Holy Posture

By Scott Wetzel

“While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God.” Heb 5:7 (NLT)

How did you pray today?  I’m assuming you did pray and if you didn’t, maybe you should stop reading this and do that.  You can come back to me later.  If you did pray, though, how did you do it?  Did you close your eyes, bow your head, and fold your hands?  Did you look upward and move your lips to the thoughts in your head?  Did you quietly whisper your ideas to God? 

Elijah called down fire to burn up an altar.  He didn’t hesitate. because he knew God was faithful.  Daniel opened up the windows and prayed loudly enough for his neighbors to hear.  He knew it could mean death by lion, but God would save him.  David praised God by violently dancing half naked. He knew people were judging from a distance, and he didn’t care. All of these men prayed with belief…their posture proved that.

We rarely pray with holy posture, do we?

I’m not saying God won’t honor our prayers if we bow our heads.  Bowing our heads in true reverence IS holy posture, isn’t it?  When we bow our heads but our thoughts and prayers don’t match, our body language isn't honest.  However, when we pray with our entire being we are being entirely honest with God, and being entirely honest with God requires being bold.  Praying boldly means that we believe boldly.  Believing boldly honors God.  God honors those who honor Him (1Sam 2:30).  It begins a cycle of righteous and ultimately successful prayer.

When Jesus prayed, He prayed with loud cries and tears.  Jesus fully knew that God was sovereign and His prayer posture proved that.  Then the Scriptures say that's why God heard those prayers.  I’m going to ask you to make a commitment.  During your prayers in the next week, begin to pray with authority and boldness.  That doesn’t mean demanding things of God; it means knowing God’s power and strength are as miraculous today as they were in the times of Elijah, Daniel, David, and Jesus.  Pray with your entire body and pray like you mean it.  I believe that you will see a difference in the way you experience God.