Comments on: Why can we not kneel to pray in the temple?

By: Patti Moores

Patti Moores — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 15:54:00 +0000

In reply to Marco. When i see you he Lord, how could i not keep from falling to my knees even if i made it to the Celestial Kingdom. No one knows the answer and those who do answer with many different opinions. I am truly struggling with this.

By: jedlindquist

jedlindquist — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 22:38:00 +0000

There are many “myths” and “opinions” that unfortunately crop up and are passed on by word of mouth in the Temple, sometimes known as “Temple drift.” Directions from the Church Temple Department as approved by the General Authorities seldom indicate “why:” it is left to the individual to reflect and contemplate the ordinances, policies,, and symbols of the Temple. Several of the statements indicated in the previous comments are just that — opinions.

By: Gordon Lynn Brown

Gordon Lynn Brown — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 06:17:00 +0000

Kneeling to pray is supposed to be symbolic of drinking in the spirit from God the Father and Jesus Christ. A man or woman would kneel down to take a drink from a spring or stream. God and Christ through the Holy Ghost are the well spring of the spiritual and should be “drunk” with zeal. Satan corrupted this and had men and women bowing/kneeling before Kings, Queens, and other royalty.

In Emanuel Swedenborg’s account of the higher degrees of heaven recorded in a book written by him titled Heaven and Hell, he states that the angels in the after life, who are in the attitude of prayer, raise both arms outstretched vertically from their torso. Apparently this is supposed to represent the true order of prayer.

I trust that in my initial encounter(s) with the Lord, if I make it to where He dwells, I will be on my knees and washing His feet with my tears. This will be a prayer of praise and thankfulness.

We are instructed to pray always. If one is seated in the Celestial Room, and a sincere prayer is offered, I would be willing to wager that it is heard. If on the other hand a person approaches it like Tractorman, praise be unto you and the Lord.

By: Bluetahoe

Bluetahoe — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 05:02:00 +0000

i was told, while training to be a temple ordinance worker, that we do not kneel in our robes our of respect for the holiness of them. We are to avoid allowing any part of the robes, except the sandals, from touching the floor. Of course, kneeleing would cause the robes to toouch the floor unless the altar pad was used.

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 04:02:00 +0000

Also the sacred Robes are not to touch the floor

By: tractorman

tractorman — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 02:12:00 +0000

I kneeled down once to talk to my mother, and a matron asked me to rise, not to let my ceremonials touch the floor. I can see that. Also, If I feel inclined to kneel in prayer, I do it in my tight little locker, where I have privacy.

By: Liesl

Liesl — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 21:51:00 +0000

I
went once with my Father, and the same thing happened to me. I kneeled
to pray, and one of the men came over and spoke with my father. When I
got up, they told me the same thing. They said the reason is that we
are in the celestial room, we are in the presence of the Father, and we
would be communicating with Him face to face, Not kneeling in prayer.
So you are supposed to communicate with Him in your mind as if you were
with Him and not as we do here on earth, praying and bowing our heads as
we pray while we are apart from Him.

By: Grady Kerr

Grady Kerr — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 20:28:00 +0000

If I were to guess it might be somewhat of a distraction. Although the Celestial Room is a sacred place, it is somewhat public. I can’t think of anywhere else that would be appropriate in a semi-public setting.

I was once in a Celestial Room and a family in the session was having a son go through for the first time. They were very excited for him, and very loud. I came to the Temple for answers, but was having difficulty meditating. I left the room and sat in an empty sealing room, shut the door, began to pray.

I just spoke to someone who was permitted to do a similar thing, but was asked to know kneel at the altar.

By: Emily

Emily — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 17:34:00 +0000

I was told that it is because we “made it” like Marco said, and that we are worthy to stand in his presence. Someone kindly said, with a smile, in the celestial room (not to me, but someone else) “In here, we stand with God.” I thought it was nice that we could consider ourselves worthy to stand in God’s presence. :)

By: Marco

Marco — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 13:17:00 +0000

Interesting. I had this experience on Saturday. I didn’t know there was such a policy. I had the urge to kneel in prayer in the Celestial Room. As I was praying I heard someone sigh out loud. I ended my prayer and I saw a temple worker. She told me we are not to kneel in the Celestial Room. I asked why, she didn’t know the answer. So I asked a few other temple workers and I was amazed they didn’t know the answer either. I couldn’t speak to anybody in the Presidency, because there was no one to be found. I guess they were busy. As I went home I came to realize the reason why we are not to kneel. It’s because symbolically, we have made it to the Celestial Kingdom, therefore we are not to humble ourselves in prayer, because we have made it :)