How often do I kneel before God as I pray?

How often do you?

In 1 Kings, King Solomon – the wisest man who ever lived – kneeled in front of the altar of the newly built Temple of the Lord as he dedicated it to God.  Solomon did this in front of the entire Israelite community with his hands raised up to God.

What a sight!

What a statement of Solomon’s submission to God and worship of him!

I have to admit – I don’t kneel in prayer as much as I should.  For several years I was a part of a Bible study group which started every meeting praying on our knees.  I really liked it.  It put everything into a better perspective for me.  God created all things, he owns everything and he is in total control.  Humbling myself before my Eternal God makes sense and feels right.

I have precious memories of my mother kneeling beside her bed every night as she prayed.  Without fail – every night.

My mother had a series of clinical depressions the last 40 years of her life.  When she was depressed she was a sad and quiet person – so different from the happy, people-loving woman she really was.  After going through several long periods of depression, she realized that seeing a good doctor right away was the only way to deal with this issue positively and not lose years of her life to this problem.

Even through the darkest days of her depressions, I would see her kneel before her Father God every night.  It gave me hope.  God was working on this.  There would be an answer.

And there always was an answer.  Slowly, with God’s help and the doctor’s help, she would return to the amazing woman that I knew as my mother.

For me, I have discovered that laying face down on the floor before God is a good way to get an answer when I really need it.  After I lie down on the floor, I totally give my concern to him – “God, I have a decision to make and I need to know what you want me to do.  I don’t care which way this goes and I don’t need all the details – just tell me the direction I need to take with my next step.”  And he always answers.  Sometimes he opens up my mind so that I can see how he has already answered.  Other times, right after I say “Amen” something happens that tells me which way to go.

Either way, I know that showing humbleness and submission to the God of the Universe works.  God honors it.

I need to remember that.

Thank you for the reminders you give me in your Word, Abba Father.