Fall to My Knees
I remember when a friend asked me, “Do you kneel when you pray?” I could see the wheels turning in her mind, as she was pondering the question. As the conversation continued, I started to remember the times when I would kneel in my alone time with God. There have been times when circumstances seemed so heavy.. all I could do was fall to my knees. While other times in moments of silence, I felt the prompting to come and kneel before God. There has also been times in the middle of the night when I felt so convicted, I have knelt beside my bed (hoping not to wake up my husband).
So what causes us to kneel? In some traditions, kneeling is part of the Sunday experience. However, what does it look like when are alone with God? I began to realize that kneeling is often a reflection of something within. A moment of surrender, conviction, desperation, great gratitude, reverence or simply awe and wonder of a Holy God. Whatever it is, it has captured our hearts and our attention, resulting in a posture of humble reverence before a Holy God.
“For this reason [grasping the greatness of this plan by which Jews and Gentiles are joined together in Christ] I bow my knees [in reverence] before the Father [of our Lord Jesus Christ].
Ephesians 3:14 AMP
Here we see Paul in prison falling to his knees. He was writing a letter to the church in Ephesus. Even though Paul was a prisoner on behalf of the Gentiles, he was writing the church to encourage them in their faith. Paul had spent three years with this church and had established close relationships with them. As we look at chapter 3 in Ephesians, we see a prayer that Paul prayed for His fellow believers. Falling to his knees before God, pleading on behalf of His brothers and sisters.
I think it's important to remind ourselves that Paul was human, just like you and me. I have a tendency to read scripture, thinking these people were "super christians”… no wonder they did what they did. In truth, they are no different than us. Before Paul’s conversion, his name was Saul and he persecuted Christians. When Paul had an encounter with Jesus, everything changed. Even though Paul once sought to kill Christians, He know kneeled before a Holy God and prayers for others. What a powerful conversion! This shows us the power of The Spirit and the power of prayer. Paul was yielding to God and allowing God’s love to work through Him.
“Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut, doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on other, isn’t always “me first”
Doesn’t fly off the handle, doesn’t keep score of the sin of others
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything, Trust God always,
Always looks for the best, never looks back
But keeps going to the end.”
1 Corinthians 13:6-7 MSG
As we keep on keeping on… may we be women who love others well. God’s love doesn’t require us to muster up more strength, rather it is quite the opposite. Allowing God’s love to flow through us, we need to yield to God and allow Him to work through us. It is the light (Holy Spirit) that shines through us which reaches others so they can feel God’s love. The more time you spend on your knees, the more you see the importance of it. Let’s look within before we look out. Looking at the true source of all things so we can minister to a hurting world…
xo,
K
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