Worship Moments, Episode 31 – Kneeling

For those who prefer to read, here is the text of the video.

In this video I am going to continue talking about submission and humility in worship. In my last video I pointed out that both the Hebrew word and the Greek word for worship implied submission. I then talked about the posture of bowing – especially in prayer.

But bowing is not the only posture we can use to demonstrate humility before God. Two other postures stand out in scripture as representing humility and submission: Kneeling and Falling Prostrate.

Psalm 95:6 says, “Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our maker.” Kneeling was strongly associated with prayer in the past. I remember as a child seeing the men of my church kneel to pray at prayer meetings. Certain church traditions provide kneeling benches or a kneeling “altar” at the front of the church for prayer.

But sometimes we find people in scripture going one step further. We read of people falling down before God or Jesus in worship. Sometimes it mentions that they placed their faces to the ground or even fell prostrate. They did this to show honor and beg for God's help.

I think in our pride and independence many of us have ignored these acts of humility before God. But I encourage you to consider them once again. Take some time with God right now and kneel, or bow with your head to the ground or even lay prostrate before God. He is our King. Offer Him the honor He deserves.