“When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.” —Revelation 1:17
Is that the kind of awe you feel in the presence of God? When He speaks to you does it cause you to stop in your tracks, as with Paul when he was converted? When you do meet, face to face, the King of Kings, either you knell, or like the Temple Priests, you fall to the ground, because of the wieght of His glory. Do you know Jesus, the Almighty Son of God?
You may have heard about Jesus all your life, but when He appears, unexpected, all you can do is fall at His feet in awe and humbly admit that you aren’t worthy to be in His presence. Sometimes the greatest joys we can look back to in our lives are the times, or that one profound time, you experienced the joy of your hopelessness, quickly followed by the realization that it will only be by the hand of God that can rescue you and place you on the high plateau of peace. When He comes into your heart, their is rest—a sublime sense of protection, that He is there, and with Him there, you are confident that nothing is going to upset His plans in your life--or your place in His heart.
But look at what happened next in John’s revelation. After he “fell as dead”, “He (Jesus) laid His right hand on me…” (Revelation 1:17)." In the midst of the awesomeness, a touch comes, and you know it is the right hand of Jesus Christ. You know it is not the hand of disapproval, correction, or punishment, but the right hand of the Everlasting Father. Whenever His hand is laid upon you, it gives inexpressible peace and comfort, and the sense that “underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27), full of support, provision, comfort, and strength. And once His touch comes, nothing at all can throw you into fear again. In the midst of all His ascended glory, the Lord Jesus comes to speak to an insignificant disciple, saying, “Do not be afraid” (Revelation 1:17). His tenderness is inexpressibly sweet. Do you know Him like that?”
What causes you to be sad—to want to give up, throw in the towel? I can tell you: Almost all that surrounds us tempts us to despair! But, oh, the joy He gives when I turn to Him, and on my knees, cry out in my deepest sorrows and fears. Like Paul, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells…” (Romans 7:18). But what utter delight and rest comes when I, finallyt, humbly admit that God can do the impossilbe—but only when I recognize the limits of of my own weak and frail attempts.
Today’s message is about humbling ourselves when we pray, and specifically, the importance of those humble gestures we make in earnest prayer. The Bible speaks of bowing in prayer, kneeling on one's face before God, and even lying prostrate in total servitude. The most important thing isn't the position of the body, of course, but the condition of the soul. If the heart is attuned to God, one can pray in any posture imaginable, but the posture we assume does show how sincere and earnest we are.
Do you ever kneel when you pray? When you kneel before Jesus you are expressing humility. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humility means to not seek to be what YOU want to be, but humbly ask Him to make you into the one He wants you to be. It means that we find our true selves in God alone. We only find our true selves in God, and it’s hard for me imagine how any person can find Him if, at times, one is not driven to their knees.
As Baptists, we don’t talk much about kneeling in prayer, there are no prayer benches in our churches, you never see folks laying prostrate before Him at an altar call, I am not sure why, but it’s talked about both on the old and new Testaments. James, the writer of the book of James and the brother of Jesus, was known as “Old Camel Knees” because his knees were reportedly incredibly calloused because he spent so much time on them in prayer. His core belief about prayer is from James 5:16 “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” It sounds like his prayers were very effective.
The Apostle Paul writes that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil. 2:10). Well, can you think of any better reason to get in the habit of kneeling before him? It’s a symbol of humility, for sure, but also of total adoration. Do you adore Him? Do you kneel before Him when you pray? Like it or not, one day all creation will humble themselves before Him—-either as the One they have adored—or the One who will judge their refusal to kneel before Him.
Now adays, most folks don’t knell in prayer—even in churches. We stand and proudly sing anthems to Him and we praise Him for the gift of salvation, we refer to Him as our brother, as well as our savior. But perhaps we have forgotten our proper posture in our work, for Him, on this earth—it is to humble ourselves before Him and ask Him to use us, as He plesases, for His purposes—not to vainly seek His blessings on our purposes.
We worship Jesus Christ, who has liberated us from the tyranny of demons. Therefore, we should bend our knees before him. In the Gospels, Jesus Himself, the Son of God, prayed on his knees. Luke witnessed this, and said that just before his Passion, “Jesus knelt down and prayed” (Luke 22:41). He said: “Let your will be done, not mine”. When we fall on our knees in prayer, we identify ourselves with the suffering Christ. Together with him, as members of the body, we turn to the Father saying, “Thy will be done” together with the Lord. By kneeling, Jesus, though God’s perfect Son, showed humility.
Paul said, that Jesus “did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave”. (Phil. 2:6–7). He said thatt the Lord, “humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross”. And this, i.e. His humility, was the reason that God “highly exalted him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name”, so that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow”. By humbling Himself, Christ deserves exaltation. By uniting ourselves with Christ in humility, we therefore become partakers of his resurrection and exaltation. In other words, we must fall on our knees to make it possible for God to raise us up.
Billy Graham once said that,, “Prayer should not be merely an act, but an attitude of life.” “We can change the course of events if we go to our knees in believing prayer.”
But kneeling was not the only postures adopted by worshipers in the Bible. Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the Lord, and His glory overshadowed them (Numbers 20:6). Ezekiel fell facedown in grief, crying out to the Lord, and the Lord answered him (Ezekiel 11:13–14). And at other times, of course, people stood or sat, praying to God. King David “went in and sat before the Lord” to pray (2 Samuel 7:18). Jesus “lifted His eyes toward heaven” when He offered His longest recorded prayer (John 17), and Paul exhorted “men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing” (1 Timothy 2:8). According to the Bible, there is more than one right posture for worship or prayer. The question is this: Is your heart humble when you pray—-are you kneeling, even if it is only in your heart?
Our entire being should be engaged in worship of God, the posture of our hearts is of more importance than the position of our bodies. When the posture of our hearts is humility and awe, our bodies often yearn to express that in physical ways. Kneeling, bowing, lying facedown, bowing our heads, and lifting our hands are all physical expressions of the attitudes of our hearts. Of course, without a corresponding heart posture, the kneeling or laying on your face in church a are empty actsof showmanship. Psalm 51:17 eloquently summarizes God’s desire for our worship: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”
True worship is a way of living—not a single act. While dedicated times of intense communion with God are vital to our spiritual health, we are also told to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Our bodies are to be living sacrifices (Romans 12:1–2) and our hearts filled with “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father” (Ephesians 5:19–20). Our hearts can be in a continual state of worship and prayer, even as we go about our days. A. W. Tozer wrote, “The goal of every Christian should be to live in a state of unbroken worship.” When that is the goal of our lives, kneeling, bowing, lying prostrate, and walking down the street are all postures of prayer and worship that are pleasing to God.
Let me add this. I know that the moment I lift my hands, kneel on my knees, or even lay prostrate on the floor, something changes within me. I feel the supernatural power of prayer comes upon me.
Christians aren’t the only ones to kneel before God. For thousands of years, people have kneeled before kings, those in authority over them and, yes, to false gods and idols, but when you sincerely, humbly pray to God, you are worshipping and adoraring the one true King, Jesus Christ, and something happens.
Jesus said, ”And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:5-6, NIV)
Similarly, Psalm 95:6 of the ESV notes, "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker" (Psalm 95:6, ESV).
It’s hard to drive and pray, even harder to pray in a house with noise, the TV blaring, and othe distractions. I have a hard time talking to people when I see them scrolling on their phones or texting—their eyes are not on me, so they probably are not listeing. When we kneel or raise our hands, or lay prostrate, our eyes tend to be upon Him alone.
If you are physically able, try praying on your kneses today. Find a quiet space and kneel before your Father. Pay attention to what’s goes through your mind, and the posture of your heart. Allow your physical position to be the guide for your heart and mind as you approach the throne of grace.
Finally, listen to these verses:
“Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” Mark 3:11
“While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.” Luke 5:12–13
“One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Luke 17:15–16
“Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:36–39
Are your prayers being answered? Are you committed to grow as a Christian? Are you facing some insurmountable challenge or loss in your life? Ask yourself, how serious you are about prayer.
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