Lessons in Prayer from the Life of Christ
Part Two: The Posture of Prayer
In these days He went out to the mountain to pray… (Luke 6:12a)
What do you do when you hear someone say, “Let us pray”? When you hear that statement, most of you, if not all of you, bow your heads and close your eyes. You’ve been taught to do that, trained to do that as it were, and now it just comes naturally to you. You may not even fully understand why you do it, but you do it anyway. In fact, it probably doesn’t feel right to pray and not bow your head and close your eyes. Yet, even though we have been trained to do this, the Bible does not give us any direct commands about the posture of prayer.
There was certainly opportunity for the Lord to teach us about posture. When the disciples said to Jesus in Luke 11, “Lord teach us to pray”, He could have said, “Well, first, bow your head and close your eyes.” But He didn’t say that, did He? No, He gave them the model prayer as an example of how they should pray. Now, you may be under the impression then that since the Bible does not directly teach about prayer and posture, that posture is not important. I beg to differ. I am convinced that prayer posture is something that we should all be considering when we prepare our hearts to pray. Here are a few reasons why I believe this way.
First, even though the Bible does not directly command us to assume a certain posture when we pray, the biblical example is certainly there. We find Moses bowing his head in worship in Exodus 34:8. In 1st Kings 18:42, Elijah places his head between his knees. Daniel got down onto his knees to pray in Daniel 6:10. Paul mentioned the practice of lifting up holy hands in prayer in 1st Timothy 2:8. These are just a few of the many examples of people praying in the Bible that demonstrate that they took a certain posture of prayer.
This however, is a blog about the prayer life of Jesus. Thus, it is important for us to note that Jesus also took posture into consideration when He prayed. It is true that the text that we are considering does not tell us about the posture that Jesus assumed as He prayed to the Father. However, there are other passages that do tell us what Jesus did when He prayed. In John 17:1, Jesus lifted His eyes toward heaven and prayed. In Matthew 26:39, Jesus fell on His face and prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. We are also told that Jesus knelt in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane in Luke 22:41. Jesus Himself then, the Holy Son of God, practiced these types of postures that we have seen in other biblical examples.
The model then of prayer and posture is certainly present in the Bible. While it is true that God is concerned more with our heart than with our posture, I submit to you that posture is still something that we should consider. Let me give you three reasons why posture is important when you pray.
First, posture expresses reverence. Many times when we enter into a time of prayer, we enter into it very casually. It is as though we have given no thought at all to what we are doing. But in prayer, we are communing with Holy God, the creator of the Universe. Our time of prayer is not something that is to be taken lightly. David understood this. He wrote this, “I will bow down toward Your holy temple in the fear of You” (Psalm 5:7b). David, in reverence before God, bowed down. Why do we bow our heads and close our eyes? It is a sign of reverence. In prayer, we are speaking with Holy God, and we ought to demonstrate reverence.
This is true even in worldly things. If you were to visit someone who is a member of royalty, you would be expected to demonstrate a certain posture. You would show respect to the dignity of the person with whom you are meeting. Is the same not true of our communion with the Lord? He is far greater and weightier than any world leader. John saw this first hand when he encountered the Lord and fell at His feet as a dead man (Revelation 1:17). Should we not demonstrate reverence before Him as well?
Second, assuming a certain posture in prayer helps to prepare the heart and mind for prayer. If you are simply laying your head down on your pillow to pray before sleeping, are you really thinking about communion with God? The answer is no, and the fact that you’ve fallen asleep in this posture numerous times is proof enough of that. But when we assume a certain posture, perhaps kneeling, or even standing but with a bowed head, we are preparing our minds and our hearts for prayer. I don’t know about you, but I am easily distracted. If I’m simply trying to pray with my head on the pillow, my mind has a tendency to wander. I begin to think about what I have going on the next day or about something that has happened with the children, and my mind is anywhere but in tune to prayer with the Lord. But if I am on my knees before the Lord, my mind is focused and prepared to speak with God. It helps me to focus on the task at hand.
Finally, assuming a posture of prayer reveals an intentionality in meeting with God. What do I mean by that? I mean this: when we kneel before the Lord, we are demonstrating that we are there to do business with God; we are taking prayer seriously. Posture in other words, reveals that prayer is a priority for us. We are not taking our meeting with God lightly, nor are we there just to go through the motions and check off the box of prayer. No, we are there to meet with God, to cast our cares upon Him for He cares for us. It is a serious time, and we are in a posture that demonstrates the seriousness of the occasion.
Praying with a posture of reverence is a way that we pray with purpose. How often do you pray with purpose? How often do you simply go through the motions? If you enter into prayer in the morning, or in the evening, or hopefully both, and you get down on your knees before the Lord, you are being intentional about lifting up your heart to he Lord. You have entered your room for one reason and one reason only, and that is to pray. The cares of the world are left behind, the distractions are gone, you are there to meet with the Lord and for no other reason. This is very helpful in our prayer life.
If you are struggling to pray, I would encourage you to think about your posture. Be intentional about prayer. Go to your room, get on your knees (or another posture of your choosing), go with reverence, go with focus, go with purpose, and lift up your concerns to the Lord. I hope this helps you to grow in your prayer life.
Part Two: The Posture of Prayer
In these days He went out to the mountain to pray… (Luke 6:12a)
What do you do when you hear someone say, “Let us pray”? When you hear that statement, most of you, if not all of you, bow your heads and close your eyes. You’ve been taught to do that, trained to do that as it were, and now it just comes naturally to you. You may not even fully understand why you do it, but you do it anyway. In fact, it probably doesn’t feel right to pray and not bow your head and close your eyes. Yet, even though we have been trained to do this, the Bible does not give us any direct commands about the posture of prayer.
There was certainly opportunity for the Lord to teach us about posture. When the disciples said to Jesus in Luke 11, “Lord teach us to pray”, He could have said, “Well, first, bow your head and close your eyes.” But He didn’t say that, did He? No, He gave them the model prayer as an example of how they should pray. Now, you may be under the impression then that since the Bible does not directly teach about prayer and posture, that posture is not important. I beg to differ. I am convinced that prayer posture is something that we should all be considering when we prepare our hearts to pray. Here are a few reasons why I believe this way.
First, even though the Bible does not directly command us to assume a certain posture when we pray, the biblical example is certainly there. We find Moses bowing his head in worship in Exodus 34:8. In 1st Kings 18:42, Elijah places his head between his knees. Daniel got down onto his knees to pray in Daniel 6:10. Paul mentioned the practice of lifting up holy hands in prayer in 1st Timothy 2:8. These are just a few of the many examples of people praying in the Bible that demonstrate that they took a certain posture of prayer.
This however, is a blog about the prayer life of Jesus. Thus, it is important for us to note that Jesus also took posture into consideration when He prayed. It is true that the text that we are considering does not tell us about the posture that Jesus assumed as He prayed to the Father. However, there are other passages that do tell us what Jesus did when He prayed. In John 17:1, Jesus lifted His eyes toward heaven and prayed. In Matthew 26:39, Jesus fell on His face and prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. We are also told that Jesus knelt in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane in Luke 22:41. Jesus Himself then, the Holy Son of God, practiced these types of postures that we have seen in other biblical examples.
The model then of prayer and posture is certainly present in the Bible. While it is true that God is concerned more with our heart than with our posture, I submit to you that posture is still something that we should consider. Let me give you three reasons why posture is important when you pray.
First, posture expresses reverence. Many times when we enter into a time of prayer, we enter into it very casually. It is as though we have given no thought at all to what we are doing. But in prayer, we are communing with Holy God, the creator of the Universe. Our time of prayer is not something that is to be taken lightly. David understood this. He wrote this, “I will bow down toward Your holy temple in the fear of You” (Psalm 5:7b). David, in reverence before God, bowed down. Why do we bow our heads and close our eyes? It is a sign of reverence. In prayer, we are speaking with Holy God, and we ought to demonstrate reverence.
This is true even in worldly things. If you were to visit someone who is a member of royalty, you would be expected to demonstrate a certain posture. You would show respect to the dignity of the person with whom you are meeting. Is the same not true of our communion with the Lord? He is far greater and weightier than any world leader. John saw this first hand when he encountered the Lord and fell at His feet as a dead man (Revelation 1:17). Should we not demonstrate reverence before Him as well?
Second, assuming a certain posture in prayer helps to prepare the heart and mind for prayer. If you are simply laying your head down on your pillow to pray before sleeping, are you really thinking about communion with God? The answer is no, and the fact that you’ve fallen asleep in this posture numerous times is proof enough of that. But when we assume a certain posture, perhaps kneeling, or even standing but with a bowed head, we are preparing our minds and our hearts for prayer. I don’t know about you, but I am easily distracted. If I’m simply trying to pray with my head on the pillow, my mind has a tendency to wander. I begin to think about what I have going on the next day or about something that has happened with the children, and my mind is anywhere but in tune to prayer with the Lord. But if I am on my knees before the Lord, my mind is focused and prepared to speak with God. It helps me to focus on the task at hand.
Finally, assuming a posture of prayer reveals an intentionality in meeting with God. What do I mean by that? I mean this: when we kneel before the Lord, we are demonstrating that we are there to do business with God; we are taking prayer seriously. Posture in other words, reveals that prayer is a priority for us. We are not taking our meeting with God lightly, nor are we there just to go through the motions and check off the box of prayer. No, we are there to meet with God, to cast our cares upon Him for He cares for us. It is a serious time, and we are in a posture that demonstrates the seriousness of the occasion.
Praying with a posture of reverence is a way that we pray with purpose. How often do you pray with purpose? How often do you simply go through the motions? If you enter into prayer in the morning, or in the evening, or hopefully both, and you get down on your knees before the Lord, you are being intentional about lifting up your heart to he Lord. You have entered your room for one reason and one reason only, and that is to pray. The cares of the world are left behind, the distractions are gone, you are there to meet with the Lord and for no other reason. This is very helpful in our prayer life.
If you are struggling to pray, I would encourage you to think about your posture. Be intentional about prayer. Go to your room, get on your knees (or another posture of your choosing), go with reverence, go with focus, go with purpose, and lift up your concerns to the Lord. I hope this helps you to grow in your prayer life.
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