On Our Knees

How is your 2019 going so far?

As we start off this new year, we are focusing on walking into the presence of God, letting Him do what He wants to do in our lives, through our lives and around lives. How is that going? What are you experiencing?

Our memory verse for this first three months is the powerful Ephesians prayer found in Chapter 3. In order for me to memorize a passage of Scripture, I need to know what it means. So, let's dive into it.

Eph 3:14 "For this reason I kneel before the Father..."

When was the last time you kneeled before God?
As we get older, we try to say to God, spiritually, relationally and emotionally I am on my knees because physically it is too difficult and perhaps painful.
What does kneeling mean?

It is an act of humility. It is acknowledging who God is and who we are. It is reminding ourselves that we are not God and we need God in every aspect of our lives and in the lives of everyone we know and encounter. What else does kneeling mean to you?

As we memorize this first phrase it is easy to picture kneeling before God...
What other postures could we do before God?

-Lying prostrate before God... (massive humility, revealing our total unworthiness...)
-Bowing before the Lord... (expression of reverence and honoring of The King of Kings...)
-Standing... (expression of our position in Christ, ready for service and battle...)
-Sitting... (a position of authority. Seated with Christ. Ready to minister and forgive others...)
-Looking upwards... (face to face intimacy. Confidence in being with Jesus...)
-Raising our hands... (expression of love, worship and seeking God's mercy...)
-Jumping for Joy... (expression of absolute confidence in the Lord and His ways are priority...)

We see so many examples of each of these postures in Scripture. They all have rich meaning in each Biblical circumstances. Try to look them up sometime this week.

"For this reason..."
What reason? What reason are we kneeling before the Father?
Read Eph 3:1-13.
The Gentiles are invited too!!!! 
That means you and I and anyone else who is not Hebrew is included in God's gift of salvation. That is great news. Anyone and everyone is offered God's gift of adoption into His family through Jesus Christ. Anyone and everyone who believes in their heart and calls on Jesus to be their Savior and Lord will be miraculously adopted into God's family.

So, "for this reason" we pray the following beautiful and life giving prayers on our "'knees."

Next week we will look at the next part of this prayer.

Memorizing and praying this prayer for each other,
Pastor Chris

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