PRAYER POSTURE IS IRRELEVANT — ITS THE POSITION OF OUR HEARTS IN RELATION TO GOD THAT COUNTS WITH HIM
Muslims get obsessed about prayer posture and prostration. But in the greatest prayer in all Scripture — that of Jesus high priestly prayer to the Father on the night of His arrest in the setting of the Last Supper ¹ this is how Jesus began:
“Jesus spoke these words, LIFTED UP HIS EYES TO HEAVEN, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You” (John 17:1 NKJV)
This is how one commentary describes it:
“Jesus lifted up His eyes when He prayed. This is a posture that we don’t usually associate with deep prayer. We tend to bow our head and close our eyes. This shows us that we should never confuse the non-essential customs of prayer with the essential aspects of prayer.” (Guzik)
Moreover, while Jesus prayed this prayer in the company of His disciples, He urges us to make our prayers a private matter between ourselves and God in a quiet one to one setting. Note His advice on prayer and how to pray and how not to pray:
“Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward! But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:5-6 HCSB)
Notice Jesus gives no advice on what posture to assume. Having shut the door the rest is between us and God. But on what to pray, we do not need vain repetition:
“When you pray, don’t babble like the idolaters, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words.” (Matthew 6:7 HCSB)
God already knows our needs before we ask Him, it’s our readiness to come before Him and lay our burdens before Him that matters to God:
“… Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him.” (Matthew 6:7-8 HCSB)
While Jesus had in mind the Pharisees in Matthew 6:5 His words apply just as much to Muhammadians who are their latter-day counterpart.²
Muslims love to be seen and heard entering mosques to prayers. The Adhan (Azan) call to prayers let’s everyone know within miles of every mosque and its an imposition and intrusion on the peace of non Muslims. And prayers are often conducted in public spaces on roads and walkways as a show of piety.
Footnotes:
¹ We have to go all the way back to John 13 for the setting. John 17 is the culmination of a continuous sequential narrative which covers a lot of ground with the Last Supper the centrepiece. Unlike the prayers later in Gethsemane where Jesus prayed alone, here Jesus speaks for His disciples to hear Him.
² See Post:
□ WHY THE PHARISEES WERE THE PROTO-ISLAMISTS OF JESUS DAY 15 June 2023
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Muslims get obsessed about prayer posture and prostration. But in the greatest prayer in all Scripture — that of Jesus high priestly prayer to the Father on the night of His arrest in the setting of the Last Supper ¹ this is how Jesus began:
“Jesus spoke these words, LIFTED UP HIS EYES TO HEAVEN, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You” (John 17:1 NKJV)
This is how one commentary describes it:
“Jesus lifted up His eyes when He prayed. This is a posture that we don’t usually associate with deep prayer. We tend to bow our head and close our eyes. This shows us that we should never confuse the non-essential customs of prayer with the essential aspects of prayer.” (Guzik)
Moreover, while Jesus prayed this prayer in the company of His disciples, He urges us to make our prayers a private matter between ourselves and God in a quiet one to one setting. Note His advice on prayer and how to pray and how not to pray:
“Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward! But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:5-6 HCSB)
Notice Jesus gives no advice on what posture to assume. Having shut the door the rest is between us and God. But on what to pray, we do not need vain repetition:
“When you pray, don’t babble like the idolaters, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words.” (Matthew 6:7 HCSB)
God already knows our needs before we ask Him, it’s our readiness to come before Him and lay our burdens before Him that matters to God:
“… Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him.” (Matthew 6:7-8 HCSB)
While Jesus had in mind the Pharisees in Matthew 6:5 His words apply just as much to Muhammadians who are their latter-day counterpart.²
Muslims love to be seen and heard entering mosques to prayers. The Adhan (Azan) call to prayers let’s everyone know within miles of every mosque and its an imposition and intrusion on the peace of non Muslims. And prayers are often conducted in public spaces on roads and walkways as a show of piety.
Footnotes:
¹ We have to go all the way back to John 13 for the setting. John 17 is the culmination of a continuous sequential narrative which covers a lot of ground with the Last Supper the centrepiece. Unlike the prayers later in Gethsemane where Jesus prayed alone, here Jesus speaks for His disciples to hear Him.
² See Post:
□ WHY THE PHARISEES WERE THE PROTO-ISLAMISTS OF JESUS DAY 15 June 2023
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