Breathe On It

Tauren Wells' “Breathe On It” is a prayer for the Spirit to move. The first verse is blunt about the need: “Lord, I'm desperate for a holy change, tired of a stagnant faith.” The singer doesn't want a “closed off heart” and asks, “God, I need an Acts 2 rushing wind, something's gotta come alive again.” The chorus repeats the request in terms of effect: “every time You breathe on it, I can feel Your fire fallin', ain't no shackle You're not breaking loose.”

The middle section widens the prayer from the self to the community. “This city needs You, my neighbor needs You, our children need You, my family needs You.” Then the images come from the Bible. “Like a breath in the garden, breathe Your life into our lungs,” and the Spirit is asked to prophesy “to the bones in the valley, to the dreams that are dead and gone, to every Lazarus that's been buried for too long.” The finish is of wind “rolling the gravestones” and bringing peace and freedom.

The rushing wind is Acts 2:2, the day of Pentecost. The bones in the valley come from Ezekiel 37:5, where breath enters the dry bones, and Lazarus called out of the grave is John 11:43.