Jean Sherrill Staff asked 4 years ago
Recently, My sister says that God hears you clearer, if you pray on your knees, even when I told it cant be true God looks in the heart, not the outward. I told her that God does not need a hearing aid, Can you give me bible verses to help me explain to her. or do I respond to her< she is having someone build her a pew to kneel and pray at home.
Jean Sherrill Staff answered 4 years ago
I’m inclined to say let it be.
The Bible has many examples of people praying on their knees, including Jesus himself, but nowhere is it required or even recommended over other postures. It is true that God looks on the heart and not at the outward appearance (I Samuel 16:7). The point is to pray to God sincerely and humbly as described in Matthew 6.
Your sister believes that God hears more clearly if she prays on her knees. Maybe what is happening is that your sister is the one who is hearing better when she is kneeling, that she is more conscious of God, more focused on him. If anything, you may want to encourage her to read the Word as part of her personal worship to make the prayer time more meaningful still. There is a long tradition of praying the psalms, for example.
Having one’s own pew is unusual but not a problem in itself, much like a well-to-do woman who builds a small chapel in her home.
The bottom line is that some things are worth arguing about but this is probably not one of them.