Question: How do we explain 1 Timothy 2:8? Should we lift up our hands when we pray?.

Answer: The expression used in this text appears also in other parts of the Bible: “Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens” (Lamentations 3:41).

It is possible to lift up hands, but how can the heart be lifted up? We see here that this is an expression which means that we should come to God in sincerity.

Maybe some will object that when Moses was praying in order to overcome the Amalekites, he lifted up his hands, and when he became tired, Aaron and Hur held them up (Exodus 17:12). When Solomon was praying in the temple he too lifted up his hands to pray (1 Kings 8:22).

It is true that Moses was praying with his hands lifted up. He was pleading in behalf of his people. It was not wrong to pray like that, but this does not mean that we must always pray in exactly the same way.

On special occasions - when the benediction is pronounced or a chapel is dedicated - the ordained pastor lifts up his hands. Solomon lifted up his hands at the dedication of the temple.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Paul says that we should pray without ceasing. We pray, mentally, while working, or traveling, or walking, but we do not lift up our hands in whatever place or circumstance.

Sometimes men of God prayed without lifting up their hands. Jonah could not have lifted up his hands in the belly of the fish (Jonah 2:1), yet God heard Jonah’s prayer. Elijah prayed with his face between his knees (1 Kings 18:42). When Jesus was praying in the garden of Gethsemane, He “fell on his face” (Matthew 26:39). In this posture, would it be possible to lift up one’s hands?

Is there a prescribed posture to be adopted in prayer? Before we can say Yes or No, let us look at different examples. King David “sat before the Lord” in prayer (1 Chronicles 17:16). At the dedication of the temple, the people prayed “with their faces [turned] to the ground” (2 Chronicles 7:3). But, at the multiplication of the bread, Jesus looked up to heaven (Matthew 14:9).

There is no specific stance to adopt during prayer, but various Bible verses and the example of Jesus show that the proper way is kneeling down in prayer.

“O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker” (Psalm 95:6).

“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth” (Philippians 2:10).

This, however, does not mean that every time we pray we must kneel. Nehemiah prayed to God in the presence of the king, but he did not kneel to pray. See Nehemiah 2:4.

“There is no time or place in which it is inappropriate to offer up a petition to God. There is nothing that can prevent us from lifting up our hearts in the spirit of earnest prayer. In the crowds of the street, in the midst of a business engagement, we may send up a petition to God and plead for divine guidance, as did Nehemiah when he made his request before King Artaxerxes.”1

We must be reverent when we pray. We must seek God “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23). We must have faith (Hebrews 11:6). We must fulfill the conditions God has established so that our prayers may be heard. These are the most important questions.

Concerning the different forms or manners in prayer, it is our church custom to kneel in prayer, in morning and evening worship, when we go to bed and when we get up, in our private prayers, and on other special occasions. When we say grace for the food, we usually stand or sit. On some other occasions we stand also. As mentioned before, our prayers will be heard, not because of the stance adopted, but because of the spirit in which we pray. And if we have the right spirit, we will always come to God in humbleness, expecting to receive what we ask. There is valuable counsel from the pen of inspiration.

“Both in public and private worship it is our duty to bow down upon our knees before God when we offer our petitions to Him. This act shows our dependence upon God.”2

“I have received letters questioning me in regard to the proper attitude to be taken by a person offering prayer to the Sovereign of the universe. Where have our brethren obtained the idea that they should stand upon their feet when praying to God? One who has been educated for about five years in Battle Creek was asked to lead in prayer before Sister White should speak to the people. But as I beheld him standing upright upon his feet while his lips were about to open in prayer to God, my soul was stirred within me to give him an open rebuke. Calling him by name, I said, ‘Get down upon your knees.’ This is the proper position always.”3

“Christ’s followers today should guard against the tendency to lose the spirit of reverence and godly fear. The Scriptures teach men how they should approach their Maker--with humility and awe, through faith in a divine Mediator. . . .

“Both in public and in private worship it is our privilege to bow on our knees before God when we offer our petitions to Him. Jesus, our example, ‘kneeled down, and prayed’ (Luke 22:41). Of His disciples it is recorded that they, too, ‘kneeled down, and prayed’ (Acts 9:40). Paul declared, ‘I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Ephesians 3:14). In confessing before God the sins of Israel, Ezra knelt. See Ezra 9:5. Daniel ‘kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God’ (Daniel 6:10).

“True reverence for God is inspired by a sense of His infinite greatness and a realization of His presence. With this sense of the Unseen, every heart should be deeply impressed.”4

Let us cultivate the spirit of prayer, and it will prove to be a great blessing to all who come to the throne of God through prayer, the breath of the soul.