SERMON NOTES

Last week, we explored what it means to have a spine of faith — the courage to stand tall when life tries to break you down. But there’s a paradox in the Kingdom that we can’t ignore: The way we stand strong before men is by bowing low before God.

You can’t have a strong back if you’ve got weak knees. Even Jesus, whose backbone carried the cross, found His strength in prayer — on His knees before the Father. Every breakthrough begins not with standing up to people, but with bowing down to God.

Breakthrough Knees

"Yet He frequently withdrew to the wilderness to pray. One day Jesus was teaching, and the Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. People had come from Jerusalem and from every village of Galilee and Judea, and the power of the Lord was present for Him to heal the sick." Luke 5:16–17 (BSB)

Jesus had a rhythm of retreat — not to escape but to engage with Heaven. He didn’t pray on the go or fit prayer between miracles and meetings. Scripture says, “He frequently withdrew.”

That means He made time for prayer. He protected that sacred space — the secret place.

To fully experience the presence of God, we must recognize that the atmosphere we create matters more than the location we’re in. God may be everywhere, but His manifest presence — the tangible sense of His glory — is often found in places where He is desired, invited, and prioritized.

The Posture of Power

Many of us pray, but few of us protect the posture of prayer. Over time, prayer can become routine — repetitive, rushed, even religious. We end up praying about the same struggles, in the same way, at the same time, until prayer feels more like a task than a relationship.

Jesus told the Samaritan woman: "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." John 4:24 (ESV)

When we approach God with honesty — not pretending, not performing — His presence manifests. The atmosphere shifts, and the ordinary becomes sacred.

Jesus also warned us about empty prayer: "When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward." Matthew 6:5 (ESV)

There’s a kind of prayer that sounds holy but lacks Heaven. It’s loud but lifeless, public but powerless. The problem isn’t the place — it’s the motivation.

The Pharisees prayed for recognition; Jesus prayed for revelation. When you step away from performance and into presence, the power of God begins to manifest in your life. Sometimes God is waiting for you in the place you’ve been too busy to go — not hiding, but waiting for your heart to slow down enough to meet His. You can’t carry divine power if you never spend time in divine presence.

When your knees touch the ground, Heaven touches your life.

The Presence That Radiates

"Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord." Exodus 34:28–29 (NIV)

When Moses descended from the mountain, he wasn’t carrying a new title or strategy — he was glowing. His face radiated because he had spoken with the Lord. His glow came from encounter, not exposure; from presence, not platform.

Today, many believers no longer glow from the presence of God — we glow from the blue light of our phones. We’ve traded mountain time for screen time, scrolling more than we seek. We’re chasing digital approval while neglecting divine intimacy. We refresh our feeds more than our spirits — and then we wonder why our light feels dim, why peace feels distant, and why our souls feel tired.

What you behold determines what you become.

Moses’ face shone because he beheld God’s glory; our faces are often dim because we behold the world’s glow. Moses prayed on the mountain, and glory followed. Jesus prayed in the wilderness, and power followed.

Here’s the Kingdom pattern:

• Prayer births presence.
• Presence produces power.
• Power brings transformation.

When you spend time in the glory, you start carrying that glory. Prayer doesn’t just change the room — it changes the one in the room.

The Strength That Stands

Moses didn’t stay on the mountain. He carried that glory into the valley because what happens on your knees must eventually show up in how you live. The purpose of the presence isn’t just to make us glow; it’s to make us go.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes." Ephesians 6:10–11 (NIV)

Prayer doesn’t just soften your heart — it strengthens your spine. It gives you courage that can’t be counterfeited. When your knees are anchored in prayer, your life won’t collapse under pressure.

Jesus could stand before Pilate because He had already knelt before the Father in Gethsemane. That’s the secret: those who bow before God rise with unshakable strength.

Built to Bend, Not Break

Have you ever seen a palm tree in a storm? The wind howls, the rain pours, and while other trees snap, the palm tree stands. It bends low, but when the storm passes, it rises again — because it was designed to withstand pressure.

That’s what prayer does for your spirit. It builds flexibility and strength. When life’s storms rage, you might bend, but you won’t break. You might feel the weight, but you won’t be uprooted. A life rooted in prayer is a life that stands tall after every storm.

Sometimes, God allows you to bend in prayer so that when you rise, you don’t rise brittle — you rise stronger. If life’s storms have been fierce lately, take heart. You may be bent, but you’re not broken. You may be stretched, but you’re not uprooted. Those who stay on their knees before God will always rise again with a backbone of faith.

The Call Back to the Mountain

Jesus withdrew to pray — not because He was weak, but because He knew where strength was found. He made time for the Father so that the Father could manifest His presence. And when He returned from that place, power was present to heal.

God is calling His church back to the mountain — back to the secret place, back to the posture where power is born. The world doesn’t need timid believers. It needs believers who carry Heaven’s authority.

And that authority only comes from the prayer room. The church that bends before God will stand unshaken before anything.