On My Knees

WHEN WE THINK of someone praying, the iconic picture that typically comes to mind is of a person on their knees, head bowed, with hands clasped before them.

I even used this image in a poignant scene in the novel I am currently writing.

Of course, that is not the posture we necessarily use ourselves when we pray. In fact, I rarely pray on my knees. More often, I pray while sitting or standing—or even lying down in bed.

But I do remember a few times when my heart was so broken over the request I was making, and where the agony of the need so great, that the desire for an answer drove me to my knees in fervent supplication before my Lord.

So recently I started thinking about this. What is the significance of the act of praying on our knees? Why is this image ingrained in our minds? Is it the physical position itself? Or is there a deeper significance?

Certain scriptures particularly come to mind to reinforce this image:

Daniel praying in defiance of the king’s decree:

“Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before”  (Daniel 6:10).

And Paul’s earnest prayer for believers:

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,. . .” (Ephesians 3:14-21).

Was it the physical position itself that was important? Or is there a deeper significance?

As I thought back to those times I prayed on my knees, I remember  totally laying my heart before God. It was an emptying out of myself to seek God’s answer. There was no more thinking I could control things myself. There was no more manipulation of God by reminding him of what a good girl I had been.

It was with complete honesty of heart and mind that I fell to my knees before my Savior.

The physical position was not what was important however. I believe it was the attitude of my heart—which drove me to my knees—that God desired from me.

The physical position of praying on our knees points us to the attitude of heart the Lord wants us to have. It’s not our body but our hearts God wants to have bowed before him. It’s the humility we show when we prostrate ourselves before him in complete surrender, putting aside our pride and feelings of entitlement to come before the Lord so He can remake us in His image.

The attitude of heart that takes us to our knees is a sweet offering to God. Sometimes the literal dropping to our knees reflects that attitude within us. But what is most important—whatever our physical posture—is that we come to God in humility, surrender, and faith, believing with all our hearts that His love is sufficient to take us through our hardest times and lead us into His presence. Our Lord sees our heart, and when it is bowed before Him He will lift us up, hear our prayers, and pour out His blessings upon us.

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” James 4:10

If you want to know how to pray for your marriage when it’s in crisis, you will find much more about this in my new book Fighting for Your Marriage while Separated, and my first book, Broken Heart on Hold, Surviving Separation.