I Bow My Knees — Part One (Part 2 of 2)

Prayer is an essential part of every Christian's life. Today on Truth for Life, we'll examine the Apostle Paul's prayer to find out why it was his highest priority, even above preaching. When you and I pray, that's really what we're saying. It's selfless not only in terms of that obvious expression of dependence, but the selflessness is seen in his posture.

I think that's why he mentions it. For this reason, I bow my knees. He lures himself physically, not as an expression of formal routine but in awareness of the fact that it is entirely appropriate. Isaiah the prophet anticipates the day when every knee—this is Isaiah 45 23—when one day every knee will bow. Paul picks that up in Philippians 2, remember, and he says, And one day at the name of Jesus every knee will bow. And we look in upon him in Rome, and he's getting a head start on things as he bows his knees.

His posture is an expression of the wonder and the awe that he feels before God and his earnestness in seeking God. Well, you say, now, is this something you're going to introduce now? Now, we have to rearrange the seats again and get kneelers in here. How are we going to do this? No, no, no, no.

Don, let's get carried away. The posture of our hearts is the issue. I find it helpful. We kneel as elders as we pray in the prayer room before the services. We kneel together. We can sit, we can stand, we can do whatever we want. But we kneel as an expression of our dependence upon God. It's good to do. It gives me the opportunity as well to read my favorite little poem on posture in prayer. And those of you who know it, you're excited now, because you were saying to yourself, I hope you'll read that again.

And since I have no self-control at all, I am going to read it again. The proper way for man to pray, said Deacon Lemuel Keyes, and the only proper attitude is down upon his knees. No, I should say the way to pray, said Reverend Dr. Wise, is standing straight with outstretched arms with wrapped and upturned eyes.

Oh, no, no, no, said Elder Snow. Such posture is too proud. A man should pray with eyes fast closed and head contritely bowed. It seems to me one's hands should be austerely clasped in front, with both thumbs pointed toward the ground, said Reverend Dr. Blunt.

Last year I fell in Higgins' well headfirst, said Pastor Brown, with both my heels a-sticking up and my head a-pointing down. And I done prayed right there and then, best prayer I ever said. The prayinest prayer I ever prayed, standing on my head. So, just to make sure that none of you start to write notes about posture in prayer.

But that is not to take from anything that we've said. It is selfless in this expression of dependence. It is selfless as displayed in posture, and it is selfless also in its focus. Its focus—he's not praying about himself. You'll notice that as you follow through in the prayer. He's praying that you may be strengthened, verse 16, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, in verse 19, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

We live in the age of the selfie, don't we? And the preoccupation with ourselves. To the extent that my prayers reveal my priorities and my preoccupations, if someone can listen in on my prayers, then they'll find out where the focus is. And we listen in on Paul, and we realize that his focus is on those who have become the objects of his concern and of his affection. He says elsewhere that he is burdened, he is overwhelmed to the point of longing that Christ may be formed in them—that all that God has for them may be granted to them and that they might live in the benefit of it.

We see that here. And fourthly, it's selfless in recognizing what he doesn't pray for. What he doesn't pray for. He doesn't pray to be released. He doesn't pray for an improvement in his circumstances. He prays for them what he prays for himself, presumably. There's no suggesting that he is unable to do anything now because he's confined.

No, he's making the most of every opportunity. He writes Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Galatians, and Philemon while he's in this imprisonment. And he prays—constantly prays—his prayers surround the churches to whom he writes. And it's a good reminder to us, those of us who are no longer able to do what we once did, perhaps no longer in the main thoroughfare of life as we once were, and the evil one comes to us and says, you know, all your best days are behind you. You've got nothing, really, to contribute anymore.

Don't listen to him for a moment. You can do more than pray after you've prayed, but not until you've prayed. Prayer is the work. Preaching is gathering up the results. Whenever a person actually professes faith in Jesus Christ, when every advance is made in the cause of the gospel, you will find that it is directly tied to the prayers of the people of God. What is observed by God in secret will actually ultimately be reworked openly. That's why Spurgeon, recognizing that as the pastor, says to his congregation on one Sunday, May God help me if you cease to pray for me. Let me know the day, and I must cease to preach. Let me know when you intend to cease your prayers, and I will cry, O my God, give me this day my tomb, and let me slumber in the dust.

That's how crucial it is. That's why it's important to pray as the person preaches, before they preach, after they preach, praying that the ground will be softened up so that the seed of the Word of God will find a resting place in hearts that have been softened and eyes that have been opened, not as a result of the ability or the giftedness of the speaker but as a result of the work of the Spirit of God in response to the prayers of God's people, that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, that you might know the power of God in Christ, you see. This is what it means.

And this is why Paul prays. And you will notice, as the text says, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family, or from whom the whole family… I like the translation, the whole family. It's a justifiable translation. In other words, what he's saying here is, the whole family in heaven and on earth, the church triumphant, those who are already in heaven, the church militant, those who are still on the earth—this whole family is under the fatherhood of God.

You say, well, it doesn't say that in the ESV. It says, from whom every family. Well, alternatively, he may be saying that the very notion of fatherhood is derived from the fatherhood of God—that the only way that we know about fatherhood is because God is our Father. Freud said it was a projection, remember? He said that man, because he doesn't know what he's doing, projects the notion of father unto God, because he needs some help.

The Bible says, no, that is not true at all. The only reason we know about fatherhood and the significance of fatherhood is because fatherhood resides in God the Creator. He is Father of all by creation and Father of those who are included in the company of grace.

It's interesting, isn't it, that he speaks so clearly? Second thing—and I'll only go here now, because we won't have time for the third—it's not only selfless, but it is also spiritual. His prayer is spiritual. The more I read this during the week, the more I was struck by the fact that there is an absence in this prayer of many of the matters that tend to be the focus of my prayers. If you look in there, you might find yourself concluding the same. What is striking in this prayer is the absence of material issues.

Material issues. I've already noted that he doesn't pray about his predicament in Rome. He doesn't ask that he might be released.

That would be legitimate, but he doesn't do it. He's not concerned with material issues—not because they weren't present or because they are by nature invalid. He's the one who wrote in Philippians 4, Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God your needs, and don't forget to thank him for his answers. That's the Living Bible paraphrase of Philippians 4.6.

Okay? So he wrote that, and he believes that, and so do we. But here we acknowledge the fact that these concerns are not the ultimate concerns—that all matters may be brought before God—but that is not the issue. The believers in Ephesus were, in one sense, just like us. They had concerns for food and for clothes and for shelter, the paying of taxes, marriage, singleness, being parents, or wishing you were parents, or wishing you weren't parents. Employment, health, welfare. But there's no mention of these matters at all in his prayer.

Right? In fact, praying about health—health, which is probably the number one if you have a prayer time—praying about health is rare, almost nonexistent, in the Bible. Why are we so much praying about health? Because we don't want to die. Why don't we want to die? Well, because we want to live. We get a sneaking suspicion that what we've got now is actually better than what he has for us then. So whatever we do, we better hold on to what we've got. When the eyes of our hearts are opened to see the reality of all that is ours in Christ, the things that he's already written about—that we have now been raised with him into the heavenly places, that we are seated in the heavenly places, that we look down, that we're members of a kingdom that transcends the world, that we have been made part of a family, and the relationships in that family will never come to an end, but we will live in a new heaven and in a new earth in which dwells righteousness and so on. Suddenly the orientation of our thinking begins to shift. But we are so inevitably time-bound creatures.

It's understandable, but it doesn't make it right. Take, for example, two words that would shut most of our prayers down. Here they are. Be with. Be with. Listen to my prayers. Listen to the average person pray. Dear Lord, we pray you will be with Tom, and be with Mary also, who's having her wisdom teeth removed on Tuesday, and be with, and be with, and be with, and be with.

What? Jesus says, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. So why are you asking him to be with him?

He promised to be with him. So that's a bit of a waste. It's an unnecessary prayer. See what I mean?

Take, for example, you research this on your own. Just go to the prayers of the Old Testament. Go to Nehemiah, for example, the opening section of Nehemiah. What's the problem in Nehemiah? The word comes to Nehemiah, the walls in Jerusalem are broken down, and the gates are burned with fire.

It is a complete fiasco up there. Nehemiah is brokenhearted by this. He decides that he will seek to do something about it, and so he immediately goes to his knees in prayer. And you can read his prayer there in Nehemiah 1. It starts off wonderfully, Dear Father, be with all the people in Jerusalem. No, it doesn't. It starts off, O God, you great and awesome, magnificent God, who rules over the universe, we your people bow before you and confess our sins and our shortcomings before you.

Someone looks on and says, Wait a minute! This is about the walls in Jerusalem! What are you doing to this stuff about we confess our sins to you? Because the issue of the walls in Jerusalem was a metaphor for the real spiritual condition of the people. The reason that was collapsed and broken down is because of the spiritual needs of their heart. Therefore, Nehemiah prays about what matters. Lord, we must confess our sins. We must acknowledge our dependence upon you.

We must turn our gaze to the things that really matter, because we have completely lost sight of what's going on. Remember when we studied Daniel? And Daniel prays there in Daniel chapter 9, all of the oppression and the chaos upon the people of God. And his prayer is a magnificent prayer. But he doesn't pray about any of the stuff. He prays about the grandeur and glory of God and his kingdom and the fact that he is sovereign and that we, his people, and so on, is immense.

No, I say to you again, I studied this week, I'm humbled by this passage. How small, how narrow-minded my prayers, how bewith are my prayers. The spiritual condition of my children matters more than their financial well-being, matters far more than whether they are on the finest sports team on the east side of Cleveland, whether they have managed to secure the right position and place.

My children, your children, have a never-dying soul. And the real need is a spiritual need. Whatever else happens—spiritual—that is why Paul prays as he prays. Now, he does the exact same thing, following the pattern of Jesus.

You will always find this. When you hear somebody saying something like this, you should in your mind—a bell should go off and go, How did that work with Jesus? Because if somebody tells you something, you can always monitor it in relationship to, How would this have worked in relationship to Jesus? That's not the same question as, What would Jesus do? It's the question of, How do I find this in the life of Jesus?

Well, you find it in the life of Jesus. He talks to his followers who are concerned about their food and their clothes, and they're anxious about their lives. And what does he say to them? He doesn't say, Oh, that's ridiculous that you feel that way. He acknowledges that. He says, Now let's think about this. Have you ever seen birds, you know, putting up a factory to store their stuff?

Mm-mm. Why? Because our Father feeds them. And no matter what clothes you manage to get for yourself, even if you dressed as finely as Solomon, you'll never match the amazing, natural beauty of God's creative handiwork. So he says, Let me tell you what to do. Seek first the kingdom of God. That's spiritual. And his righteousness. And all these things will be added unto you.

In other words, to paraphrase it, he says, If you take care of my things, I'll take care of your things. You see, the hub—the hub is always spiritual. If you think about a bicycle wheel, the hub there is the key to all the spokes.

If that hub is not in place, and if the spokes are not attached to that hub, then the spokes can dangle any way they choose from the rim of the wheel, but they will be ineffective and insufficient in propelling you in any direction at all. The hub is crucial. And the reason that Paul bows his knees before the Father who's in heaven and prays in this way is because he says, Listen, Ephesians, this is what really matters. This is what matters. And as we'll see when we come back, the reason that it matters is because the things that we are preoccupied with are not really the things.

2 Corinthians 4, with this I'll stop. We don't lose heart, he says, though outwardly our outer self is wasting away. Our inner self is being renewed day by day. Now, the third point that I have is that his prayer is not only selfless, spiritual, but it is also specific.

And when we come back, we'll deal with the specificity of it, and particularly this notion of the inner being. He's talking about your inner man, the real you, the part of you that when your tongue lies silent in the grave is still you, your essential being, that which is the reality of the risen, hidden life of Christ in you, the thing that makes you you in Jesus. You're not an empty suit. You may not look fantastic. You may not have great status.

You may not feel yourself to be significant. But the real issue is what's happening in the inner man. And Paul says, Outwardly we are wasting away. Everything is finally decaying. But, he says, our inner man, our inner self, is being renewed day by day for this light momentary affliction—which, in his case, was more than a light momentary affliction—is preparing for as an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but of the things that are unseen, for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Makes sense, doesn't it? I remember one of my colleagues telling me he did a funeral for somebody—nobody related to our church. And as the funeral took place in a home somewhere out here, he said that he followed the business partner of the man.

The man was still in an open casket. And the man stood up and said, you know, I remember Mr. So-and-so, and we started out when we had nothing, and we built it up, and we did it, and we've done a fantastic job. And I remember when he got his first Porsche, and, man, what a boat he had down in the Keys, and it was a beautiful thing.

And he really did a great job, and what a fantastic thing. And my colleague said, But he's dead. He's dead. True. There ain't gonna be a U-Haul coming behind my hearse with a few bits and pieces that were significant to me. I mean, hopefully someone'll look after my pens. They're important. But beyond that, I'm not gonna take them all with me.

Well, we'll stop now, don't you think? See, here's the issue. When you have Christ, you have everything. When you don't have Christ, even though you have everything, you've got nothing.

Because there's no inner being. That's why when Jesus says, I am come that you might have life, and that you might have it in all of its fullness, he's not talking about that you might have physical life. He's speaking to people with physical life. He's saying, I am come that you might have the life that is the real life that never ends. It's a great story. You're listening to Alistair Begg on Truth for Life. Keep listening.

Alistair is going to return in just a minute to close today's program. During our ongoing study of the book of Ephesians, you have probably heard me recommending a book titled Knowable Word. And you may know some passages of Scripture are more difficult to understand than others. This book will teach you keys to help you understand exactly what you're reading, whether you're studying the Old Testament or the New.

And you'll learn how to apply God's Word to your life. The book Knowable Word is an intensely practical, time-tested guide book that you'll find helpful no matter how long you've been studying the Bible. But we're only offering it for a few more days. Request your copy of the book Knowable Word today when you give a donation to Truth for Life online at truthforlife.org slash donate. Or if you'd prefer, call us at 888-588-7884. And if you'd rather mail your donation along with your request for the book, write to Truth for Life, post office box 398000 Cleveland, Ohio 44139. By the way, let me point out Knowable Word is a great book to work through with your Bible study group. And if you request the book with your donation and you'd like to purchase additional copies, you'll find them in our online store at truthforlife.org slash store.

They're available for purchase at our cost of seven dollars while supplies last. Now, here is Alistair to close with prayer. Father, we bow before you. Write what is of yourself in our hearts, we pray. Grant that anything that is untrue or unhelpful may be banished from our recollection. Shut us up, Lord, to the wonder of your pursuing love, so that if any of us are standing outside looking in, that this morning we may step inside into the sphere of your warm embrace in Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

I'm Bob Lapine. We are so glad you have studied the Bible along with us this week. Hope you enjoy your weekend and are able to worship with your local church. On Monday, we'll find out what's actually involved in true saving faith. Believing the gospel means more than simply understanding what the Bible says and believing that Jesus existed. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.