For this reason I kneel before the Father,
Summary: This verse describes Paul in prayer and provides a challenge for us to consider in our daily prayer life.
In our meditation, “Visiting God,” we considered the question of how we “approach” God. The answer was that we approach God with a broken and contrite heart in the invisible realm of the Spirit.
When Paul says that he kneels before the Father, he might be talking about physically kneeling on the floor of his jail cell, but he is definitely talking about kneeling in his heart before the Lord.
How do we do that? How do we kneel in our hearts before the Lord?
I don’t know of any better answer to these questions than the prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray (Matthew 6:9-13). He starts with this simple instruction:
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” (Matthew 6:6)
He then instructs them on how to pray the prayer we call the “Lord’s Prayer.” It begins with:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6: 9-10)
The first five lines of the prayer are all about God. I think this is what it means to kneel before God in spirit. Instead of focusing on my stuff first, focusing on God first puts everything in its proper perspective.
As far as physically kneeling while we pray, I think that depends on many things. First, it is really hard to do if you are praying while driving a car! (The same goes for closing your eyes!) But what about when you are home and can go into your room and shut the door as Jesus told us to do?
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he spends time pondering the relationship between our spiritual nature which “want[s] to do good” (Romans 7:21), and our “sinful nature” (v 25) which is the flesh, or physical part of our existence.
Because of this battle between the flesh and the spirit, it makes sense to subordinate the flesh to the spirit whenever possible. If I am praying to God and my body is doing something offensive to God, then I am defeating the primary purpose of prayer; glorifying God. There are other ways of doing this besides kneeling, but traditionally kneeling is a way of showing deference to a greater authority.
When Paul says that he kneels before the Father, he may have been physically kneeling in a cold, dark, and damp cell, but spiritually, he knelt before the throne of God.
Application: Subordinate the flesh to the spirit in all matters concerning God.
Food for Thought: What does it mean to subordinate the flesh to the spirit?
I think a great description of this is given in Galatians 5: 16 – 26.
A great example of this is Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane in prayer and contemplating the cross. His response to His Father was “not My will, but Yours be done.” And of course He taught us to pray that as well.
Thank you, Rich!
Such a great point! When we submit to God’s will we submit to everything that is good.
05-28-2023, What does it mean to subordinate the flesh to the spirit?
Galatians 5:17 Tells us: For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
We are born as spiritual beings confined to physical bodies, self-centered beings. We are concerned only about OUR physical comfort, food, attention, and are trained in right and wrong as perceived by those raising and educating us during our journey into adulthood. We become the product of our heredity and environment.
At some point all will respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and accept or reject Jesus Christ as our Savior. For the remainder of our physical lives, those who choose Christ, will choose to more and more make the desires of our flesh subordinate to our spiritual feeding and transformation.
Our goal is to, in God’s wisdom, feed our spirits healthy food, God’s word, prayer, fellowship as we refrain from any and hold subordinate, all desires, activities and thoughts of the flesh, which would adversely effect our spiritual growth in Christ.
Nice summation Ron!
Thank you!