Workin' At the Dog Wash, Yeah!

Wednesday was dog wash day. I always start with the smallest one, Sassy, then Buddy, then the biggest one, Squirt (Does that look as strange to you as it does to me? hehe).

I never get a shower on dog wash day because the dogs will see to that I get a really good flea bath! So you NEVER have to worry about me giving fleas to you or your dog. ;)

But since I, in my "grubbies," wash to small dogs first, I spend a lot of time on my knees by the time they are washed, ears cleaned, and nails trimmed. Then comes Squirt.

With Squirt you start out standing (at least short little me does) and end up, once again, on your knees.

All this quality time on my knees Wednesday left significant bruises on my knees and sore lower back, calves, hamstrings, and...well, you get the idea. As I limped around yesterday bent over like a question mark complaining about my knees, I thought of a story I heard a preacher tell a long time ago.

It is said that the apostle James spent so much time on his knees in prayer that when he died, his knees looked like the knees of a camel because of the callouses that had formed from his habit of prayer. He took seriously Psalm 95:6: "Comes, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker."

However, I have found that Ps. 95:6 is the only place that tells us to kneel before the Lord. I am becoming convinced that the proper position for prayer is lying face down. There are actually 28 references in the Bible of patriarchs, prophets and the very Son of God lying prostrate before the Father God. Look it up. You can start in Genesis 17:3: "Then Abram fell to the ground and God spoke with him..." ;and go through Numbers 16:4: "When Moses heard [this], he fell facedown...;" then finally, Luke 17:15-16, "But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned and, with a loud voice, gave glory to God. He fell facedown at His [Jesus'] feet, thanking Him. And he was a Samaritan." Even Jesus knew how to address His Father, "Then He [Jesus] went a little farther, fell to the ground, and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.' (Mark 14:35)

So why do we kneel instead of lying face first on the ground? In my case, I worry about two things: what other people will think having been socialized to kneeling like everyone else, and two, the army of people it would take to get me off the ground (AWKWARD!). Pride is the only thing standing between my kneeling and my lying prostrate like I am suppose to. And because I have researched it (MANY years ago when I went to Crichton College) and know what I should do, I will be held accountable for the knowledge I have.

So what do we do? We do what we know to do. At home in private, I do lie on the bed and pray. But in services, I do not wish to cause a weaker brother to stumble because they physically can't lie on the ground and get up. The important thing is that we pray continually. We can work out the position when we get to heaven and have our glorified bodies. I'm sure God understands.

Now if you will excuse me, I am going to doctor my aching knees. I only spent two hours on my knees and I am suffering at every step. I honestly don't know how the apostle James did it. Maybe it's like playing a guitar. At first your fingers hurt and bleed, but WITH PRACTICE you develop callouses and it becomes easier. Just like kneeling in prayer.