Exploring Christian Prayer Positions: From Scripture to Yoga

Prayer is a spiritual discipline found in most all the world’s faith traditions, and it is an essential practice in the Christian tradition. Throughout the Bible, the people of God are known to utilize various Christian prayer positions in order to enrich their prayer life.

The postures of yoga were not born in the Christian tradition. However, these postures can serve as creative tools for exploring what it means to embody our prayers as followers of Christ.

In this blog, we will delve into the different prayer positions found in the Bible, explore prayer positions used in yoga, and discuss how the two can come together to help Christians enhance their prayer lives.

The Importance of Prayer for Christians

Christian Theology is unique in that it holds that humans have been invited to have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Prayer, then, is foundational to the Christian faith, serving as the primary means of communication, connection, and communion between believers and God.

Through prayer, Christians are able to express love, gratitude, and dependence on God. By actively listening during prayer, Christians seek guidance and wisdom, as we desire to follow Christ through life’s challenges.

How Many Times Is Prayer Mentioned in the Bible?

Prayer is mentioned over 600 times in the Bible. Jesus is described as praying at least thirty-eight times in the Gospels alone!

While the exact number of times the word “pray” is mentioned in the Bible varies depending on the version and context of the word, the fact that prayer is referenced repeatedly in BOTH the Old and New Testaments demonstrates the importance of this spiritual discipline for Christians.

Though the Bible does not always specify one’s physical position, it is clear that the posture of our body CAN help us to express the attitudes of our hearts.

Praying Positions in the Bible

Scripture teaches us to worship God with our whole being: heart, soul, mind, and strength.

While the Bible doesn’t provide a comprehensive list of specific praying positions, it does offer descriptions of various postures and gestures associated with prayer.

Here are a few examples of Christian prayer positions:

Kneeling: One of the most common prayer positions in the Bible is kneeling. In numerous passages, individuals are described as kneeling before God as a sign of humility and submission (e.g., Daniel 6:10, Luke 22:41, Acts 20:36).
Standing: Standing while praying signifies readiness, confidence, and respect. Jesus often stood while praying, as seen in Mark 11:25 and Luke 18:11-13. Standing also reflects an open posture of receiving from God.
Bowing: Bowing is a sign of reverence and respect. It’s a gesture of acknowledging God’s authority and majesty. In various biblical accounts, individuals bow before God in prayer, such as the wise men before the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:11) and the elders in heaven worshiping God (Revelation 4:10).
Prostration: Prostration involves bowing low to the ground, with the forehead touching the earth. This position symbolizes complete surrender, reverence, and acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty. Examples of prostration in prayer can be found in Exodus 34:8 and Matthew 26:39.
Lifting Hands: Lifting hands in prayer is a gesture of supplication, praise, and surrender. It is mentioned numerous times throughout the Bible (e.g., Psalm 63:4, 1 Timothy 2:8). This posture signifies reaching out to God and offering one’s heart in worship.

While the act of prayer itself is not contingent upon physical position, placing our bodies in different postures can help to embody our prayers of praise, reverence, humility, and surrender before the throne of God.

Christians Prayer Positions in Yoga?

Yoga is an ancient spiritual practice that incorporates breathwork practices (pranayama), meditation techniques (samyama), and physical postures (asanas) to promote an overall sense of health and well-being.

While the exact origins of yoga postures are difficult to trace, evidence suggests that yoga “asanas” were not originally intended to be prayer positions, but instead evolved over centuries through a combination of many different cultural and practical influences.

That said, many practitioners find value in incorporating elements of prayer or meditation into their postural yoga practice to deepen their sense of spiritual awareness and connection.

As Christians, we believe that prayer is more than the posture of the body. Instead, prayer requires the proper intention of the heart. We know that placing our bodies into a physical position will not automatically cause our hearts to pray. (See Jesus’ warning in Matthew 23:27-28)

However, some Christians have found practicing yoga is a practical way to incorporate their body into worship and a creative way to embody their prayers.

How to Use Christian Prayer Positions in Your Yoga Practice

Integrating Christian prayer positions into your yoga practice can be a powerful way to deepen your spiritual connection and help you to draw near to the presence of God. Here are some practical ways to incorporate Christian prayer positions into your yoga practice:

Begin by getting quiet, ground yourself in the present moment, and awaken to the presence of God with you.
Bring your awareness to your breath and remember that it is God who gives you this breath of life!
When standing, focus on the steadiness and firm foundation of God’s love.
When bowing down, meditate on the majesty and beauty of God.
When kneeling, humble yourself to the authority and sovereignty of God.
When lying prostrate, completely surrender everything to God.
When lifting your hands, lift them in an attitude of praise and worship.

Knowing how to weave the prayer positions found in the Bible into your yoga practice can transform a yoga class into a time of worship!

In this way, your yoga mat becomes a sacred space where you can encounter the divine presence and grow in your relationship with God through a time of embodied prayer.

Enhancing Prayer through Yoga

Not only can you use prayer positions from the Bible in your yoga practice, but yoga postures can also be used as powerful tools for enhancing the prayer life of a follower of Christ!

Yoga postures offer Christians a creative opportunity to explore how to embody their prayers as followers of Christ. By engaging in yoga postures with intentionality and mindfulness, Christians can deepen their communion with God and experience prayer in a more holistic way.

Here are some of my favorite prayer positions yoga offers us for prayer:

Child’s Pose (Balasana): Kneel on the ground with your hips resting on your heels and your forehead touching the floor. Child’s pose is the universal posture of surrender, humility, and introspection, making it the perfect way to begin or end your time of prayer.
Mountain Pose (Tadasana): Mountain pose cultivates stability, strength, and presence. Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and arms at your sides. This posture can serve as a prayer position for remembering God’s steadfastness and a desire to receive his wisdom and guidance. With arms raised overhead, mountain pose becomes a standing posture of praise.
Forward fold (Uttanasana): Stand with your feet hip-width apart, gently hinge forward at the hips, letting your upper body release over your legs. Your hands may rest on the floor, ankles, or shins, depending on flexibility. Forward fold can be a prayer posture of surrender, bowing down, and letting go.

Learn More About Postures of Prayer

As Christians, the postures of yoga can be used as tools to help us creatively embody our prayers. By incorporating both prayer postures found in the Bible with the postures of yoga, Christians can cultivate a rich and robust prayer life and experience that nourishes their body, mind, and spirit.

Want to learn more about Christian postures of prayer? Check out my self-paced Postures of Prayer course, on sale now!