The Postures of Prayer

What Are the Postures of Prayer in the Bible?

In the Bible, we have different postures of prayer or prayer position, and each prayer posture tells us our attitude before God.

Men in the Bible used these prayer postures to show how to approach the Holy God, and a better way to interact with him.

Is prayer posture so important?

We use these prayer postures to show the condition before him, and I believe that nothing more or nothing less than that. Let me say this, no prayer posture is superior to the other. It is the condition of your heart God is most interested in.

If you are not standing, and your heart is not standing, God knows about it, therefore it is important to use the prayer postures that you think will help you prayer better.

Different Postures of Prayer in the Bible

1. Sitting

1 Chronicles 17:16-27  And David the king came and sat before the LORD, and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? 
And yet this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; for thou hast also spoken of thy servant’s house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God. 
What can David speak more to thee for the honour of thy servant? for thou knowest thy servant. 

Many people have disdained this prayer posture, and many think it is not right to be sit when talking to you, but we can see from the Bible that David sat before the Lord, and prayed to him.

I have heard another pastor say that it is a sign of spiritual weakness if you are praying on your sit, but if that is true, then David the king is spiritually weak and sick.

2. Standing

Nehemiah 9:5
Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. 

Mark 11:25  And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. 

Luke 18:13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 

You can stand praying to God. Standing prayer posture is one of the population positions in prayers. Just as I have said in the beginning, it is just a way of communicating with the Holy God.

3. Walking

2 Kings 4:35  Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 

We see that Elisha walked in the house to and fro, and even why he was walking was not given in this verse, but I believe that it is safe to conclude that he is praying to God for restoration of the Shunammite’s child.

4. Bowing

Bowing is another prayer position that I really love. It is a sign of a humble heart. It shows a man that is really submitted to the Lord.

Exodus 24:8

34:8	And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
34:9	And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.

Nehemiah 8:6

8:6	And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

5. With Hands Up

This is Solomon praying to God with the spreading of his hands toward Heaven.

2 Chronicles 6:12-13

6:12	And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:
6:13	For Solomon had made a brasen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven,

Other References in the Bible

Psalm 63:4, 1 Timothy 2:8

6. Kneeling

1 Kings 8:54

8:54	And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.

Other References of the Bible that talk about prayer position

Ezra 9:5, Luke 22:41, Acts 9:40

7. Prostrate

I love this prayer position also, and it is one of my favorite postures when praying to the God of Heaven.

Joshua 7:6-7

7:6	And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.
7:7	And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan!

Other references of the Bible that talk about this subject are here.

Ezra 10:1, Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:35

Conclusion

God wants you to talk to him, and these are the examples of prayer postures that were used by the Holy men as they brought their petitions before the God of Heaven.

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