Worship Practices Explained: Why Christians Often Pray On Bended Knees

“Worship Practices Explained” is a new series running here one day per week over the next couple months.  I’ll talk about why Christians do things during worship services and other times that might seem strange to the uninitiated.

Blog stats tell me that most sojournmusic.com readers are Christians and that probably at least half are actively involved in volunteer or staff ministry as worship leaders, pastors, church planters, childrens’ teachers and other positions and callings.  But sometimes we can all be unexpectedly hit with something like “why do you ____” at church, whether from a neighbor, child, coworker or relative, causing us to think, “Hmm.  I haven’t thought about that in so long that I’m not sure exactly how to answer the question.”  So hopefully this series will be a little refresher course for all of us. 

Why Do We Kneel To Pray Sometimes?

In Bible times, people kneeled when they asked for favors from the king or pleaded with him for safety or forgiveness. Matthew 18:26 says, “The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt, and let him go.”

Today, we kneel before Jesus Christ, the King of the universe, as a gesture of our submission to Him and dependence on His sacrifice for us and love for us. In fact, Jesus taught us to kneel and pray with passion Himself on the night he was betrayed to be crucified for our sins.

Straight From The Source: Luke 22:41-44

“(Jesus) withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”