Prayer 099 – Part 3
The Postures in Which We Pray
Prayer 101 – Part 2.3
Today, I’d like to take you through a few popular prayer postures used when praying. Let’s call them Prayer 099 prayer postures.
Before I do that, please remember I started all this with a disclaimer. Let me say this again, I am not trying to discredit what you call prayer or even how you pray. I will repeat this as often as I can. This is next level prayer and it is our intention to help take prayer, even your prayer postures to the next level. Keep this in your mind as you continue with us on this journey. For those who’ve taken heed, growth, freedom and next level results have been experienced.
Have you ever questioned where we pick up our prayer postures?
Prayer postures might be something you’ve never considered, actually. There are traditions or behaviors we pickup subliminally as we see others demonstrate. The problem with this is two fold: 1) what if what we saw someone else do was incomplete and 2) what if there were other postures to take we’ve never seen because those who taught us didn’t know? The point is this. We must continually be students of our craft, this includes prayer. With that said, let’s take a look at a few prayer postures.
- Head bowed, eyes closed
It’s interesting that when we pray we close our eyes and bow our heads. Where did this come from? What I’d like you to ask is, did this come from scripture? Where in the Bible did this occur and why? Next why didn’t Jesus say to his disciples, pray in this manner with your eyes closed and head bowed? Could it be possible that this prayer posture, while not a bad idea, may be limiting you from better prayer results? You might have the urge to pray, but because you think you must assume the proper prayer posture it may limit you. - On your knees[4]
Should we pray from our knees? Who can answer that question? And if we pray from our knees, does this improve our prayer results? In fact, what’s even more interesting is that we frown upon or get uneasy when someone kneels to the floor on both knees in prayer. We find that to be awkward or uncomfortable.
This is just me thinking a little out of the box. I could understand praying with our shoes off more so than kneeling. When Moses approached the place where God was speaking, he had to take his shoes off. Many times, we take action that comes from one place or set of teaching and leave out other concepts because we’ve not seen it done that way. As a result, we will think getting down on our knees is the only way to pray. It’s time to take prayer to the next level. - Holding hands in a circle
How many of you have been in a prayer circle? Now I’ve looked and searched the Bible many times for this. While I know why it’s done, it really isn’t scriptural. We hold hands so that we “touch and agree.”[1] You’ve heard this before, it’s prayer 099. For this one I’ll show it to you.
Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. -bible.com/bible/1/MAT.18.19.KJV[1]
Look closely at this; it reads “agree as touching…”, not agree and be touching. Say it with me, this is… next level prayer. While I’m here, let me say this. We must be careful of the habits and traditions we pick up for there are many “man-made ideas” considered to be commands from God. It’s said that ordinary behaviors will ignore God’s law and substitute it with our own traditions.[2] Next level. - Seated quietly with a solemn disposition
I hope none of this offends anyone, but if it does that means it holds some truth. By the way, it’s the truth that will set you free[3] and in this case free to take your prayer to the next level. Pamela and I see this often when we attend prayer meetings. I’m not certain, but I have a few ideas why someone would sit quietly before God.- This is their style of prayer.
- Some don’t know what to say and therefore sit in their thoughts.
- Some aren’t comfortable speaking their prayers aloud in the fear that they don’t measure up to the Jedi prayer warriors, if you know what I mean.
Regardless of the reason, I must ask the question, is prayer meant for us to sit quietly? What does your Bible say about this? Next level!
- Kneeling at alter
In one of my former churches, we had an altar with a kneeler on it. This kneeler made it comfortable for the church to come to the front, kneel, and pray. It was wonderful, no more sore knees. It wasn’t until I went to the Catholic church that I found that this method of kneeling in prayer could be improved. There are kneelers attached to every pew. Imagine that. While that’s great and wonderful, I wonder where this practice came from? While good it may be, don’t allow this to restrict your exercise of prayer. Prayer is not confined to an altar and it’s not something you must always do kneeling at the altar. This is next level prayer. It’s time to push our traditions and habits regarding prayer to the next level. - Hands clasped or praying hands
Put your hands together and let’s pray. While I do love the fact that we have a symbol that represents prayer, it can be a little limiting if we allow it. What I mean by this is, there is nowhere I’ve found in scripture, the guide book for all we do, including prayer, that says we should clasp our hands together. While this symbol is great, it’s time to take prayer to the next level. We can not limit our prayer even in what it looks like. This is next level prayer. Who says you must put your hands together to pray? Who says we should have limits on how we speak with God who Himself is limitless. Next level!
I think this would be a good spot to take a break. Next week, we will continue with our message on “Prayer 099.” You, my friends, have begun the journey of taking your prayer to the next level. How far are you willing to go? Are you willing to pick up new “God-inspired” prayer postures or will you continue at 099 prayer postures? Are you still feeling a little like Alice falling down the rabbit hole? This is next level prayer!
Question: Which of the six prayer postures have you used in prayer?
Reference #1: Matthew 18:19 KJV, Bible.com, accessed August 10, 2021, https://www.bible.com/bible/1/MAT.18.19.KJV
Reference #2: Mark 7:7-9 NLT, Bible.com, accessed August 10, 2021, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/MRK.7.7-9.NLT
Reference #3: John 8:32 KJV, Bible.com, accessed August 10, 2021, https://www.bible.com/bible/1/JHN.8.32.KJV
Reference #4: Ephesians 3:14-15 NLT, Bible.com, accessed August 10, 2021, https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.3.14-15.NLT
All Scripture references used by permission, see our Scripture copyrights.
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