Looking Down When You Pray

A few years ago, one of my grandsons asked me why we bow our heads when we pray. I can’t remember what my answer was at the time, but as I sat here to write another message, God gave me a clue, or perhaps an answer. We are taught at a young age that God is up there somewhere, you know, in Heaven. Now I know, and you probably do as well, that God is everywhere, so I suppose that looking down is okay with Him. When we close our eyes when praying I suppose it helps to remove any visual distractions, and also gives privacy and dignity to others around us who are praying. It also allows us to close in with God. We have no idea what He looks like so that few minutes in our own darkness allows us to just have a conversation with Him.

          

As I sat to write, an e-mail crossed my desk that stopped me. I was encouraged to hold a friend in prayer who is perhaps in a spiritual struggle. It hit me that while we are encouraged to look to the Heavens for God, we then miss seeing the people who need our prayer right in front of us. Perhaps bowing our heads will allow us to see someone who is fighting a spiritual battle and feels beaten down. I know this as I have been there. We have all had the feeling that we can’t find our spot, our footing, or even our purpose. We had it, but somewhere along the road, it weakened and now we’re stuck in neutral.

          

I speak sometimes about having a target on our backs when we are in ministry.  I will now recant that statement, as I realize that the devil doesn’t get to take aim at me, because Jesus has my back. Arrows of self-doubt may come toward us, but if we remember we wear the armour of God, they can’t get in. We are all prone to tiring at times, and that’s okay. In my struggle a couple of years ago, I clung onto those around me who held me to the Father in prayer. They bowed their heads and saw me struggling and raised me up. They didn’t discard me like an empty water bottle. They were obedient to God’s prompting to pay attention and reach down. This should be a great answer to why we bow our heads when we pray. Bowing of our heads in reverence to God allows us to see who needs us the most, those in front of us who we may have overlooked and who have the greatest need.

Mike Shindruk

www.mastershandministry.blogspot.com