You Do Your Best Work On Your Knees

Your Best Work is Done On Your Knees

Luke 22:39-46

What position do you do your best work? Do you manage by walking around? Do you work best sitting at a computer desk? Do you sit in a car driving to make sales contacts? Do you do your best creative work while jogging along a trail?

A California Miner said: “I do most of my work on my knees.” Jesus did some of his best work on His knees.

On February 26, 1829, a Jewish boy named Leob Strauss was born in a cottage in the Bavarian village of Butterheim. As a young man, Leob changed his name to Levi and wound up in California where he opened a textile company in San Francisco. One day a gold miner walked into Levi’s shop and complained to the young merchant. “Look at these,” pointing to his pants. “I brought them six months ago, and now they’re full of holes!”

When Levi asked why, the miner explained, “We work on our knees most of the time.”

Levi told him that he could make pants out of strong material. He could use canvas that he used to make tents. “If we make your trousers out of canvas, I’m sure they won’t get holes.”

The miner’s trousers were made and the rest is history. Soon miners across the West were wearing Levi Strauss’s jeans.

As Christians we need to have the same problem – pants with worn-out knees, from doing kingdom work on our knees.

We should know that unless God blesses in answer to prayer all our efforts are in vain. But the fact is we spend far too littler time in prayer. There are several barriers to taking time to pray.

I. Barriers to Taking Time to Pray

Following the Passover Meal in the Upper Room Jesus took Peter, James and John with him to the Mt. of Olives to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus walked a short distance from the three disciples and knelt down and prayed. One of the Gospel writers said Jesus fell on his face and prayed.

Jesus prayed in deep agony, “Father if it is possible remove this cup of suffering and judgment from me. Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground (mingled with blood). At last he stood up again and returned to his disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. ‘Why are you sleeping?” he asked, ‘Could you not watch with me one hour?’ Get up and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you.’” Luke 22:41-46

Jesus would ask each one us: “Will you not take time to pray?”

When God says “no”: Because God says “no” some people stop praying and believing. Ted Turner of Turner Broadcasting has been a critic of Christianity. He said he had a very conservative Christian and Biblical upbringing. He even considered becoming a missionary at one point in his life. The Atlanta Journal Constitution quoted him as saying that he was saved seven or eight times in his life. He became disenchanted with Christianity when despite his prayers that his sister would get well, she died.

Job would answer Ted Turner with his rock bottom commitment to the Lord after he lost his children, cattle, wealth, “Even through I lose everything even my life, I will trust the Lord.”

The writer of the song “The Solid Rock” speaks of unshakable faith.

“When darkness seems to hid His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. His oath, his covenant, his blood support me in the whelming flood. When all a round my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. On Christ the Solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.”

Cares of this world: The cares of this world take so much of our energy and attention that we fail to pray. How quickly we forget that this world is not our permanent home, we are just passing through. The way we spend our time you would think we are making this world our permanent home.

A Gallop Poll reported that Americans pray about five minutes a week and the prayers are usually about some crisis in life.

The Bible is very clear we are not to love this world. I John 2:15-17, “Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from this evil world. And this world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever.”