We’re living and working in Indonesia, a nation that puts great emphasis on prayer. We are reminded of it six times a day when we hear the “call to prayer” sounded from loud speakers all around the city. In this country how, when and where one prays is important.
In American “church” culture we can see some interesting traditions as well. Some groups pray to crucifixes, statues of Mary or other saints and kneel for certain prayers. Others seem to think praying in a ‘church’ building is more special than other places.
The Bible says that, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17). Prayer is definitely a good work, so lets see what the Bible has to say about it.
Obviously, this will not be a complete list, it is a blog post not a doctoral dissertation, so please add your comments in the comment section.
Proper clothing for prayer. We can observe some religious groups prescribing certain clothes for men and/or women to wear when they come to God in prayer. But, in the Bible we see people wearing a variety of clothing types when praying.
- Dirty bloody clothing and chains (Acts 16:25)
- Work clothes (Neh 2:4-5)
- Sweaty military clothing (1 Chr 5:20)
- Probably everyday clothes (Luke 6:12-13)
For a thorough study of the head covering see Kevin Moore’s five part series titled Female Head-coverings in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16.
While there is no prescribed special clothing that we must wear in prayer there are, of course, other principles found in Scripture that would govern the clothing we wear in prayer. For example, the principle of modesty should tell us that we should dress appropriate for the location we are at.
Location for prayer. For some groups a certain location and/or direction is important when praying. However, when we look at the Bible we see just about any location conceivable being used as a place of prayer. We see people praying in the following locations just to name a few.
- Outside in a garden (Mat 26:36)
- On the beach (Acts 21:5)
- In a house (Acts 12:12)
- On the battlefield (1 Chr 5:20)
- At work (Neh 2:4-5)
- In jail (Acts 16:25)
If we are to pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17) then any place we find ourselves is an appropriate place to pray.
Body posture in prayer. For some groups body position is very important. They even have prescribed postures at certain points of their prayers. Others may seem to think that raising their hands is more spiritual than other body positions. In the Bible we see the following body positions used in prayer.
- Standing (1 Sam 1:26; Matt 6:5; Mark 11:25; Luke 18:11,13)
- Standing bowing the head, while striking the breast (Luke 18:13)
- Hands spread out and/or lifted heavenward (1 Kings 8:22-23; Neh 8:6)
- Bowing the head (Neh 8:6)
- Bowing the head, with face between the knees (1 Kings 18:42)
- Lifting eyes heavenward (John 11:41; 17:1)
- Kneeling (Dan 6:10; Luke 22:41; Acts 9:40, 20:36, 21:5; Eph 3:14)
- Face on ground (Matt 26:39; Mark 14:35)
Hendriksen and Kistemaker have done an interesting job of interpreting the significance of some of the various body positions found in the Bible. Get their commentary here.
Brother Kevin Moore also has an excellent article on the subject of raising hands. Read it here.
When we read the Bible and use it as our only guide, it becomes clear that there is no prescribed special clothing, location, or posture that a New Testament Christian must follow when praying.
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Question: What other examples from Scripture would you include for clothing, location and posture in prayer? Leave a comment by clicking here.
Thank you for a balanced and biblical perspective.
Thank you.