Elements of Effective Praying with Appropriate Postures

Elements of Effective Praying with Appropriate Postures


Praying is our means of communication with the Lord. When our prayers are answered, do we give thanks to the Lord? When our prayers are not answered, do we walk away from him? Saying our prayers silently, voicing them out aloud, or writing them on paper, these go directly to the Lord. God loves each and every one of us. He has great plans for us. Sometimes when he closes the door on what we are asking for in prayers, always have faith to believe he has something better in store for us.

What elements constitute effective praying? To pray effectively, we must genuinely praise and adore God. We must also remember to give thanksgiving to God. Sincere confessions of known sins is essential to the prayer offered in faith. God also instructs us to ask according to our needs, as James writes, we do not receive things we want because we do not ask, or we ask with wrong motives. (James 4: 2-3). We must also pray fervently for others. This can be in the form of intercessory prayers.

How ought we pray? Jesus emphasizes the sincerity of our hearts, for we are not heard simply for all our empty words. (Matthew 6:7). We can pray silently or we can pray aloud. We can pray in our own words or using the words of the Scriptures. We can pray with the mind or we can pray with the Spirit (i.e. in tongues, 1 Corinthians 14:14-18). We can even pray by groaning, i.e., not using any human words, knowing that the Spirit will bring those inaudible requests to the Lord. Another prayer is singing to the Lord. (Psalm 92:1-2). The hymns that we sing in church can also be used in our daily lives. Earnest prayer to the Lord will at times be accompanied with fasting.

What postures is appropriate for prayer? We pray while standing, sitting, kneeling. This can be seen by our actions in church Lying on a bed is another posture. (Psalm 63:6 - “On my bed, I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night”) Bowling down to the ground when one is with the blessed sacrament in the adoration room, lying on the ground as a form of respect and prayer and lifting up hands to heaven as a form of thanksgiving are other forms of postures.

Let us pray with “one heart, one mind, one accord, one voice”. We must seek God for the ‘bigger picture’ Humility is a key. The cross is the key. He died for us so that we can seek eternal salvation in his kingdom. With uncompromised faith and unconditional love and commitment to Jesus to each other, let us grow to be like him.

In order to see the whole counsel of God on a situation that we might be praying about, we will need to regard before the Lord each thought that is submitted and weigh everything up carefully. As we commit ourselves to growing through humility and trust, the voice of Jesus will increase in the world through the Church.

Lord, your love knows no bounds and your mercies are new every day. Give me the confidence and boldness to pray that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Fill us with the holy desire and faith to pray effectively according to the principles outlined in the Bible. Bless us with wisdom, peace, good health and love.