One of the greatest of all American presidents, Abraham Lincoln, once said, “I have been driven many times, upon my knees, by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and all that about me seemed insufficient for that day.” There is little question that Abraham Lincoln, as well as many other American presidents, were men of God and spent considerable time on their knees, or at least time in prayer.
What brought this quote to mind was a phrase I read the other day -- “God answers KNEE mail.” This seemed most timely and appropriate in these days when e-mail and Facebook almost dominate our lives.
In my personal and professional life, I get dozens of e-mails every single day. A good number of them come as a result of some person, company or organization having me on their e-mail list. I try to “unsubscribe” from as many as I can, and those I can’t, I just delete, which takes a little of my precious time. My point is simply this: the time alone praying to God, on my knees or sitting alone in a quiet place, is the most important time I spend each day. Over the past several years I have found that prayer does change things, because God is faithful and He is always there.
He tells us in his Word in Philippians 4:6 -- “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” There is a little parable that most people have probably heard called “The Parable of the Mustard Seed” that I believe has application here. In Matthew 13:31 we read these words, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when grown, it’s taller than the vegetables and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”
The principle here is simple: God can take something small, like a mustard seed, and turn it into something very large, which is His economy when we are faithful to live for Him and we ask Him to bless us. What I am saying here is a very personal thing, and you always have the right to disagree, but to my way of thinking, a person who tries to go through life without God and spending time in prayer is like a boxer trying to win a boxing match with one arm tied behind his back. The truth is, we have a source of unlimited power available to us, so why not use it to help us succeed in life and be a blessing to those around us?
A few weeks ago I had the privilege of having the program at our men’s prayer breakfast, and as I thought about some of the things I am sharing with you, this question came to mind. What would happen if we simply took God at his word? For my presentation, I picked out a number of scripture verses and shared them, beginning with II Timothy 3:16 -- “All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” The next verse I shared was Mark 9:23 – “Then Jesus said to him, ‘If you can? Everything is possible to the one who believes’.”
This is the key. If we are to receive the blessings of God, we must believe Him and His word. This is validated by James in verses 1:6-7 -- “But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. An indecisive man is unstable in all his ways.”
E-mail is good, but Knee mail is the best.