Growing up in the Church of the Epiphany in Washington, D.C., serving as an acolyte may be part of the reason for my bad knees. Even when the Book of Common Prayer indicated congregants could either stand or kneel, Rector Kane opted for kneeling. In fairness, I must admit that soccer, tennis, and football deserve most of the blame for my bad knees.
As a young adult, I found kneeling uncomfortable and spent part of the time on my knees, allegedly in prayer, praying that the prayers would soon end. Why would he put us through such torture? I wondered. As I look back on those days, I realize that I was trending toward the less spiritual side on the pendulum of spirituality,
Recently, I was reintroduced to Psalm 95, and the words—Come let us worship and fall down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker—caught my attention. I wondered how many times the words kneel or bow down (related to the worship of God) appear in the Bible. I discovered a score or more verses about bowing down to God and scores of verses that refer to God’s prohibition on bowing down to worship anyone or anything else.
Bow down – a verb meaning to bend at the neck, waist, or knees as a display of respect, honor, or obedience. It is an expression of humility.
It is noteworthy that the only verses in the New Testament that use the words bow down are found in Matthew 2:11 where the Maji bowed down to the baby Jesus, and the words Satan spoke to Jesus,
recorded in Matthew 4:9: “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
In Ephesians 3:14, the apostle Paul wrote about kneeling to the Father, but that was more of a comment on his personal practice, not a general prescription for prayer. Does that mean that bowing down (kneeling) became old school, something that was not required of followers of Jesus?
I believe that New Testament writers used another word found approximately 70 times in the Bible: humble. Over the years, countless pastors have reminded their congregations, “If something appears three times in Scripture, God wants you to pay special attention to it.” What about verbs (action words) that appear repeatedly, like bow down and humble?
Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his
care. Psalm 95:6-7 (NIV)
The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. Psalm 145:14
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
1 Peter 5:6
So, what do we do about this? It is unlikely (and not something I would encourage) that our churches will suddenly start to include kneeling during prayer as part of their ritual. It would be uncomfortable for many and seem legalistic to others. There is, however, something every believer can choose to do on their own. In your quiet time, bow down in worship, kneel before the Lord our maker.
Recently I found myself in a dry period when it came to my prayers. I was saying the words, but my mind and heart were elsewhere. Then one morning, I don’t know if it was part of a devotional, remembrance of a sermon, or something I heard on the radio, but Psalm 95 came to me as a powerful
instruction. I got out of bed and went to my knees in prayer.
Instead of just praying because praying is expected, I felt I was in a genuine conversation with our Lord. Let me correct that; I was in a meaningful soliloquy with the Lord. I am listening more attentively, but the lines of communication have been inactive for a while. Psalm 95:8(a) continues, Today, if only you would hear his voice…
Lord, help us to hear Your voice and worship You in a posture that is
pleasing to You. AMEN
Because He Loves Us Press 