A Posture for Prayer
Following on from yesterday, I want to get practical about prayer. A place that is set aside as your prayer spot is a good idea. But what do you do when you get there? Specifically, how do you position yourself physically when you pray?
We heard yesterday of John Wesley's prayer spot that had little indents where his knees went. Billy Graham was so touched by this and spent time on his knees in prayer right there. That's a good posture for prayer. In fact in Bible we often see people kneeling in prayer, such as in Ezra 9:5-6 where we read Him say: "I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the LORD my God and prayed.β Humble prayer, repentant prayer, comes naturally when you are on your knees. Try it.
Kneeling, Sitting, or Standing
On the other hand, maybe you sit in a chair and bow your head as you pray. Maybe in that chair, you lift up your hands in praise, and you fold your hands in reverence, and you open your hands in submission - depending on what you are praying at the time. For me this works better than bowing on my knees - there are more options that work for me in a prayer-chair.
But another problem I have on my knees or on a chair is that I fall asleep easily in those positions! Maybe you can relate! So my favourite posture for prayer is to walk and pray. I find it to be the most fruitful posture for praying, walking and saying my prayers. I might walk up and down our passage or around the house. I might walk in the garden. Lately I have discovered a new love - prayer walks in the streets of our suburb!
The Joy of Prayer Walking
With my time being tight, I found that I could either go for a run or spend some time in prayer, during my rushed mornings. So I decided to combine them into a long prayer-walk, and it has been the most wonderful and enjoyable time of prayer!
As I walk I see birds and trees and sunshine or clouds and I spend some time praising and thanking God for His creative beauty. I have my prayer notebook with me with my various lists (which I'll tell you more about tomorrow), and I work through those with no distractions like cell phones or TVs or computers. Sometimes I meet someone on the road and I give them a tract or ask if they'd like prayer. This has been a wonderful new experience for me.
What posture of prayer works for you? Try them all! Try bowing, try sitting, try pacing, try walking. Try combining them. But don't feel that if you can't kneel you can't pray. God doesn't really mind how you position your body - just find whatever works for you and pray, pray, pray, pray!
The physical position you take in prayer matters less than your consistency - experiment with different postures to find what helps you pray most effectively.