PROPER POSTURE IN PRAYER At first glance, this subject might seem to be irrelevant, unimportant, or even unnecessary. But my friend, Satan will so portray it because he knows just how vitally important it is for us to know, so that we may give God the glory due to Him. What! You don’t believe it? Please read on. What is posture? Well, it is our mental state as well as the physical position of our bodies; are we in a reverent state of mind, and are we walking, sitting, lying down or standing up? And what is prayer? In our case, it is mortal man, made of clay, talking to the King of the universe; tiny sinful mortal man talking to his Creator; either silently and secretly, or audibly and publicly. Something we must also guard against very, very carefully is not to compromise in any way, and yet at the same time, not to become overzealous and consequently fanatical. Between these two, compromise and fanaticism, lies the will of God for us. How shall we then, confidently, find the will of God for us? Jesus promised : - John 16:13. “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come”. So then, dear Holy Spirit of Truth, in keeping with this promise, please open our understanding, that we might understand the scriptures. Amen. This subject is of the utmost importance because it is part of the last message of mercy that God is giving to the inhabitants of this planet before Jesus returns, and it involves the second of the ten commandments; the one that is least understood by perhaps the majority of the people studying the bible. The first four commandments deal with WORSHIP. The first tells us WHOM to worship, The second HOW, The third WHERE, and the fourth WHEN to worship. The second commandment tells us to approach God with reverence; that we are to kneel before Him alone; that we are not to kneel before any thing or any one. Kneeling is an honour due to GOD alone because it is an ACT OF WORSHIP, and the first commandment tells us to worship God only! John, who wrote the book of Revelation, knew this. However, when he saw the angel, he thought it was Jesus and knelt down : - Revelation 19:10 And I fell at his feet to WORSHIP him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: WORSHIP God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. To kneel is to worship, and to worship is to kneel! In the book of Daniel we read of three Hebrew youths who obeyed : - Daniel 3:4-12. Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: And whose falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews. They spake and said to the King Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever. …. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. In obeying God by refusing to kneel to the image, the three men were cast into the fire. However, because of their obedience, Jesus was able to save them. You can read about it a little further on in the chapter. From the foregoing, it is clear that the question of kneeling to God is not a trivial matter. IT IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH. During the dark ages, the only visible church was the Catholic church. Out of her came the reformed churches; then according to prophecy, (Isa. 2:2), God again raised His church to prominence, calling it Philadelphia in Rev. 3:7. The reformation is not yet complete. We, the present generation of worshippers have not experienced any constant example of true reverence when in the presence of the Great God of Eternity! When comparing His Eternal Majesty with our own absolute insignificance, we sadly no longer feel the overpowering inner compulsion to prostrate ourselves before Him. Now what is God’s will for us with regard to our posture in prayer? We have seen that the second commandment forbids us to kneel to any one or any thing other than God only. It is His directive to us as to how we must approach Him in prayer, and there is abundant evidence in the bible to show that this is indeed the most appropriate and reverent posture we can adopt when speaking to Him during Divine Worship, on His Holy Sabbath, and in His Holy Sanctuary. Let us notice that whenever the bible refers to HIS VOICE, it is referring to the ten commandments : - Deuteronomy 4:12,13. And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. The LORD then warns against serving the sun etc. and promises to scatter Israel over the face of the earth; now notice verse 30: - When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; We are living in the last days are we not? We keep the fourth commandment; are we obedient to the second? Are we obedient to HIS VOICE? Here is a dreadfull warning : - Jeremiah 23:1 WOE be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. This chapter deals with our worshipping Him in these last days : - Jeremiah 23:20 The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. In psalm 95:6,7 we read : - O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, Friend! Today will we not hear HIS VOICE?? Here is an example of this in the old testament : - 2 Chronicles 20 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD. And the greatest example of all, that of Jesus in the new testament: - Lu 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. He stood up from kneeling on his knees in prayer to his Father before reading the scriptures to the congregation. Jesus, as a man, (even though he could at any time have been equal with God), always humbled himself to the dust, when talking with his Father. Luke 22:41 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Here are a few examples of other believers: - 1 Kings 8:54, 2 Chronicles 6:13, Ezra 9:5, Psalms 95:6, Daniel 6:10, Acts 7:60, Acts 9:40, Acts 20:36, Acts 21:5, Ephesians 3:14. With regard to our worship of Him, God says : - Leviticus 19:30 Ye shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. So then, we are to worship Him in Holy time, on Holy ground, and we are to speak with Him in a reverent manner, by kneeling. In this way, we guard against any compromise with false worship. If the bible so clearly tells us how to approach God in Divine Worship, where did standing in prayer come from? Why has reverence for God almost disappeared? Satan set up “self worship” by introducing sun worship; God calls him the “Day star” in Isaiah 14:12; (the only star visible in the daytime is the sun). This is also where Sunday comes from. The ancients worshipped by standing naked, facing the east with outstretched arms, to welcome the rising sun, and then set aside the first day of the week, Sunday, for it’s honour. From very early times, despite warnings from Him, God’s people apostatized and worshipped the sun; read for instance Deut. 4:19, Eze. 8:16, Job 31:26-28. The Roman Catholic church, during it’s expansion in the long ago, came upon these sun worshippers, and in order to encourage them into the church, adopted and then adapted some of these heathen practices into their own worship. They told the heathen to stand praying to the “risen Son” and not to the “rising sun”. They told them to keep Sunday holy, not in the sun’s honour, but in the Son’s honour, the day on which the Son was resurrected. Later they made ecclesiastical laws requiring all to stand while praying in honour of Christ’s resurrection. Sunday worship and standing in prayer, are closely connected. This practice was bequeathed to the protestant churches that came out of Catholicism only a few hundred years ago, and is still being practiced by all of them today. All this, in spite of the warnings of God: notice : - Deuteronomy 12:30-32. Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God:…What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. To make us aware of our error, God gives us this last message of mercy : - Revelation 14:6,7. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. Notice the words “Fear God, and give glory to Him”: If God is asking us to give Him the glory, who is getting the glory at present?? Satan is!! To fear God means to REVERENCE Him and we can do this by kneeling in prayer during WORSHIP, on the seventh day Sabbath. This will give HIM the glory in obedience to the commandments. At present Satan is getting the glory because people stand praying during worship on the first day of the week, Sunday, in obedience to him. Anyone who decides to continue standing in prayer, or in Sunday worship, in spite of the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it worshipping Satan, and not God: Here is God’s definition : - Romans 6:16. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto DEATH, or of obedience unto righteousness? The decree of king Nebuchadnezzar was universal; “People, nations and languages, disobey the God of heaven with regard to kneeling in worship”!! The decree of the God of heaven is universal; to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people – “Give Me due reverence by kneeling in prayer during worship, and thereby give ME the glory”. Three Hebrews were cast into a furnace for refusing to kneel to an idol. Millions of deceived believers are soon to be put out of their misery in the fires of hell for, amongst other reasons, refusing to kneel to God. However before they die the second death, they will kneel in the judgement. Isaiah 45:23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. By kneeling in prayer during divine worship and during private devotions – (e.g. when retiring and when arising from sleep), we guard against any compromise with false worship. However it is not always necessary to kneel when talking to God. In guarding against fanaticism, it is important to know that there is no time or place that is inappropriate to prayer. Throughout our daily activities, we can lift up our silent petitions to God, no matter where we are, or what our body posture is. To kneel in prayer in a shop while shopping, or in a street while walking, would be fanatical, and would make a mockery of our faith. So then while driving a car, sitting in school, standing in the office of the boss, in the workplace, or lying sick in bed, God will hear and answer all our supplications. In these circumstances, we do not dishonour God by not kneeling. On the contrary, we would dishonour Him by kneeling, because this would be fanatical. May God grant us the wisdom to worship Him in reverence, without compromise, and never to present ourselves in our daily living, as fanatics. POINTS TO PONDER : - When we kneel in prayer, we indicate to the entire universe a) That as created beings, we belong to God. b) That because we love Him, we obey Him. c) That we are made of dust and, without the saving merits of Jesus, we belong there, until He lifts us up. d) That we are completely dependent on Him for our very being. e) That we are totally surrendered to God’s will. f) That we want to be loyal to God. God the Creator is humble, and since kneeling is symbolic of humility, kneeling belongs to God. Satan is proud, and since standing in our self sufficiency is symbolic of pride, standing in prayer belongs to Satan. People standing in prayer during divine worship is the medium Satan uses to insult and disgrace the Great Creator God whom he hates. TODAY IF YOU WILL HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS!! For further info. or studies please phone: Cell: Errol 082 765 9498.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 19:03:42 +0000