Let's Kneel...

“O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker”…Psalm 95:6. 

Last Saturday, I headed to Bloomington to watch my oldest son’s three children, so he could take his beautiful wife out to dinner!

These little darlings are 4 ½ years old, 2 ½ years old and 4 months old!

You can imagine how busy they keep their mommy and daddy, so I was quite happy to come up and give them a little break and a date night!

When I arrived, they were painting/sweeping the driveway with chalk and snow!  Love their imaginations!

The rest of the evening was spent doing fun things…

Making an Easter craft…

Creating Doggy Hotdogs for dinner…

Baths…

Making beaded necklaces and bracelets…

Reading books before bedtime…

Lots of snuggles!

And of course, we had to pray before we went to bed!

My heart was filled with such thanksgiving when Emmett and Graham told me that they wanted to get on their knees next to their beds to pray that evening!

I was holding Joel during prayer time, and though I didn’t capture a picture of these two precious little boys kneeling by their beds…that precious image is forever imbedded in this Gammy’s heart!

And I have to say…these little boys prayed from their hearts!

And on this particular evening…Emmett had a lot to pray about!

He prayed for his mommy and daddy…and Gammy…

His head was bowed…and though I couldn’t quite understand everything he was praying for… I know God heard and understood every single prayer that was being lifted up to Him!

And Graham had very specific prayers that evening…

He wanted to pray that his mommy and daddy would get home safely from their date and that Gammy would have safe travels on her way home!

These little boys melt my heart!

I have been thinking about these little boys’ desire to get on their knees before the Lord!

And as I thought about our time of prayer…I thought about how prayer is often spontaneous and could possibly occur in different physical positions!

The bible is filled with examples of how prayers are presented before the Lord in different physical postures:

Kneeling…Daniel prayed on his knees three times a day…Daniel 6:10…and Stephen fell on his knees and talked to the Lord before he died as a martyr…Acts 7:60.

Standing…was also a common practice.  Hannah presented her petition to the Lord while standing…1 Samuel 1:26…and Job also prayed while standing…Job 30:20.

Sitting down… A good example is King David, who “went in and sat down before the Lord” …2 Sam 7:18

Lying Down...The bible shares many who prayed from their beds at night…While lying on the bed they remembered the Lord and mediated on him…Psalm 4:4; 63:6

Prostrate…which refers to individuals lying down horizontally with their faces on the ground and usually with outstretched arms.  Sometimes worshipers came before the Lord, and in reverence, lay prostrate before Him…and then assumed the posture of kneeling to pray to him…Psalm 95:6.

Though there are several postures we can assume during prayer, I would like to focus on kneeling.

Kneeling before the Lord is often a symbol of the attitude of our hearts.  When we repent of our sins, we are asking God to forgive us of all of our sins.

It acknowledges the Lordship of Jesus Christ and provides a visual image of submission to His authority…One day every knee will bow before God, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God…Philippians 2:9-11.

It reveals our earnest appeal to our Heavenly Father!  King Solomon knelt when he asked God to bless the Temple and the people of God…1 Kings 8:54 and Elijah knelt in earnest prayer when he asked God to send rain and end Israel’s drought…1 Kings 18:41-46.

Kneeling in prayer is also a sign of personal humility.  The psalmist humbled himself before the Lord and encouraged others to do the same…“O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker”…Psalm 95:6. 

Jesus is shown kneeling in prayer in the garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus’ posture in prayer reveals his desire to submit to his Father’s will. 

God’s word states…Jesus withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground…Luke 22:41-44.

As Jesus knelt to pray and asked His Father to avoid the cross, Jesus was in a posture of submission to his Father’s authority, stating…”not my will, but yours be done”. 

Though Jesus knew he was going to suffer, he was willing to submit to his Father’s authority.

I too desire to submit to my Heavenly Father’s authority!

And though I know that we can pray anytime…anywhere…in a various forms of posture…I am encouraged to follow my little grandsons’ example…taking time to kneel before my Lord!

Dear Heavenly Father…thank you that we have the freedom to kneel and pray to you every day.  Thank you for sweet grandsons…who remind their Gammy what it means to kneel before you.  How I desire to have a heart that willingly submits to your authority!