Jesus Christ teaches that when we pray, we should not be like the hypocrites, for they
love to pray standing inside the synagogues and on the corners of streets that they may
be seen by men.
As written in Matthew 6:5.
Why is it then that your congregation stands while praying?
Isn’t this practice like what the hypocrites do, and doesn’t this practice contradict
what is written in Psalms 95:6 which says “oh come, let us worship and bow down; let
us kneel before the Lord our maker”?
Thank you so very much, Mr. Roxas, for your wonderful question.
You know prayer is so important, so any question about prayer is extremely valuable.
Because, you know, prayer must be done properly.
You know, when the Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples the proper way of praying, let's
find out, did He forbid them to be standing while praying?
Let's go straight to the scriptures and a quote of the Lord Jesus recorded in Matthew 6 verse 5 wherein He said this:
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.
For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they
may be seen by men.
Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
So dear friends because of these words of Jesus, Mr. Roxas and in fact others as well,
they draw the conclusion therefore that if one stands while praying it is wrong, not
only wrong but even hypocritical.
But, if we closely analyze the verse and the words of Jesus here, Christ was not, He was
not questioning the position of their bodies, but rather their motives.
The motives of those who pray.
That's why here in this Matthew 6: 5, what Jesus was highlighting and why
He was calling them hypocritical was because they loved to pray, they loved to pray standing
in the synagogues.
So for what reason?
So that they would be seen by men.
That was their motive.
They wanted to be seen by other people.
That they're praying.
They're good.
They're religious.
They're holy or whatever and Jesus called them out on it.
Even called that attitude, or that motive for praying, hypocritical.
The prayers of hypocrites who seek their own glory, that's what would make a person's prayer
unacceptable to the Lord.
And we can be sure, we are confident that anyone can stand, they can sit, they can kneel
while praying to God and God will accept the prayer as long as they're not doing it with
hypocrisy.
But what's the proof?
Where is the additional Biblical evidence of this you say?
Well the Holy Scriptures, dear friends, does record an instance wherein a person who's
praying beseeching God while standing up.
And let's check.
Was his prayer accepted by God or was it rejected because he wasn't kneeling down?
Was it rejected because he was standing?
It was narrated by our Lord Jesus Christ here in Luke 18:10-14 it reads this way:
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other
men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get'.
“But the tax collector stood at a distance.
He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on
me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
So dear friends, what can we notice about the Pharisee and the tax collector?
Both prayed.
They were both standing when they offered their prayers to God.
But what was the difference?
Well, one was accepted by God and one was rejected or let's say their prayer was disqualified.
What else can we notice?
Both were standing when they prayed.
But there was a difference.
Well, the tax collector who humbled himself and acknowledged his shortcomings and sins.
Well, that's the one that was justified because of his humility.
The Pharisee who boasted of his “good” deeds, he was unacceptable.
But both were standing.
You know dear friends, furthermore, you know, in His teachings, did our Lord Jesus Christ
ever say or teach that standing while praying is wrong?
Let’s take a look at another of His statements.
This one in the book of Mark 11:25:
And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your
Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
So here dear friends, the Bible clearly records that the early people of God, well, they stood
while praying.
And that was one acceptable position when praying to God.
And maybe someone would be thinking, "Well maybe that was just an isolated incident,
you know.
Maybe that was exception to the rule."
Are there other Biblical proofs or evidences that standing while praying is a common practice
of God's people?
Let's turn again to the Holy Scriptures.
This time we turn to 1 Chronicles 23:30, wherein it says this:
They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord.
They were to do the same in the evening
Well, that was not an isolated instance.
They clearly stood regularly while praying.
Any other Biblical example?
Dear friends, there are plenty.
Let's read yet one more.
This one is from 1 Samuel 1: 26: and she said to him, “As surely as you live, my lord,
I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord.
That clearly was a common practice.
They stood while praying.
But does it mean to say that one has to be standing?
What about kneeling?
Isn't kneeling an acceptable position when approaching God in prayer?
Dear friends, of course, it is!
But what does the Bible have to say about kneeling?
Well, we can take a look yet once again at the Lord's teachings and guidance to us.
Luke 22:41:
He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed,
So, what would be a mistake?
What would be wrong?
It would be wrong to conclude that those who stand while praying are hypocrites because
of the position of their body.
Prayers can be said while one is sitting, standing, and clearly as we just read, kneeling down.
Why?
It is not the body position that measures the acceptability of one's prayer to the Lord,
but rather the humble approach and state of worthiness in the eyes of the Lord when we
approach in prayer.
Mr. Roxas, thank you for your question and for all of us, we thank you for joining us.
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