When spiritual stakes are high, when some fierce battle of choice rages, when I fear a person I love could turn the wrong way, I pray this prayer:
For this reason I kneel before the Father . . .
I pray that out of his glorious riches
he may strengthen you with power
through his Spirit in your inner being.
Ephesians 3:14, 16
We aren’t a kneeling people these days. However, there are some prayers I believe are still best prayed on our knees. Kneeling humbles me. Kneeling reminds me of my place before God. Kneeling closes my mouth and opens my heart. It’s not really about the physical posture. Before anything else, kneeling is an attitude of the heart for unless the heart knows its place before God, body posture won’t add anything.
I confess, I don’t often kneel to pray. However, there have been times when kneeling was the only way I knew I could pray. A kneeling prayer of the heart prays clean without fear of what God will or won’t do. A kneeling prayer of the heart prays bold with hope connected to God’s unfailing love.
The first thing this prayer reminds me is that God’s storehouse is unlimited. God has every nuance of reason, every strand of truth, every morsel of wisdom, and exponential ways to share His strength. That’s why I can pray with confidence for God to help a person expect and crave God’s strength when facing anything that brings fear or dread. This prayer keeps me from going down endless rabbit trails of all the terrible things that could happen without God’s strengthening focus. I pray intensely that the person I place before God in this kneeling prayer will be enticed, stopped, overwhelmed, curious, or desperate for every way God can strengthen when facing anything that could do the opposite.
This prayer is for inner strengthening when a life circumstance may not change. It is also for inner strengthening until something does change. However, it doesn’t pray for circumstantial change; it prays wholly for inside change because that’s where God’s power is always released first.
Whatever love or concern I bring to this prayer, I know God matches it, doubles it,
quadruples it! If I don’t know that; then, I think I have to change God’s mind somehow, and my prayer becomes desperate for all the wrong reasons.
Whether you bow your heart or bend your knee, for this reason, pray a God-ordered, Spirit-empowered strengthening prayer for the one you love. Keep a laser focus on what God’s unfailing love can do and see how God answers this prayer for you and the one you love.
Prayer Prompts for the Week_______________________________
Wednesday It is impossible to pray for someone else what you haven’t allowed
God to do for you. Where do you need to know God’s strength “in your inner being?” Pray this prayer for yourself.
Thursday Write the words “For this reason I kneel for” and finish the
sentence with the names of family or friends who need your intercessory prayer the most. Finish writing the verse, and pray this prayer for each of them.
Friday Do you believe God has riches you can’t even name or imagine for
you and your loved ones? Pray this truth through any gap in that belief.
Saturday Is there anything you can do for your family that God’s inner
strengthening doesn’t do better and stronger? Stay in this strong awareness as you pray for family and friends today.
Sunday Let worship remind you of God’s unlimited love and resources.
Pray specifically that you won’t leave worship without God’s strengthening resources for your week so that you will be able to pray with God’s strength, not yours.
Monday Take your kneeling posture symbolically or physically. Pray the
kneeling prayer phrase by phrase for the one on your list who needs it most.
Tuesday Notice that the end result of this prayer is that Christ lives well-
settled in the heart. Pray this as a celebration prayer for each of the names on your list.