“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

Psalm 1:1-3 (ESV)

𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘒𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴

Have you ever considered what the man in Psalm 1 is doing? Once you rule out walking, standing, and sitting, what’s left? He could be running or lying down, but neither of those seems to fit this passage.

Maybe he is kneeling.

You may have heard the saying (or some variation of it), “The one who kneels before God can stand before anyone.” I believe that’s true. But why is that?

For one, it reflects a heart of humility. There’s not much you can do from a kneeling position. It’s not a posture from which you can readily fight or defend yourself; rather, it’s a posture of surrender.

There’s nothing wrong—in fact, there’s everything right—with having a conversation with God from whatever position you’re in, whether sitting in your living room chair for morning devotions, standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes after lunch, or lying awake in bed in the middle of the night. There’s nothing mystical about kneeling. But there is something powerful in what it expresses.

One of the things I love about Pentecostal churches is their openness to this kind of physical expression. It’s not uncommon to see someone kneeling at the front of the church during their worship services. I remember one time when my parents and I visited a Pentecostal church a few years ago. During the opening songs, we noticed the pastor who would be speaking that night was kneeling at the front, crying and praying. My dad said that that was exactly where he would want his pastor to be as he got ready to bring the message. The sermon that night was powerful, and I think that was partly because of the preparation beforehand, some of which took place while this man was on his knees.

Kneeling isn’t just a Pentecostal thing. At the handful of Mennonite services we’ve visited, the congregation knelt for the closing prayer. In the house church we were part of for a few years, we practiced kneeling for prayer time as well.

What’s brought this to my mind again is that the pastor of the church we’re currently part of has shared recently about how kneeling in prayer has helped him connect with God in a deeper way. He’s also led in kneeling at the altar during services—not to put on a show or for dramatic effect or in an effort to look super spiritual, but as an expression of humility.

Because ultimately, that’s what it’s about: not your physical position, but your spiritual condition. What matters most is the state of your heart. Still, sometimes the state of your heart finds expression in physical form. And a humble heart always leads you lower.

Blessed is the man who kneels.

𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴

I think it's safe to say that I've got the first part of that quote covered—just ask my parents or anyone who knows me well. Now I'm working on the second part. This girl has been busy writing and plans to do a lot more over the next few months. I have a few longer projects (in the 10K–30K range) in the planning stage, and it's my goal to finish writing them this fall. Part of that I hope to accomplish through participating in Project Double Draft, a writing challenge hosted by a fellow young writer. (If you are a young writer wanting to finish some projects, I would encourage you to check it out. And if you're planning to participate in either or both writing months, let me know—I'd love to cheer you on!)

That's a lot of words to write in that amount of time—more than I'm used to—so we'll see how it goes. But I'm hopeful. :)

𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴

The women's devotional anthology I mentioned in my last newsletter has been released! Candid Moments: Living in Light of the Gospel is intended to guide readers in thinking about what it means for the gospel to change our lives as Christians. If that sounds like something you would be interested in reading, you can get a copy of the book here.

I would like to give a special shout-out to my friend Cheryl Balcom for agreeing to read an advance reader copy and write a review. Here's part of what she said about the book:

And here are a couple quotes from my piece that was included in the anthology, "The Gospel Makes a Difference":

At this time, I don't have further updates on the two fiction anthologies I mentioned in my last newsletter other than that they're still in the publishing process and will likely come out later this year.

𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 (𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴)

— Susanna Foth Aughtmon

ⓡⓔⓐⓓⓔⓡ ⓡⓔⓢⓟⓞⓝⓢⓔ

What is your experience with kneeling in church? I would be interested in comparing notes if you'd care to share.