What are your views on the biblical understanding of kneeling to pray? Why is this important?

Answer 1

Here are the five traditional postures for prayer, how they originated, what they are used for, and who uses which one:


Standing with hands uplifted and open, head up, and eyes open.

This is the oldest posture for prayer. It is called the orans position, from the Latin word for praying. By praying this way, the worshiper acknowledges God as external and transcendent. This posture is for thanksgiving, praises, blessings, benedictions, and general prayers. This is still the normal position for prayers in eastern churches and in Jewish synagogues, and it is still used in the western church, particularly when the clergy bless the bread and wine of the Eucharist.
Luke 9:28-32,John 17:1a, Timothy 2:8a


Standing with hands clasped at the waist, head bowed, and eyes averted or closed.

This is the traditional posture of a shackled prisoner of war who is brought before the conquering king. The hands are clasped at the waist as if they were shackled in chains. The eyes are averted—in ancient times, looking directly at one’s captor was insolent and a good way to get killed on the spot. This posture is for submissive petitions or for intercessory or penitential prayer, as we see in Luke 18:10-13.


Kneeling, either with the head up, eyes open, hands open, or with head down, eyes closed, and hands clasped.

This is the traditional posture for requesting favors from a king, and so it became the traditional posture for prayers of repentance or supplication. The Council of Nicea in AD 325 forbade kneeling on Sundays, because penitential prayer is not appropriate during a celebration of the Resurrection. In western Christianity, kneeling came to mean simple humility and submission, and so kneeling became the normal posture for most prayers in the west. However, to eastern Christians, kneeling still means repentance or supplication.
Matthew 18:26, Luke 22:41-44,

Some western churches have kneelers so the congregation can pray in the pews. Others do not have kneelers, but when people gather at the altar railing, they kneel. The secret to kneeling is not to bend at the waist. Thrust your hips forward, so that your abdomen and thighs form a straight, vertical line, and you’ll be able to kneel for long periods of time without fatigue and without sitting on your heels.


Lying on one’s belly, hands up, either with the head up and eyes open or with the head down and the eyes averted or closed.

This is the traditional posture for begging favors from a king when the favors are great and the petitioner is either desperate or has—literally—no standing before the king. It became the traditional posture for desperate, penitential, or intercessory prayer and is still used in eastern churches, which have plenty of room because they don’t have pews.
Matthew 26:38-39


Sitting, head down, eyes averted or closed, and hands clasped.

The Roman Catholic Church invented pews during the Middle Ages, right before the Protestant Reformation. Since the Protestant Reformation was essentially a Christian education movement with very long sermons, the Protestants kept the pews even though they rejected just about everything else they regarded as a ‘Roman invention.’ As a result, sitting has become the normal posture for prayer for many western congregations.

In 2 Samuel 7:18, David sat to pray. However, sitting for prayer was not prevalent until after the invention of pews.

Answer 2

Prayer is a waste of time, kneeling or not. It is just a way of making yourself feel better for doing something, without actually having to do anything.

One man with a hammer can do more good than a billion people praying.

Answer 3

It is to show humility.