POSTURE!

Apparently Mom was right! “Don’t slouch!” “Stand up straight!” “Keep your head up and your chest out!” Etc. She was right after all.

It seems, or so the studies say, that not only does poor posture wreak havoc on your spine and neck, not to mention the awful impressions of yourself that you make, it can also make you emotionally susceptible to feeling more pain!

University of Toronto scientists claim in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology that adopting a “submissive posture” increases your sensitivity to pain. And those who adopted “dominant poses” displayed higher pain thresholds. This complements earlier studies that showed that powerful postures in some way change hormonal levels and enables them to take greater risks. It has also been demonstrated perceptions of self-control affect mothers’ sensitivity to pain in childbirth.

People feel more powerful, sense more control, and tolerate more distress. Who knew? I’m gonna keep a clenched fist and tight jaw from now on.

Because curling up into a ball or appearing cowed into submission makes the painful experience more painful, perhaps by one’s sense of losing control or by one’s anticipation of pain. Instead standing up straight and performing expansive gestures (e.g., arms away from the body, etc.) create a sense of power and make whatever the painful stimulus is, more tolerable.

Hmm ….

That led me to wonder about postures children of God must adopt before their heavenly Father.

All kinds of postures seem acceptable to God.

Kneeling, of course, is standard policy.

For this reason I [Paul]

bow my knees before the Father ….

Ephesians 3:14–15

But so also is standing …

“Whenever you stand praying, forgive,

if you have anything against anyone,

so that your Father who is in heaven

will also forgive you your transgressions.”

Mark 11:25

And sitting …

Then David the king went in

and sat before the LORD, and he said,

“Who am I, O Lord GOD,

and what is my house,

that You have brought me this far?”

2 Samuel 7:18

And lying down …

When I remember You on my bed,

I meditate on You in the night watches.

Psalm 63:6

Or prostrating oneself …

And He [Jesus] … fell on His face

and prayed, saying,

“My Father, if it is possible,

let this cup pass from Me;

yet not as I will, but as You will.”

Matthew 26:39

Heads bowed? Sure.

Come, let us worship and bow down.

Psalm 95:6

Hands raised? Why not?

Lift up your hands to the sanctuary

And bless the LORD.

Psalm 134:2

Eyes open? Jesus did it.

Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said,

“Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.”

John 11:41

Loudly …

Then falling on his knees,

he [Stephen] cried out with a loud voice,

“Lord, do not hold this sin against them!”

Acts 7:60

Or silently …

Now it came about,

as she continued praying before the LORD,

… she [Hannah] was speaking in her heart,

only her lips were moving,

but her voice was not heard.

1 Samuel 1:12–13

Or even weeping …

She [Hannah], greatly distressed,

prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly.

1 Samuel 1:10

Rejoicing …

O clap your hands, all peoples;

Shout to God with the voice of joy.

Psalm 47:1

And singing …

Serve the LORD with gladness;

Come before Him with joyful singing.

Psalm 100:2

Or even dancing!

Praise Him with timbrel and dancing.

Psalm 150:4

Thankfully, the efficacy of prayer is not gauged by posture or the levels of hormones.

O You who hear prayer,

To You all people come.

Psalm 65:2

He hears! Ours is a prayer-hearing God!