The Dennis Jernigan Podcast

In this week's episode, Dennis Jernigan shares the story behind his song,  “Breathe” from the recording, Forty Days and Forty Nights - Songs of Contemplation and Intimacy Vol. 1." That mp3 is available at https://www.dennisjernigan.com/store/product.php?c=24&p=2353 The lyrics can be found below.

You can join Dennis and the people of All In All Church for live-stream worship on the first Wednesday evening of each month. Just go to https://www.facebook.com/therealdennisjernigan at 7 PM CST. Mark it in your calendar. Worship with All in All Church - First Wednesday of each month.

Daily Devotions for Kingdom Seekers, Vol. 3 is available at https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Devotions-Kingdom-Seekers-Vol-ebook/dp/B081K8TZLX

Check out my Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/DennisJernigan and read through the various tiers of support and discover the myriad of benefits you will receive based on the level of support you choose. If you're willing, go ahead and sign up!

You will find the show notes and lyrics below:

Welcome to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast. The purpose of this podcast is to help you find healing for your wounds; find hope in your despair; find intimacy in your loneliness; find refuge from the storms of life; Basically, to help you find a deeper walk with Jesus. There is one thing I know after having lived all these years: God wastes nothing. Not our sorrows. Not our wounds. Not even our failures.
Hey there, I'm Dennis Jernigan, your host, and I'm excited to unveil the story behind my song, “Breathe” from the recording, Forty Days and Forty Nights - Songs of Contemplation and Intimacy Vol. 1.
As I shared last week, in the year 2010,  I felt led to embark on something I had never experienced in my life…a forty day fast. Always marveling at those who had accomplished such a feat…marveling at, while at the same time,  considering those who had completed a forty-day fast somewhere between ‘hero’ and ‘eccentric’…I woke one day feeling compelled to begin my own journey of a forty-day fast. Little did I know that God would speak to me in such profound ways and so radically re-order my life in the process.
Having just gone through 3 years of grief and sorrow at the loss of relationship with several friends…reeling from the dramatic downturn of our economy…recognizing the lonely place I found myself due to the call to declare to the world my freedom from same sex attraction…major surgery…another daughter marrying and moving literally to the other side of the earth…coming to grips with how different and removed I was from the ‘normal/mainstream’ Christian music scene…I woke that day knowing I needed a change…needed to reboot my system in every way – mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
From May 3 until June 11 I consumed only water and fruit and vegetable juice losing 40 pounds in the process. While the weight loss helped get my body back on track after the surgery, the re-focusing of my mind, emotions, and spirit on the things of the Lord began to get my entire being back on track. I began each day meditating on either Psalm 40 or Isaiah 40. With each day’s meditation the Lord saw fit to give me a song…which I recorded immediately after receiving it. The forty songs in these four volumes are the culmination of a 40-day journey of self-rediscovery.
My vision for these collections is that you would use them as devotional meditations in your personal daily spiritual walk of intimacy with Christ. We have made the lyrics available to you on this web site along with the Scriptural reference on which I meditated. Use this as a guide to help you rediscover a deeper awareness of your identity in Christ or to uncover new hidden treasures concerning your relationship with the King. Should you decide to set out on your own fast, I strongly encourage you to get the book Consumed:40 Days of Fasting, Repentance & Rebirth by Dean Briggs. You will be greatly encouraged and strengthened in your soul as Dean leads you through a healthy, Christ-centered approach to a spiritual fast.
Today I am sharing the story behind the song, Breathe, which came to me on May 4, 2010 or day 2 of my 40 Day Fast, as I meditated on Psalm 40:1 which says, “I waited patiently for the LORD” along with Matthew 6:17-18 in the NIV, which says, “But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
At this point in my fasting journey, I felt it was important to take heed of the Matthew 6 instructions as I continued to wait on the Lord for whatever he might have for me. I continued with my daily physical workouts. Continued with my daily focus on my music ministry. I continued with my duties toward my family and toward my marriage. I carried on with my duties at our local church body. In other words, the only ones who knew I was really fasting were my wife, my children, and a few close friends. The fast was not about stroking my pride or inflating my ego. It was about whatever the Lord wanted me to gain from Him concerning not only my life but those to whom I ministered to as well.
I woke that day feeling a deep sense of hunger, both physically and spiritually, and with a deep anticipation of what the Lord would speak to me or reveal to me that day. As the first words of the first verse reveal, I did not even know what I needed other than I knew I needed Jesus first and foremost to be the Lord of every area of my life and existence. The more I thought on these things, the more I related my need to physically breath in order to keep existing. This, in turn, had a direct correlation with my need to breathe in all the Holy Spirit had for me.
At that point, the song began to flow out of me. I had physical hunger. This reminded me of my spiritual hunger. I was thirsty and this reminded me of my thirst for God’s presence in my life. It reminded me of just how bound up in sin I had once been and of how many more lies of the enemy I had still been believing.
It became apparent that I had a great void in my heart that only my heavenly Father could fill. It became very apparent that I had been wondering in the desert for quite some time and I needed the refreshing rain of God’s presence to drench my soul.
Those 40 days proved to be very healing to my body and to my soul and I must add this: since I have been struggling with Parkinson's, the Lord has brought these songs back to my mind and I find myself, once again, having to still and quiet my own soul - especially since my body is in perpetual motion due to the tremors caused by this disease. It is as if I’m learning an even deeper stilling of my soul even as my body ails and refuses to cooperate. Just do what I do. Just take a few minutes. Get alone with the Lord if possible and make this your heart’s cry for today:
I waited patiently for the LORD…
Psalm 40:1a NASB
Let's just do that. Let's just sit here a while and patiently wait for the Lord. He is here whether you feel Him or not. He is just here.
SONG
What I found on day two of my fast was my great need for intimacy with the Father. My soul longs to just feel Him breathe on me; aches for just a drop of the rain of His presence; yearns to have the chains of the enemy’s lies broken from my mind; and now that I battle Parkinson’s, I recognize how much more I need Him to set me free from the cares and fears  of this world; that in Him I find that even in the midst of a life-altering sickness, in His presence I have room to breathe.

Let's be as those who wait on the Lord this week; among those who find room to breathe even in the midst of our circumstances; room to breathe in our our sorrows; room to breathe even in our fears; room to breathe even when bombarded by the enemy and his lies. Let’s just wait on the Lord. Let us learn the art of lingering with Him. It’s time well spent.

Thank you so much for joining me here on The Dennis Jernigan Podcast! For further insights into my journey, music, and more, visit dennisjernigan.com. Stay connected by following me on Facebook, Instagram, and find my music on most major streaming services. To help with the ongoing creation of this podcast, would you consider becoming a member of my team? If so, just go to www.patreon.com/dennisjernigan to find out more! 

If you're wanting the mp3 version of the song “Breathe" from the studio album "Forty Days and Forty Nights - Songs of Contemplation and Intimacy Vol. 1," simply head to the store at dennisjernigan.com or, again, on most major streaming services. You can also find a very amazing version of this song on my album “Days of Awe.” Check them both out and let me hear from you which version you prefer.

If you get nothing else from today's podcast, get this: the constant undercurrent of God’s love is the place we must choose to wait on Him. God loves you and He is patiently waiting to meet with you. Can you spare a little time today, tomorrow and the next to wait on him? I guarantee it will be worth the wait. Now go and be who your heavenly Father says you are.

Breathe
Words & Music: Dennis Jernigan
Received on May 4, 2010
Psalm 40:1b; Matthew 6:18
©2010 Shepherd’s Heart Music, Inc./Dennis Jernigan

Verse One
I don’t even know what I need
All that I know is that I need You

The hunger and thirst of my heart?
All that I know is I need You

Like a child needs a Father
I need You

Like a desert needs the water
I need You

Chorus
Lean so close that I feel You breathe
Lean so close You quench this thirst in me

Lean so close You loose these chains in me
Set me free…

So I can breathe…

Verse Two
The world has grown so dark I can’t see
Reminding me just how much that I need You

Much more than the air that I breathe
All that I know is I need You

Like a child needs a Father
I need You

Like a desert needs the water
I need You

Chorus
Lean so close that I feel You breathe
Lean so close You quench this thirst in me

Lean so close You loose these chains in me
Set me free…

So I can breathe…