Take a Knee, Any Knee
Today I had an hour of physical therapy. I've been having pain in my gluteus maximus,
posterior end, derriere-you get the picture-and that pain radiates down my leg. Sitting at my
desk seems to make it worse. Pretty bad for a person who sits at a desk for hours at a time.
After the pain intensified in degree and in frequency, I figured I should probably do something
about it. I thought about going to a chiropractor a good friend recommended. There are mixed
reviews of that particular field, but the pain has gotten bad enough that I was willing to try it
even with well-meaning caveats ringing in my head. But then I realized I hadn't gotten assertive
enough with my family physician-kiiiiinda hard to do if you only see her every 6-10 months
for a quickie look-see and a meds refill. In my earlier consultations with her, she'd suggested
my pain was age- and osteo-arthritis related which probably hurt my ego more than I'm willing
to admit. So, I asked if we could at least take a cursory look and not just assume it's because
I'm getting older.
Xrays revealed some degenerative damage-translation-age...isn't that nice!? But my pain and
the pictures indicated something else might be going on, so we made appointments for physical
therapy. My therapist examined me, poked and prodded a bit, and told me it's not a bone issue,
or an arthritis issue. It's a hamstring thing. Where the hamstring muscles attach to the joint,
there is major inflammation, so we gotta get that muscle strengthened and stretched to relieve
the mess I've gotten it in with inattention.
This is not my first foray into physical therapy. Years ago in an auto accident I crushed my
patella-that's your knee cap for anyone who isn't a doctor, nurse, athlete, an accident victim, a
klutz like me, or a mother of any of the above-and after an unsuccessful surgery to try and
piece the thing back together, the surgeon ended up removing the crushed bits, and pulling the
tendon down to accommodate the half a kneecap I have left. Our insurance didn't cover
physical therapy in those days, so the doc offered up a few pages of exercise diagrams, told me
"Good luck!" and told his intern that most people who do therapy on their own never succeed.
"Be prepared," he told me, "You'll probably never get full range of motion. We'll see how
you're doing in a few weeks."
First of all, do you know what happens when you tell a determined person they'll never do
something? I've got enough natural rebellion in me that when you tell me, you'll never.... well,
I think to myself, "Hide and watch, missy. Hide and watch!" I made it my mission to push,
push, push! Literally! One of the exercises was done while sitting at my desk, pushing the knee
forward as far as I could push it, over and over. Hide and watch!!
Second of all, never underestimate a good "why." If your why is clear, the how is just details.
My children were young, and I needed to be able to get down in the floor with them, kneel
down on my knees with full range of motion. So I started working on that knee, stretching the
tendons, elongating the muscle to make up for the missing patella. My why was set in my mind!
Little by little the degree of bend in my knee indicated progress. At my first checkup after being
released to physical therapy I hadd gained movement up to 60 degrees. The next appointment a
few weeks later, 90 degrees. Think, right angle, a perfect "L" of upper and lower leg. And
finally, at my last visit to the surgeons office for follow-up, I could move the knee 115
degrees... full range of motion!
My children weren't the only reason I needed to kneel. How else would I find socks under the
bed or macaroni under the table, or...if I were trying to be spiritual-I might tell you I needed to
be able to kneel and pray.
In the Gospels, people knelt before Jesus-a man with leprosy, a synagogue leader whose
daughter had died, a Canaanite woman whose daughter was demon possessed, a man whose son
had seizures-and the soldiers who stripped Him and crowned Him with thorns and mocked
him before they led Him away to be crucified also knelt before Him.
In Ephesians, the Apostle Paul writes, "For this reason I kneel before the Father." (Ephesians
3:14) As I read this verse, I wonder what Paul's "Why" was? What were the reasons Paul was
kneeling in prayer?
I found seven reasons for Paul's getting on his knees to pray.
1) Paul was praying because of who He was. Back in verse 7 of Ephesians 3, Paul says, "I
became a servant of this gospel." He clearly understood who he was in the Kingdom.
When you are a servant of the gospel, regular communication with the Master is a high
priority. God has created us all uniquely with our own identity, but like Paul, if we
follow Jesus, we are servants, and Jesus is our Lord and Master. Prayer is as necessary
as breathing if we are to be effective in the role He has for us in His Kingdom. Paul, as a
servant, got his marching orders by communicating with the Master.
2) Paul prayed because of the gift he'd been given. "I became a servant of this gospel by
the gift of God's grace (also verse 7). Grace is a favorite topic in all of Paul's writings.
He said earlier in his letter to the Ephesians that God raised us up with Christ in order to
show the incomparable riches of his grace, and now "you who once were far away have
been brought near by the blood of Christ" (chapter 2, verses 7 and 13). Through Jesus,
Paul said, we have access to the Father. (verse 18) What a wondrous gift of grace! And
what a good reason to pray.
3) Paul knelt to pray for the "working of God's power. Although," he said, "I am less than
the least of all the Lord's people, this grace was given to me." Paul realized He needed
the power of God to be and to do all that God asked him to be and do.
4) Not only was Paul a servant of the Gospel, but his identity was Apostle to the Gentiles.
He, a Jew of Jews, trained to be a religious leader among his people, was called by God
"to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ," and to make plain that this
was what God planned all along. Paul prayed for the people that God called him to make
known the "manifold wisdom" of heaven. (verses 8-10)
5) And 6) Paul prayed because "In him and through faith in him we may approach God
with freedom and confidence." (verse 12) Do you ever find yourself hesitant to pray?
There are times I feel unworthy, condemned, a debtor to a Creator for whom I can never
measure up. I have to remind myself that such thoughts are from the one who steals my
freedom, kills my confidence, and destroys my intimacy with Jesus. He is a liar. Have
you ever noticed that it takes NO faith to believe the lies we speak and the enemy speaks
to us? We swallow them whole. Agreeing with God for Freedom and Confidence takes
faith! No wonder Paul prayed! He wrote "There is NOW no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus," and "nothing can separate me from the love of Christ." (Romans
8:1, and 38-39) His prayer for the Ephesians is that they "grasp how wide and long and
high and deep is the love of Christ."
7) "I ask you," Paul wrote in verse 13, "not to be discouraged." He prayed because he knew
his friends in Ephesus might be struggling with Paul's difficulties. "My sufferings are
your glory."
When your Why is clear, the how becomes academic. Just like my knee-which even as I
advance in age, I still have full range of motion-doing the therapy, putting in the work to make
it function so that I could play with my kids, and clean under my bed, and yes, even pray! was
made easier because I understood WHY I was doing it.
I quipped to a friend this past week that I'm no prayer warrior. "I'm not the gal that Jesus wakes
up in the middle of the night to get on her knees and pray," I said. As I read Paul's prayer for
the Ephesians and see his reasons, I realize that my "why" hasn't been strong enough. When the
why is clear, the how is easy.
As I've been coaching people, and writing podcasts, and preparing for a series of Mastermind
meetings, my prayer life has become fuller by necessity. Like Paul, my why is the One I serve,
the ones God has called me to steward, communicating the riches of his grace, the manifold
wisdom of God. NONE of these would be possible without the "working of his power" that
Paul mentions not once, not twice, but four times in chapter three of Ephesians.
What are your reasons for praying? Are they compelling enough to bring you to your knees?
The Psalmist wrote "Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our
Maker." Psalm 95:6
I think about my injury and therapy so long ago. Who knew I'd need my knees in my old age!?
God did. "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to hi power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)
Father,
Who can believe that the Creator of all things, and the One in Whom ALL things hold together,
would want to have a conversation with us!? By faith, Lord, I believe it, and I thank You for
listening to my prayers... the sweet ones, the earnest ones, the ugly-cry ones, the selfish ones, all
the petitions I have offered up over the years. And You have heard and answered according to
your matchless grace, power, and incomparable riches. Thank you, Father, for the yeses, the
nos, and the not-nows. Thank you for the promise of Your Words, and for the freedom and
confidence you give us by faith to approach You. Show us your power, and use us for your
glory! In Jesus' name, Amen.
