Posture
by Peter Brokaar
At the beginning of this year I had the privilege of taking part in a work trip for Ellel Ministries in Asia. Being in a different culture can always be an eye-opening experience, and for me this was no different. Apart from trying new food, learning about local customs and discovering tropical wild life, I learnt something far more valuable than all of those things from the prayers of local believers.
Several times, I heard people use a word in prayer that I was not accustomed to using in any spiritual sense. It was the word ‘posture’. They would pray something like: “Here we are Lord, and our posture is that of X or Y.” I’d never considered my posture before the Lord until then, but it deeply resonated with me.
Our posture reveals something of our heart attitude and of our intentions. We might have a posture of gratitude, or one of humility. Our posture might be said to be one of thanksgiving or praise. Our posture could be eager, willing, or open. On the other hand, our posture could be less positive. For example, we could have a posture of dejection, laziness, ingratitude or self-centredness. And at the worst end of the spectrum, I suppose, our posture could be one of homage to false gods (demons).
As I pondered this, I felt led to ask the Lord to show me what my ‘spiritual posture’ was in daily life. I have to say that what He did show me was less than flattering!
I must now set forth, seeking to make daily changes to my posture. I know this will help me mightily in my walk before God. As a runner, I have been making an effort to improve my physical running posture. Like many people, I tend to slouch a bit, which puts excessive pressure on several joints. So, I must remind myself frequently to engage those core muscles and glutes so that I will run a bit more upright. I know this helps improve my biomechanics and running efficiency. I’m keen to discover how improving my spiritual posture will reap even greater benefits.
May I invite you too to ask the Lord to show you how you can improve your posture before Him? Changes might come slowly, over time, but these changes may very well reap a harvest of eternal rewards.
Prayer: Father in heaven, I want to acknowledge that my posture before You is important. Would You show me what my usual posture is? And please help me in improving this, so that I can walk as I ought to before You. Amen.
Peter Brokaar is Director of Ellel Ministries Scotland and has been there together with his wife Liz since 2005. They have 3 kids, all born in Scotland! In his free time he likes reading, cooking, running and surfing. Being at Ellel Scotland has given him the privilege of getting to know God deeper and sharing that joy with many others.
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