November 13 2025

Thursday November 13

“I Bow My Knees”

Ephesians 3:14-15

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.

Today we're looking at Ephesians 3:14-15. In the last verses of this chapter, we will be looking at the prayer  that Paul gives us that could even for you and me today be a model prayer. Already in this chapter, Paul has reminded us of the mystery of the church, the body of Jesus Christ, how that as both Jews and Gentiles and whoever we are, we can be at one with Christ and one another, forgiving one another, loving one another, and be in unity. Now, Paul is teaching us another lesson on prayer.

This prayer in verses 14-21 is the second of two prayers that are recorded in Ephesians. The first one is in Ephesians 1:15-23. In the first prayer, the emphasis was on enlightenment, but in this prayer, the emphasis is on enablement. It's not so much a matter of knowing as it is on being. It is about laying our hands on what God has for us by faith, making God's riches and His love a vital part of our lives. Paul is basically saying here, I want you to get your hands on your wealth in Christ. I want you to realize how vast it is, and start to use it on a regular daily, moment-by-moment basis in your life.

It's worth noting also that both of these prayers, as well as the other prison prayers of Paul, (Philippians 1:9-11, Colossians 1:9-12), are awesome prayers that you and I can use faithfully and regularly in our own lives, praying for our spiritual well-being and the spiritual well-being of our family and friends and others in the body of Christ. These prayers deal with the inner spiritual condition of the man, not the material needs of the body. Remember Paul is in prison. He could be saying, "Oh, I'm hurting. Pray for me. I'm chained up. My wrists are all bloody." No, he didn't ask for those kinds of prayers or teach us to pray those kinds of prayers. Certainly, it's not wrong to pray for physical and material needs. But the emphasis in these petitions is on the spiritual.

Paul knew that if the inner man is what he ought to be, the outer man will be taken care of in due time. So many of our prayers focus solely on our physical and material needs. They fail to lay hold of the deeper inner needs of our hearts. It would do us good to use these prison prayers as our own, asking God to help us as we grow in the inner man, believing and receiving the riches of Christ in us, and living on those riches. This is where our great need is.

In verse 14, the first thing that strikes us is Paul’s posture: “For this reason I bow my knees”. (This must have been quite an experience for the Roman soldier that was chained to Paul!). You'll notice in the Bible, nowhere are we commanded any special posture for prayer. It says in Genesis 18:22, that Abraham “stood before the Lord” when he prayed for Sodom. In first Kings 8:22, Solomon “stood” when he prayed to dedicate the temple. David “sat before the Lord” when he prayed about the future of the kingdom in 1 Chronicles 17:16. Jesus “fell on His face” and prayed in the garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26:39. The emphasis is on the spiritual posture here in the book of Ephesians.

As lost sinners, we were buried in the graveyard of sin (Ephesians 2:1). But when we trusted Christ, He raised us from the dead, seated us with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:4-6). Because we are seated with Christ, we can walk so as to please Him (Ephesians 4:1, 17; 5:2, 8, 15). Now we can stand against the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6:10-13). But the posture that links “sitting” with “walking” and “standing” is “bowing the knee”.

Oh, my friend, it is through prayer that we lay hold of God's riches that enable us to behave like Christians, and battle like Christians, as true believers of Jesus Christ. Whether we actually bow our knees, that's not the important thing; but that we bow our hearts and our will to the Lord and ask Him for grace and what we need in the real vital matters of our lives.

Today, will you take the time to bow your heart before the Lord?

God bless!