"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men...But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen."--Matthew 6:5a,6a
Prayer. There are a lot of different ways to pray: standing up, sitting down, kneeling, prostrate, and the list goes on. Each person has their own way of praying and their own way of approaching God.
But is there a right position to be in while praying? Is kneeling the only way to pray, or is standing appropriate? Should we raise our hands, or keep them folded? Should our head be bowed, or raised up to heaven?
Questions, questions, questions.
Why do we think that there has to be one perfect way to pray? What is so wrong with believing that there are different ways of praying? For example: I love to pray while walking. When I'm outside walking in nature I like to just talk with God. Is that wrong? Of course not. I find it freeing to talk with God while enjoying nature. I also find kneeling appropriate when I pray at times, as well as standing and lifting my head to heaven.
I do not prefer one position to another, and here's why. I believe that the position for the prayer depends on the focus of the prayer. When I am praising God, and lifting my voice up to give Him thanks and praise for things He has done for me, I love to stand with my arms lifted. However, when I am repenting, or asking for help in a situation that I need His help in, I find myself kneeling or flat on the ground asking, pleading for His help.
While doing morning devotions I find myself staying seated where I am, quiet, meditative, listening for God's voice to move as I have just finished the texts. I don't want to disturb the peace that is going on by moving from the sitting position to another position.
I don't believe that there is one perfect position to use. A joke comes to mind:
One day three pastors got together and were discussing the positions of prayer. One said "Kneeling is the only way to pray because we are coming before the King of the universe and we should give Him honor." Another said, "Standing is the only way to pray, we are praising God for all that He has done." And yet another said "Sitting is the best way because it's in the middle of the two of those." While the three pastors were arguing the janitor poked his head in the room and said, "I don't know about ya'll, but I found my best prayer to be while I was hanging upside down off a telephone pole."
All prayer honors God, and I believe He is just ecstatic that we are communicating with Him. So let's just remember when praying who we are praying to, and pray in the position that best reflects what we are feeling at the time.
This entry was posted
on Friday, February 8, 2008
at Friday, February 08, 2008
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