“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.” Matthew 6:5
In a previous devotional, the point was made from Scripture that God does not hear our prayers solely because they are long and wordy. We cannot manipulate God to act in our favor because of the amount of words we use or how well we articulate our petitions. God hears us from the heart and always answers according to His holy and perfect will. So too, we cannot sway God to answer our wants because of the way we pray or how we genuflect or because we give the appearance of piety. God knows our hearts already and the sincerity by which we pray. It is not our works that makes prayer efficacious, but rather how God works.
With this said, we should not make prayer about us, but rather about God. The above passage from Matthew recognizes the method by which we pray in relation to fellow Christians and even non-Christians. We are not to use prayer to manipulate others to have a certain impression of us or to give off airs of godliness. Prayer should not draw attention to us or be used to make a statement about how holy we are in order to curry the favor or admiration of others. Prayer is about God and what He does. Our postures of prayer should not be about our expressions in speaking, but about how God hears the words we speak.
The proper mannerism of prayer is humility, humility before God and then to our neighbor. Prayer is the understanding that we are powerless without God and wholly reliant upon Him for all things. With this in mind, we are free to express a manner of prayer that is humble, reverent and respectful of God and others. If you like to pray with your hands up, or open or folded, if you pray standing, on your knees or prostrated, if you pray while driving a car or laying down to sleep, do so in humility, but do so! And know that God hears you from your heart and not because of your method or posture.
Know that you are loved!
Peace and Joy,
Pastor Kilian