“Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices! O night divine, O night when Christ was born… So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming…” — John Sullivan Dwight.
Why does Dwight write this phrase? Or that matter, why does St. Paul pray this way? “For this reason, I kneel before the Father.” (Ephesians 3:14)
Remember. Paul is in a dirty, filthy pool of a prison. The floor wasn’t just unswept, it was deep in sewage and yet, and yet, Paul prays on his knees.
There is power on our knees, because we are in a position of respect, humility, submission, awe, subjection, reverence and adoration.
The Bible often speaks of people on their knees. Peter (Acts 9:40), Ezra (Ezra 9:5) and Daniel
(Daniel 6:10) to name but a few.
When our pastor suggested we try praying on our knees, I chuckled, because I have disobedient knees that don’t like to help me get back on my feet. But then I tried it and I found this to be true.
Your words support those who stumble; you strengthen faltering knees. (Job 4:4)
When I pray on my knees, I have no trouble getting down or up!
“Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.” ― Mother Teresa.
“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.” ― Søren Kierkegaard.
Mahatma Gandhi explained, “Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”
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