day ten: praying BIG on our knees.

Every morning Brett prays and reads Scripture for 45 minutes.  Not 44 or 39 or even 46. 45.  My favorite mornings are when he has woken up before me and so the first thing I see is when I look over and there he is, on his knees. He is hands down the most disciplined, faithful person I know.  Where he is steady and reliable I am all over the place and inconsistent.  And he is also probably cringing reading this because he is also super humble.  But for the sake of Christ, he'll tolerate it.  Being married to him convicts me and teaches me and encourages me to be more like Jesus.

Now, don't get thinking we're all Leave it to Beaver or something because I could also write a blog about all the things he does that drive me crazy.  He could write an even longer one about things I do that make him crazy.

But one of the biggest gifts he has given me is a picture of a person who takes prayer seriously enough to storm the gates of heaven consistently and on his knees.  He is 6'6 so seeing him bow down is pretty profound. 

Today I spent an hour on my knees.  Now I know that in Matthew 6, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees in Scripture for "praying on street corners to be seen by men" but for the sake of this blog you get to come along with me into my hour of prayer today.  

At 11 a.m. I got news that our friend, Jay Whitaker, was going to have to have a really risky surgery.  Karis and I prayed while she jumped on the trampoline and before nap time.  At 3:41 I got a text from our friend Kristin that Jay was in surgery and both of the girls were sleeping so I got on my knees and opened my Bible because--can I be honest?--I didn't even know how to pray.  I had exhausted my "Jesus--Jay & Alex--Jesus" and "Please please please" prayers.

 (Karis praying for Jay & Alex: "Nank you Jesus for Jay and Alex and heal Jay's sick body and Alex's sad heart. Amen.")

In Bible study we are studying Matthew and today we read chapter 4.  So I decided to start just reading there and pray as He led me.  I got as far as Matthew 4:24 when He first got my attention:

"News about Him [Jesus] spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, suffering severe pain, the demon possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed and He healed them."

I heard Him nudge me: "Meg. People brought people to Me to heal because they had CONFIDENCE that I could do it because they heard that I had done it before.  Do you have confidence?"  So, there, on my knees, I started praying more confidently.  And when the fear would creep into my prayers, I would think of those folks dragging their sick friends to Jesus FULLY EXPECTING Jesus to heal. And I was reminded that the point of being on my knees is to make myself smaller so that He can be bigger.  And as I get to know Jesus as BIGGER, praying confidently is just natural because it's not about me, the words I say to Him, it's just about who He is. 

I don't really know WHY, but somehow when I pray on my knees, I swear something different happens, something bigger.  I'm not saying it's magic or some kind of formula or something but I can tell you that something powerful happens there. In that posture of humbling myself before the King of Kings, prayer becomes different--no longer about me but entirely about Him.

And if nothing else, praying on my knees is joining along with the saints that have gone before me. Daniel prayed on his knees three times a day before he was thrown into the lion's den.  Solomon prayed on his knees during the building of the temple.  People like Billy Graham, Jim Rayburn from YL, Miss Johnson from BSF, Henrietta Mears made it a practice to pray on their knees and laid the foundation of the ministries they headed up on their knees.

At 5:45 p.m. I got another text: "Jay came through surgery just fine!  Thank you, Jesus!!!" Thank you, Jesus, indeed.  You did for us just exactly what You did for all those folks who brought their friends to you 2,000 years ago--You glorified Yourself in their healing but You also let me have front row seats to Your work from over here on my knees in prayer.