Two Ways to Pray

Imagine taking a long, hilly bike ride on a bicycle that only had a single gear. 

Even here on the Central Florida hills, you would want at least two gears right? You would need a low gear for climbing and a higher one for those downhill coasts. It takes both to keep you from feeling sluggish or being totally out of control.

It’s only when both gears engage that you can find a pace that feels steady and purposeful with hope for the ride ahead.

I think our need for a 2-geared bicycle can point us to a truth about our need for two postures of prayer as we seek to depend on the Lord. 

I once heard a pastor say it this way: we need to seek the Lord on our knees and on our feet. 

To understand this, let’s look at a real life picture of these two postures in the book of Nehemiah. 

As Chapter 1 opens, Nehemiah learns that Jerusalem’s walls are broken and that the returned exiles are in distress. This news stirs him to prayer. In fact, as soon as he heard about the condition of the remnant in Judah and the state of the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah began to weep, to mourn, to fast and to pray to the God of heaven. His beautiful prayer is recorded in Chapter 1, verses 5-11 and I encourage you to read it. 

We would do well to model our prayers in the form of Nehemiah’s. His prayer is rooted in the character and promises of God. It includes confession of sin - both personal and corporate and his petitions are brought before the Lord in humble reverence. 

It is clear that Nehemiah knows and fears the Lord and is well aware of his great need for the Lord’s help. While the text doesn’t tell us exactly how long he remained in prayer, it does tell us that he “wept and mourned for days” and that he continued “fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” It is evident that this was a lengthy time of prayer. 

Nehemiah’s prayer in Chapter 1 is a plea to the Lord that represents prayer on our knees. 

For us, this might look like the prayers written or spoken in our daily time with the Lord in His Word, perhaps in our proverbial prayer closet. These prayers are often unheard by anyone but the Lord, although at times, they may be shared with a spouse or friend. These prayers are personal and seek intimate communion with God. 

Our on-our-knees prayers may be tied to specific troubling circumstances, as in the case of Nehemiah but they are often simply regular, extended times of adoration, confession and petition before the Lord.  And, as we will see in Nehemiah’s life, these prayers can provide ongoing strength, courage and direction that is often realized when it is most needed. 

Chapter 2 opens several months later as Nehemiah is serving wine to King Artaxerxes and he inquires about Nehemiah’s uncharacteristic sadness. Nehemiah confesses, in his account of this event, that he was “very much afraid,”  but he courageously responds by telling the King of the ruined condition of Jerusalem.  

The King responds with a question, “What are you requesting?”  Or, as the NLT says, “Well, how can I help you?” 

What a great question! It is clear that the Lord has already been at work on behalf of His people. 

Before Nehemiah answers the king, he offers a prayer on his feet. This time we don’t get his words. We can assume this is a silent prayer but we see that it was offered in the midst of action. 

The time Nehemiah had spent on his knees in prayer had strengthened him for this conversation and he had already responded with confidence in the face of fear. 

But, as he faced the pressure of this question, he was keenly aware of his great need for the Lord’s wisdom and he prayed on his feet. 

This on-the-go prayer is what we might call an arrow prayer. Short. Specific. Direct. In the Moment. Needy.

The Lord answered by giving Nehemiah the courage and wisdom to boldly and thoughtfully respond to the  King and, in spite of his fear, Nehemiah asked the King for permission to go to Judah to rebuild the walls. He also asked for letters addressed to other rulers recommending they give him a safe passage. Nehemiah courageously requested timber from the King’s forest for the rebuilding of the city walls and a home for himself.

By the good hand of God, Nehemiah’s full request was honored as the Lord continued to work in the heart of the king. 

In the rest of Chapter 2, we continue to see the confidence of a man rooted in prayer as we follow him in his travels to Jerusalem. We see him inspect the broken walls, and successfully motivate the people to begin rebuilding in spite of opposition. The chapter ends with a declaration of Nehemiah’s trust in the Lord to prosper His people in their rebuilding of Jerusalem. 

From the start of this book, Nehemiah is pictured as a man of prayer. We see him in chapter 1on his knees, praying, weeping and fasting. Nehemiah is expressing adoration, confessing sin, and seeking to live in a way that aligns with the Lord. His prayer is humble, thoughtful, worshipful and deliberate. 

By chapter 2, Nehemiah is praying on his feet - standing before the king, boldly asking for resources and taking initiative. His prayer for help is spontaneous, quiet and brief. 

Having already been strengthened on his knees, Nehemiah now stands up and steps forward in bold words and actions.  

I think it’s noteworthy to say that Nehemiah’s prayers in Chapter 1 were not a substitute for action. This is not the “Let go and let God” theology that we see on bumper stickers. God’s Word teaches us that prayerful dependence on the Lord, rooted in His Sovereign power, fuels our actions as we trust Him, in prayer, to guide us and to bring about what is most loving for us and most glorifying for Him. 

Our prayers, like Nehemiah’s, begin on our knees in regular devotion to the Lord, but they are continued and carried out as we walk in step with the Lord.

In fact, our Lord, as he walked on the earth, modeled both these types of prayers. The Scriptures reveal His times of solitary prayer, away from the crowds, in communion with His Father. They also reflect times of short, on the go prayers - think of Jesus thanking the Father before feeding the 5000, His gratitude before raising Lazarus and, of course, His prayers cried out on the cross. 

So, let’s take this full circle and see that we must pray like we ride our bikes - with at least two gears or, in our case, two postures of prayer, recognizing that our lives need to be saturated in both types of prayer. 

So let’s ask the Lord to make us people who pray on our knees, seeking God’s presence in still and quiet moments as we begin our days. And to make us people who rise and pray on our feet, moving with Him into the hills and valleys of life, confident that He supplies the strength for the ride ahead.

And may we be keenly aware that apart from the Lord, we can do nothing (John 15:5).