This is dedicated to Matt
I pray with my eyes open. When I close my eyes to pray, I always start imagining things, what God looks like, what heaven looks like, what angels are doing because I'm praying, etc. I've always associated closing my eyes to speak or think with my imagination. I know I'm weird, I've always had a vivid imagination.
Anyway, God is not make believe, therefore I do not close my eyes. Usually I kind of cover my head with my hands and look at the ground so no one knows my eyes are open. But, I've always wondered why we, "Bow our heads and close our eyes" to speak with God. There is absolutely no biblical mandate for it. To the contrary it seems proper to have our eyes open. David wrote;
"To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are enthroned in the heavens! " (Psalm 123:1, NASB95) [1]
and
"For my eyes are toward You, O God, the Lord; In You I take refuge; do not leave me defenseless. " (Psalm 141:8, NASB95)[1]
Also, in the longest recorded prayer in the Bible, John writes;
"Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You,... " (John 17:1, NASB95) [1]
So, the man after God's own heart and Jesus both prayed with their eyes open. They also prayed with there heads lifted up towards heaven. Why do we pray in an opposite manner today, heads down, eyes closed?
[1] New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. The Lockman Foundation: LaHabra, CA
