Observation & Obedience: Are you a daredevil? Felix Baumgartner is. Once he climbed into the open hand of Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro and BASE jumped 95 feet, setting a world record (BASE jumping is done with a parachute from a fixed object). He’s performed many other dauntless deeds, including skydiving from the stratosphere and breaking the sound barrier on his way down.
I can’t imagine me ever skydiving. I’m sure someone would have to shove me, screaming, out of the plane. While God doesn’t ask us to strap on a parachute and jump into thin air, sometimes we feel just as wobbly and unsure of ourselves coming to Him with our requests.
We meekly bow or kneel or prostrate ourselves on the floor, covering our soggy faces with despairing hands and sobbing out our pleas. Sometimes that is exactly the posture we should take, when we’re asking Him for forgiveness, patience, and understanding.
But today’s verse is full of big, audacious images: daring, boldness, courage, confidence, unreserved, freedom, fearless.
In biblical times, the posture of standing before a ruler indicated a legal right to be there. Ephesians 3:6 names our legal qualifications to stand before Christ. We are fellow heirs, fellow members, and fellow partakers. We’ve got the back stage passes, we belong to the club, we’re V.I.P.’s, our inheritance is already deposited in the trust fund.
Ephesians goes on to name the treasures of our trust fund: unfathomable riches, powerful inner strength, deep roots of love, comprehension of the magnitude of Christ’s love, bursting with the fullness of God. All this is ours, now, for the asking.
Do you feel confident enough to stand in prayer, raise your hands, and dauntlessly lay claim to what’s rightfully yours? Most of the time, neither do I.
Dr. Amy Cuddy, a Harvard professor, researched the hormonal effects of a power pose. She tested subjects after they stood with arms up in a “V”, the classic victory pose. She found increases in testosterone, the dominance hormone and low cortisol, the stress hormone.
What Cuddy discovered, God designed into us. Biblical examples confirm the importance of standing in prayer. The Institute of Basic Life Principles recently posted an article listing three reasons we should stand in prayer.
- It represents our position in Christ’s righteousness. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2).
- It symbolizes our preparation for battle. “Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm” (Ephesians 6:13).
- It shows readiness to serve. Daniel and his companions were to serve the king after a period of preparation, “…that at the end thereof they might stand before the king” (Daniel 1:5).
The victory pose is a universal sign of confidence. Every runner crosses the finish line with arms up. Our Savior crossed His finish line with arms up in a “V” as He hung from the tree. There was never a more powerful moment in the history of mankind as the moment “It is finished” was pronounced on the cross.
If you struggle to really feel as if you are a fellow heir, member, and partaker; try changing your pose in prayer. Confidently stand if you can, raise your hands in a “V” for victory. Dare to ask for what God longs to give you. As you raise your hands, matching Jesus, feel His boldness course through you.
Prayer: “Father, out of Your glorious riches will You strengthen me with power through Your Holy Spirit in my inner being? Allow Christ to dwell in my heart through faith. Root me and establish me in love, provide me with the insight and power to grasp just how wide and long and high and deep Christ’s love is. I want to know this love that surpasses knowledge so I can be filled up to the measure of all the fullness of God. Amen.”
Encouragement: “Always act like you are wearing an invisible crown.” Anonymous
Written by: Deb Potts
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