You may not remember the last time you did some deep knee bends, at least not intentionally! After all, your knees aren’t quite as young as they used to be. Bending in any way may come with assorted creaks and moans, but that’s okay. God appreciates your efforts, especially when you get down on your knees to pray. Of course, He’s actually happy for you to pray in any posture you might prefer. Head bowed, hands clasped together, disruptive thoughts pushed aside, heart ready…that works for Him! Standing, sitting, driving, walking, those work too. The point is that God wants you to pray…always, as long as you put your whole heart into it.
When you think about it, you’re a pretty amazing design. You’re flexible, agile, able to move in a lot of different ways. The whole idea is that you can bend without breaking. Getting back to praying then, it’s comforting to know that God bends down to meet you when you come to Him in prayer. He inclines His ear to you, totally committed to hearing all you have to say.
Sometimes the world invades your space in ways that are disconcerting. You’re overwhelmed by crazy comments on FaceBook and other social media sites. You don’t know whether to believe half of what you read. You find yourself bending way past your comfort zone in order to support the people you love or to do the job you’ve been asked to do at work. You can get pulled in so many emotional directions, everything feels unbelievable. Though you may have the soul of a ballet dancer, all this twisting and turning is more than you can handle. You can feel on the edge of breaking. So, what do you do…you stop!
Be still and wait. God sees you and He will send people to help you, lift you up, and nurture you. He will remind you of all that He has done when you’ve been stretched too thin before. He will offer you a helping hand, bending down to be near you, to forgive you, and to guide you. He never forgets about you. He wants you to be resilient and happy. So, the reminder today is to pray. Pray about everything that effects your life. Pray about the things that break your heart and pray about the things that make you feel strong. Ask God to help you trust Him like you’ve never tried to trust Him before, leaning on Him, and giving Him the chance to draw near to you.
If you really want to do some deep knee-bending, then ask God to anoint your spirit and give you greater flexibility in all that you do for Him this year. That’s sure to inspire a happy dance.
Prayer keeps your heart and soul flexible!