How Am I Praying?
We find four "spiritual postures" in Paul's letter to the Ephesians: sitting with Christ in the heavenlies (2:6), bowing to the Father in prayer (3:14), walking daily in Christ (4:1, 17; 5:2, 8, 15 KJV, NKJV, NASB; the NIV uses "living" instead of "walking"), and standing in Christ against the Enemy (see 6:11, 13-14). Realizing and appropriating our position with Christ in heaven determines our practice on earth.While watching a televised United States Senate hearing, I heard the late Hubert Humphrey say, "Here in Washington, where you sit determines how you stand." Without realizing it, Mr. Humphrey spoke a profound spiritual truth. If we claim by faith our glorious position in Christ, then our walk and our stand will be what they ought to be; but the link between my position in heaven and my practice on earth is kneeling before the Father in prayer.
This doesn't mean that kneeling is the only posture for prayer. Abraham stood before the Lord and interceded for Sodom (see Gen. 18:22), and when Solomon dedicated the temple, he began by standing to pray and ended up kneeling (see 1 Kings 8:22, 54). Ezra and Daniel knelt when they prayed (see Ezra 9:5; Dan. 6:10), but David "sat before the Lord" (2 Sam. 7:18). Both Peter and Paul knelt in prayer (see Acts 9:40; 20:36; 21:5). In the garden, Jesus knelt to pray and then fell prostrate on the ground (see Luke 22:41; Matt. 26:39). The important thing is the posture of the heart, for we must be fully yielded to the Lord and submitted to Him.
Prayer 101.
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