The Posture of Prayer

“Sit up straight!”

How many of us can hear our mother telling us to sit up straight when she would catch us slouching in a chair? She did it because she knew that if we continued to slouch, we would end up with poor posture. People are spending thousands of dollars going to chiropractors for back and limb problems due to poor posture. Today, furniture manufacturers are selling expensive ergonomic chairs that are designed to provide comfort and encourage proper sitting. You could buy one of these chairs, but if you aren’t strategic about sitting up straight and continue to slouch instead…you’ll still end up with poor posture!

Did you know that slouchy prayers are due to poor posture in the spirit? 

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To get the right results when we pray, we must have the right spiritual posture. Spiritual posture is our spiritual attitude. When our prayer life is slouchy, it’s because our spiritual attitude or posture is wrong. A slouchy prayer life is when we reduce prayer down to only going to God with our problems and needs.  While these things are important, we have to get beyond the “gimmes” and rise to “calleth those things that be not as though they were.” Romans 4:17 (KJV)

To have the right spiritual attitude or posture concerning prayer, we must realize that prayer is strategic. It’s more than just talking to God. It’s the means by which we partner with God to manifest His Kingdom on earth; whether it be in our lives, the lives of others, our environment, or our spheres of influence. We must become residents of the Word of God and not transients of it. We must become proficient in functioning in God’s Kingdom, of which we are citizens and ambassadors. God cannot intervene in our affairs unless we give Him permission through prayer. Although He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness…obtaining them is not automatic. We must learn the principles of God’s Kingdom to access them. We do so by faith, and with the posture of humility, authority, and importunity when we pray.

Humility is not thinking lowly of ourselves, acting like we’re grasshoppers. Neither is it going around with our heads down, hands in our pockets, saying, “Aww, shucks. Who? Me?” Humility is an attitude of the spirit…its posture. Humility is allowing Jesus to be the Lord over our lives, not just Savior. It’s surrendering our will and bowing our hearts to Jesus because we know that apart from Him, we can do nothing. It’s giving God’s Word final authority in our lives, trusting that when we humble ourselves in God’s sight and under His mighty hand, He will lift us up and exalt us in due time. (James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:6)

Authority is power delegated to every believer by Jesus to do His will on earth. (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-18, and Luke 10:19) This power backs us when we release God’s Word, bringing about manifestation. Let me illustrate. In 2009, I asked God for a class in our church’s Bible Training Center because I wanted to teach His people. In response to my request, He gave me the following vision:

As I began to pray in the spirit, I saw a jail cell and in it was a person. They were just standing there. On their side was a ring of keys. I was standing on the other side. I knew the keys were the keys of the Kingdom because I could hear the Lord saying, “I have given you the keys of the Kingdom.” These were not keys to unlock the door. As I stood there, I could see the cell begin to fill one by one with people. They just appeared in the cell. They weren’t actual bodies, but silhouettes or shadows. I knew they were people. When I saw how crowded it was getting, I started yelling, “Speak to it! Speak to it!” At first, no one was listening to me. They all just stood there. They all had the same key rings. At first, I couldn’t figure out why they didn’t just use a key to let themselves out, but then I remembered that they were not keys to the door, but keys to the Kingdom. (Matthew 16:19) When I realized this about the keys, that’s when I started saying, “Speak to it.” One person said, “Open,” and the door opened. They walked out and the door closed. Some said it and others didn’t. They said it one by one. After each person said it and came out, the door shut. For those who didn’t say it, the door remained shut and they remained inside. The cell never completely emptied. As those left, others appeared. These were God’s people. (I did get to teach in the school for five years!)

Exercising authority means that we know who we are in Christ. We understand that Satan has no power over us because he’s under our feet. We’re seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Ephesians 2:6) therefore when we pray we do it from Heaven to Earth, not the other way around. We know that when we decree a thing, it shall be established. Therefore, once we’ve prayed, we believe we received what we prayed for at that moment. (Mark 11:23-24) We’re confident that God hears us and will answer because we pray according to His will. (James 5:14-15)

Importunity comes from the word “importune,” which means persistent, insistent, tenacious, or resolute. The Amplified Bible calls it “shameless persistence and insistence.” When it comes to seeing God’s promises manifested in our lives, there should be “No shame to our game!” Importunity knows that once we pray between “I believe I received,” and “There it is,” we are in for a fight. The adversary of our soul is not going to roll out a red carpet and let us stroll into our promise. He’s going to do everything he can to get us to let go of our faith. But Ephesians 6:13-14 (NKJV) tells us that “…after having done all to stand. Stand, therefore…” After we have prayed in faith, in the posture of humility, authority, and importunity, we will take our position. We will stand our ground even if we look foolish to those around us. We will stand anchored, no matter how hard the wind may blow! We will stand “flat-footed” in the spirit, from our place of victory, clothed in God’s armor, and contend for our faith until we see the manifestation of what God promised…NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TAKES!

Denise Carlie is a Native Chicagoan and a graduate of Living Word Christian Center School of Ministry and Robert Morris College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. She has been married for thirty-eight years and has two children and four grandchildren. Denise is a Seer, Intercessor, and Teacher with a ministerial license through the Faith Ministries Alliance. It is her desire to be remembered as “A woman after God’s own Heart.”

DENISE CARLIE