Dear Gramps,
My husband and I are recently active yet we have always prayed together. Our prayers have always been while we lay down to sleep. Recently (as we become more active) I’ve felt prompted that we should kneel to pray. Is this about obedience, or respect or what has changed? Also, if Heavenly Father wants us to kneel in our family and personal prayers, could you tell me why we don’t do so in church?
Rachel, Stansbury Park, Utah
Dear Rachel,
To kneel in prayer is a demonstration of respect and reverence toward Deity, and is an appropriate posture in family and private prayer. While seated in church we are already in an attitude of reverence, as we are seated in the presence of the Spirit of the Lord. In an outdoor situation, men should remove their hats as a mark of respect while a public prayer is being offered. It is the same concept of the men uncovering their heads or saluting while as the flag of the nation passes by.
Gramps