I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling. [1 Timothy 2:8 (ESV)]
We always knelt for prayer in the church I attended as a girl so I used to think the only way to pray was on my knees with head bowed and hands tightly clasped. While I now pray in a variety of postures, I wondered if Scripture tells us exactly how we should pray.
In Jesus’ day, both Jews and pagans usually raised their heads, stretched out their arms, and stood to pray. John tells us Jesus prayed with his head lifted before heading out to the Garden of Gethsemane but Matthew tells us He prayed prostrate on his face once he got there. When praying, Moses bowed his head before the Lord and the tax collector stood, bowed his head, and beat his breast. Solomon and Daniel both knelt in prayer, a leper knelt at Jesus’ feet when praying for healing, and the 2nd century church historian Hegesippus reported that James (the earthly brother of Jesus) spent so much time on his knees praying that “his knees became hard like those of a camel.” Elijah climbed to the top of Mt. Caramel, bowed down, and put his face between his knees when he prayed but Israel’s army fasted, wept, and sat when they prayed at Bethel. People seemed to pray every which way.
Pictures in the Catacombs of Rome show early Christians praying with their arms extended out to the side but, at some point, arms were brought closer to the body. Perhaps it was to avoid the very thing Jesus warned about—praying in an affected or exaggerated manner to appear more pious. Then again, it simply may have been a practical matter of space when people gathered for worship.
Eventually, people started praying either with clasped hands or by crossing their arms and touching each shoulder with the opposite hand. Legend has it that monks would fold strips of leftover dough into the shape of crossed arms and, when children had memorized a prayer, they’d be rewarded with these treats called pretiola, Latin for “little reward” or preces, Latin for “prayers.” In Germany, however, the country known for pretzels, they’re called bretzels. The origin of bretzel, however, is brachium, Latin for “arms.” Whether the word initially meant reward, prayer, or arms and the validity of a monk inventing the knotted shape of the pretzel to symbolize arms crossed in prayer, we’ll never know. It does, however, make a nice story.
By the 9th century, Greek Christians claimed that the only way to pray was with the hands crossed over the breast but Pope Nicholas vehemently opposed it and defended the practice of folded hands during prayer. The Roman and Orthodox churches split in the 11th century and today it is considered proper etiquette in an Orthodox church to cross one’s arms when approaching the chalice during Communion. The Old Orthodox Prayer Book calls for the “brethren to stand with their arms folded over their breasts and their heads slightly bowed” during the reading of the Six Psalms. One source said such a stance symbolizes the folding of angels’ wings, standing before the throne of God.
Standing, sitting, kneeling, or prone? Hands clasped, arms raised, crossed, or at our sides? Eyes open or shut? While various denominations have their traditions or rules, the Bible gives no guidance as to our posture during prayer. While silent on the position of our bodies in prayer, Scripture isn’t when it comes to the position of our hearts! They should be bowed in submission to the Lord, free of anger and quarreling, and forgiving of others. Our prayers should come from an earnest, trusting, sincere, and thankful heart. We are to pray in truth and faith, in the power of the Spirit, and in Jesus’ name. How we do it, however, is up to us.
Perhaps there is no one special position for prayer because we are to pray without ceasing, meaning prayer isn’t limited to a specific time, place or situation—it is to be an essential ongoing part of our lives. Standing upright with head raised while on the battle field would be as problematic as kneeling in prayer (or closing your eyes) while driving, praying with arms crossed while serving food at the shelter, or lying face down on the floor of your workplace! As Reverend Billy Graham so aptly put it, “It is not the body’s posture, but the heart’s attitude that counts when we pray.”
A concentrated mind and a sitting body make for better prayer than a kneeling body and a mind half asleep. [C.S. Lewis]
While asking one’s teacher how to pray was a typical request in Jesus’ day, Jesus was anything but a typical teacher. He’d walked on water, stilled storms, healed the sick, raised the dead, and turned water into wine, but His disciples didn’t ask how to do those impressive miracles. Instead, they asked Him how to pray.
Walking along the shoreline, I was surprised to see a baby opossum on the beach. A man with a large bucket was trying to scoop him up to return him to the safety of the mangroves but the little guy would have none of it. Lost and in danger of dying of thirst or becoming dinner for an osprey or eagle, I’m sure he thought he was on a wonderful adventure. Meanwhile, his mother was probably frantically searching the mangroves for her wayward child.
My husband loves to watch the chefs on Food Network but watching food being prepared on television doesn’t fill his empty stomach any more than just seeing his bottle will quiet a hungry baby. I could show you photos of the tulips and daffodils in Holland’s Keukenhof Gardens but that wouldn’t give you the experience of walking among hundreds of thousands of blooming flowers and smelling their fragrant aroma. You could tell me all about your children and even show me their pictures and, while I’d know about them and even recognize them, I wouldn’t know them until we met face to face and spent time together. Before I had my first child, I attended birthing classes and read all about labor and childbirth but nothing I learned came anywhere near to approximating the actual event! It’s been thrilling watching the Olympic athletes compete in the bobsled and monobob events, but watching from my sofa doesn’t come close to actually riding a sled down an icy track at more than 80-mph, dropping 384 feet in less than a mile while negotiating 16 turns, and feeling forces five times the pull of gravity on one’s body! Second-hand information is fine as far as it goes, but it never equals the genuine experience.
To some people, today is known as Groundhog Day but, because it is the fortieth day after Christmas, many Christians know it as Candlemas, the Presentation of our Lord, or the Purification of Mary. According to Mosaic law, the mother of a boy child was considered “unclean” for seven days following the birth of her child. She then had to wait another 33 days to be purified from her bleeding before she could enter the Temple. (If she bore a girl child, her purification time was doubled.) Once a woman’s time of purification was over, she was to come to the Temple and offer up a sacrifice of both a lamb and a pigeon or turtledove. If the family couldn’t afford the lamb, a turtledove or pigeon could be substituted. Forty days after Jesus’ birth, in fulfillment of this law, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple to make their offering and present their son to the Lord.
The church in which I was raised recited a general confession during each service and I sometimes wondered why we bothered to confess. I reasoned that, since God sees everything we do, He already knows what sinners we are and what sins we’ve committed so why bother to tell Him what He already knows? Eventually, I understood that, while God knows what we’ve done wrong, He wants us to know it, too. Until we repent, how can we be redeemed? Until we acknowledge our guilt, how can we be pardoned? We must admit why we need forgiveness before we can accept it.
