“For this reason,” Paul declared in his letter to the Ephesians, “I fall to my knees before the Father” (3:14). When people fall to their knees in the Bible, we tend to assume that the primary purpose of their prostration is prayer—and that was indeed part of what Paul was expressing here. But that’s not all that Paul seems to have been saying here. Kneeling is, in this text, more than a convenient posture for prayer. This is Paul’s moment of surrender in response to something that had inspired deep awe in his soul.
So what was it in this text that caused Paul to fall to his knees in prayerful awe? It wasn’t a miraculous vision, and it wasn’t a voice from heaven. It was something that may seem quite mundane to many of us. It was something that is experienced today by billions of people around the globe.
What Caused Paul to Fall to His Knees?
In this sermon, I invite you to cultivate anew your desire for authentic awe by taking a fresh look at an unexpected wonder that drove Paul to his knees. “The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder,” G.K. Chesterton once mused. If that was the case in Chesterton’s context in the early twentieth century, how much more is it true for us today? Our eyes and our flesh are glutted with superficial pleasures while our souls are starving for authentic awe. We have become comfortably numb.
But God did not design us for the numbness that comes from chasing constantly after the latest distraction or the quickest thrill.
God designed us for wonder and awe.
To learn what it was that drove Paul to his knees in wonder and awe, make some time this week to listen to this message.
If you want to learn more about developing a deeper sense of wonder and awe, consider studying the book Hullabaloo.
Talk About Wonder and Awe:
Listen to this message that I shared at the east congregation of Sojourn Community Church. What are the primary barriers to experiencing authentic wonder and awe in your life?
