. Protect our families and those we love. We place our lives in Your hands. In Jesus’ name, Amen.