I fell on my knees stretching out my hands to the Lord my God.

"Then, at the time of the evening sacrifice, I rose in my wretchedness, and with cloak and mantle torn I fell on my knees, stretching out my hands to the Lord, my God."  (Ezra 9: 5).

These are the words of Ezra, the priest scribe who shepherded  Israel at the return from the Babylonian Exile.  He was making a heart wrenching prayer of intercession for his people. This is one of the key tasks of the priest.

Did you notice the posture of Ezra?
"I fell on my knees, stretching out my hands to the Lord, my God."  (Ezra 9: 5).

In Real Estate, they talk of location, location, location. In Prayer, we might say: posture, posture, posture.

"Come, let us worship and bow down.
Let us kneel before the Lord our maker." (Psalm 95: 6).

Why is posture critical in revealing our faith? Our posture before any person reveals the attitude of our heart toward the person.
All throughout the Bible, posture in prayer matters a great deal. Examples:
People prostrate, kneel, bow, raise their hands, sit still before the LORD.  If you find yourself before the President, how do you stand? With your hands in your pockets chewing gum?  Does God deserve less respect when you are before Him in Prayer?

Postures symbolize humility, subservience and dependence.

“Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.  The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity... ......... But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner."  (Luke 18: 10 13).

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