Playing worship music before my feet hit the floor this morning, the song begins: here I am, down on my knees again; surrendering all…surrendering all. The lyrics triggered several thoughts in my mind one of which is why don’t I kneel more when I pray? Why don’t I begin each day with this song on my knees? What does the Bible say about kneeling to pray?
And then I began contemplating the act of kneeling. Because I am a word nerd, I actually looked up the definition. It’s a verb (of course) defined as to be in or assume a position in which the body is supported by a knee or the knees, as when praying or showing submission. For me, it’s a posture of humility, of recognizing how small and finite I truly am in the presence of my Sovereign, Almighty, Omniscient God. And with this thought, I immediately recognize how flippant I can be with regard to Him and it’s not even intentional. If I am honest, I rarely kneel and there is really no good reason I don’t. I just don’t.
My prayer life has been (and continues to be) a journey of refining for which I am grateful. There were many times, I viewed God more like He was a genie, taking my laundry list of requests to Him as if it were His job to accommodate my wishes. There were days I never prayed out loud. I wasn’t comfortable with it and apparently believed my comfort was the priority. In a spirit of transparency, I will admit when I pray silently, my thoughts drift, I don’t stay focussed and before I know it-I am thinking about something casual, like what I plan to make for dinner. I am not proud of that, but it’s true-even if it’s ugly.
At this point in my journey, I have definitely realized He is not a genie and in fact, I am here to fulfill His purpose for my life, which He created and ordained before I took my first breath. At this place in my earthly mist, I actually prefer to pray out loud. Expressing my prayers vocally keeps me focussed and speaking the words has this way of stirring my heart and reminding me of my dependence on Him, reminding me of how magnificent He is, reminding me of how faithful He is-even when I am not. More times than not, praying vocally ushers me into deeper humility, extraordinary gratitude and puddles of tears, overwhelmed with His lavish grace and boundless love, particularly for a sinner like me. Being still and silent also has a way of leading me to that same space.
All of these ponderings prompted me to do some studying. The Hebrew word for “worship” actually means “bow down”. Fascinating to me because it seems our culture associates worship with music, which I am sure is a form of worship, but we often are not bowing down when doing so-at least not in my experience. Psalm 95:6 says, Come let us worship AND bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
There are examples in the Bible (Genesis 18:2, Genesis 41:42-43), very early in human history, that imply bowing or kneeling represented taking a humble posture before someone of greater importance. In Exodus 20:45, God reserves any form of worship for Himself, and bowing down before someone or something else as a form of worship is forbidden.
In Revelation 19:10 An angel corrects John when he falls at his feet saying, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you…Worship God!”
There are other forms of postures while praying noted in the Bible such as standing (1 Chronicles 23:30), sitting/sat before (2 Samuel 7:18), lifting eyes toward heaven (John 17) and lifting holy hands (1 Timothy 2:8). These examples let us know there is not just one “right” way to pray or worship, so I don’t want to imply kneeling is the only way to pray. Kneeling was just the one God put on my heart today.
In Numbers 20:6, Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the Lord, overshadowed by His glory. Can you imagine? God is still the same today and it makes me wonder how I am even able to toss up casual prayers. I don’t mean ever, I mean generally. I believe we should be in prayer all day long and I believe He relishes our dependence on Him when we pray throughout our daily happenings. I am just convicted in this moment that as common as speaking erratic prayers may be in my life, maybe kneeling or bowing needs to be just as or even more common-and not because of what it does for Him, but because of the humility and gratitude that invades every fiber of my being when I do so. Maybe this experience is a smidgen of being overshadowed by His glory like Moses and Aaron.
May it never be implied that God scores us during our prayer time based on the position of our body, I don’t believe that for one minute. This is more about the growth and refining initiated in me as submit and surrender to Him. I am grateful for these thoughts He ignites in my brain and the ability to research and study and seek for myself as I pursue Him and His Will for my life.
Listening to that song today sparked a sequence of events generating a shift in my heart and mind resulting in an inception of transformation. I am grateful for these moments.
I would love to hear about transformations in your prayer life. What has God imparted to you on your prayer expedition? What have you gleaned along the way?
He (Jesus) withdrew from them a short distance to be alone. Kneeling down, He prayed…
Luke 22:43
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Marla Geiger 