WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO KNEEL BEFORE GOD?
On New Years Eve I was making vision boards with Willem. He was looking through a skate board magazine - the only option other than my go-to, Frankie Magazine - and he cut out a powerful sentence; ‘do your knees hurt?’
He showed it to me and I instantly felt the weight of that question - and he felt it too - ‘do your knees hurt?’ translated to ‘have you been on your knees before God?’
Although I felt the powerful weight of that question, I also felt like I couldn’t fully describe what it means to get on your knees before God… So I looked into it some more and here’s what I learned:
A key verse: JAMES 4:10
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” — James 4:10 NIV
Or, a translation that includes beautiful imagery:
“Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.” — James 4:10 MSG
I love the two parts of this verse - when we are weak, on our knees, humble and low… God is strong, lifting us up, putting us on our feet.
2. KNEELING IS A POSITION & POSTURE OF HUMILITY
The core meaning of the word ‘humble’ is ‘to be made low’. The physical movement of getting on your knees is a literal, outward expression of humility - making yourself small and low before God. I love what Lisa Morgan Moore wrote in a blog I read, ‘When you bow down and are made low before God, your pride bows as well.’
A beautiful parallel; getting on your knees before God requires inward humility too. It’s recognising that we are completely weak and helpless without God - in all seasons. Every time I feel like life is fine, I neglect time with God because my need for Him feels less tangible - but it’s a lie. I am nothing without Him and need Him everyday.
Getting on our knees before God is an outward position and an inward posture of humility.
3. KNEELING CAN CONVEY BROKENNESS
I think the times I find myself on my knees the most are when I’ve been driven to them and no longer feel strong enough to stand and face my battles. It can feel humbling and devastating, but I’m learning it’s also the safest, most comforting place to be - on my knees at the feet of the only one who can lift me up and truly sustain me.
4. THE HEBREWS SAW KNEES AS A SYMBOL OF STRENGTH
I read this and thought it was really interesting and moving, “In the Hebrew of the Old Testament, the barak, “to kneel,” is cognate with the word berek, “knee.” The Hebrews regarded the knees as a symbol of strength; to bend the knee is, therefore, to bend our strength before the living God, an acknowledgment of the fact that all that we are we receive from him.”
Bending our knee - or bending our own strength - to me, represents letting go of self-righteousness and any reliance on ourselves, acknowledging that it’s only through God that we will find true strength, and it’s that strength alone that we must lean on.
5. GETTING ON OUR KNEES = PRAYER
I think kneeling before God can look different depending on how people connect with Him, but I think in each case it comes with prayer, spending time with God, communicating with Him and worshipping our Creator.
A humble posture and position, an acknowledgment of our brokenness, a bend in our knee and in our own strength, and through grace, we find ourselves lifted up.