Prayer Practice | Surrender

Throughout Scripture, we see prayer postures outwardly expressing the inward postures of the heart. Jesus looked up to heaven in prayer with the Father, Moses would intercede on behalf of the people he was leading with his arms stretched out, David prayed with his knees to the ground.

What are your experiences with prayer postures? Holding or folding hands, placing your hand on someone, kneeling, bowing your head, closing or opening your eyes, lifting your hands...

Growing up, my experience with prayer would often resemble a circle - standing in a circle, hands held around the table in a circle, sitting in a circle on the floor. I didn't realize this until recently, but that has shaped the way I also inwardly posture my prayers: circling the things I am going to God with, circling people in prayer and asking for God's surrounding presence, circling back to God's faithfulness in gratitude. What postures have shaped your prayer life?

In this prayer practice, Sheena invites you to explore a specific prayer posture of hands open to surrender. While there is no right or wrong when it comes to prayer postures, prayer postures are a way for you to engage your body with your spirit. This hands-up posture of surrender can help you tangibly name or visualize what it is we need to acknowledge God's help for, hand over the things that are taking up space in our lives to God, and make room for the Spirit to shape, renew, and heal us.

Who can you pray this prayer of surrender with? I'd love to hear how praying with open hands brings about new and fresh encounters with God this week?