Mostly, kneeling helps me focus on my conversation with God. We humans are easily distracted. This can happen with anything from the ring of a phone, the sound of a TV in a distant room, a car racing up the street outside, a pet wandering by. I, especially, am easily distracted. Sometimes it is by my own thoughts – they are often anything but spiritual when they fight for my attention. Whether it’s financial, social, household-related, or whatever, it can easily cause me to forget why I am trying to pray at that moment.
Kneeling, however, is a signal to both my body and my soul.
Now, I am not a martyr – not in any sense of the word. I am a flesh-and-blood being with flesh-and-blood problems and selfish needs. So there are times when I am tempted to just climb into bed and pray from there.
The thing is – I am very grateful that I can still kneel in prayer. For several months, two or three years ago, I couldn’t do that because of foot surgery that resulted in my wearing a cast for those months. I was so happy when I could once again kneel in prayer.
As a Catholic, I am rather comical when I try to genuflect getting into a pew the few times I make it to church these days. Getting down on one knee isn’t the problem – it’s the getting back up. So I end up doing a sort of curtsy – or I just do not bother. I figure the Lord knows I am happy enough to have made it to his house for the visit. He also is well aware of my physical limits.
So, for the months or years that I have left, I will rejoice in being able to kneel in prayer. I know far too many folks, even younger than my 73 years, who can no longer do that.
Dear God, I am so happy to be able to come to you on bended knees in prayer each night. Bless me, please, with the ability to concentrate when I come to talk with you. And bless those, please, who would love to still be able to kneel in prayer and who can no longer do so.
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