The God Who Hears: 7 Days in Paul's Prayers From PrisonSample

Day 3: Posture Matters

How important is posture in prayer? We hear a lot about what to pray for, but we don’t hear much about what posture we should take when we pray. Yet Paul seemed to want the Ephesians to know that as he was praying on their behalf, he was doing it in a particular posture —on bent knees. “I kneel before the Father,” he told them.

Have you ever wondered why Paul shared his posture as he prayed for them? I have. Paul was a Jew, and even today, if you can visit the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, you’ll see devout Orthodox Jews standing and rocking back and forth as they pray, just as in my earlier story about the older man praying there. The Jewish people rarely kneel when they pray, nor did they in Paul’s time.

The Ephesians were Gentile by birth (Ephesians 2:11), but they knew Paul was Jewish. So here’s why I think he told them he kneeled when he prayed for them: He wanted them to understand that this prayer prayed on their behalf was so earthshaking, revolutionary, and life-changing that it drove him to his knees. In verses 2 and 3 of this chapter, he even tells the Ephesians, “Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation.”

While God is more concerned with the petition of our prayers than the posture, our body language matters, too. Our bodies can express on the outside what our hearts are experiencing on the inside.

Still, the Bible repeatedly mentions postures taken in prayer, indicating several we can take, too. John MacArthur* notes a number of them:

• Standing (Genesis 24:12-14)
• Lifting the hands (1 Timothy 2:8)
• Sitting (Judges 20:26)
• Kneeling (Mark 1:40)
• Looking upward (John 17:1)
• Bowing down (Exodus 34:8)
• Placing the head between the knees (1 Kings 18:42)
• Pounding on the breast (Luke 18:13)
• Facing the temple (Daniel 6:10)

The point of posture is simply that when we pray, we should throw our whole selves into it. We should be involved—body, soul, mind, and spirit. It is important to express our love, devotion, reverence, desire, awe, and need for God by what we say and how we say it.

At times, I am sure you are like me when you feel that your prayers are like throwing stuff against the wall and hoping it sticks. I assure you - you will know from the get-go that this one always sticks!

As you pray the prayer below, keep this in mind: We don’t always get what we pray for, but we always get what God wants us to pray for. This is a one-size-fits-all prayer you can pray for anybody, anywhere, anytime, under any circumstances, knowing you will never pray a better prayer than this one for you and them. So why not start today in a posture of submission and expectation, knowing God will answer this prayer?

Heavenly Father, as I pray in my heart, I’m in a posture of praise before you, and as I think of all you’ve done for me, all you mean to me, and all you are to me, I’m driven to gratitude and love. I may not always get what I pray for, but I rest in the assurance I’ll always get what you want me to pray for. Use this prayer to teach me that, always. Thank you. Amen.

*John MacArthur, “Is There a Correct Posture for Prayer?” Grace to You, https://www.gty.org/library/Questions/QA156/Is-there-a-correct-posture-for-prayer.