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Everyday Saints Devotional 32

by David Joynt on February 02, 2022


EXODUS 3:5 | 5 Then he said, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."

As embodied creatures we can learn to worship and pray with our whole selves. Our gestures and body language can convey our spiritual intent. Folded hands express our willingness to stop holding and getting and grabbing and seek God’s presence. Open hands reflect our willingness to listen and follow his direction. Kneeling, as we’ve discovered, speaks to our honoring of his authority and recognition of his glory and goodness, as well as our need and dependence. Raised hands can express thanks and joyous praise.

There is an individual element to our postures when we pray. I pray with a pen in hand, a sign of expectancy that God will speak and guide. Moses took off his shoes as a sign of God’s holiness.

What is your favorite prayer posture?

Tags: prayer, posture

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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