EYES WIDE OPEN: A FORGOTTEN POSTURE OF PRAYER
We have lived so long under the gentle conditioning of “bow your head, close your eyes” that we seldom ask whether Scripture actually teaches it. It is reverent, yes, and it has its place, but it is not the pattern most commonly found in the Word of God. In Scripture, saints prayed with eyes lifted, faces turned upward, and hearts awake to the God who dwells in the heavens.
David said, “I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where my help comes” (Psalm 121:1–2), and again, “My eyes are toward You, O God the Lord” (Psalm 141:8). The psalmist prayed, “Unto You I lift my soul” (Psalm 25:1), a posture more open than folded. Jesus Himself “lifted His eyes to heaven” when He prayed for His disciples (John 17:1). Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, prayed as he gazed upward and saw “the heavens opened” (Acts 7:55–60). When you survey Scripture honestly, it becomes clear that the instinctive biblical posture of prayer is not closed eyes but lifted eyes.
If prayer is fellowship, why do we shut our eyes to the beloved faces beside us? When we talk to a friend, we do not close our eyes; when we talk for a friend, we certainly do not. We look at them, read their expression, and feel their need. Yet, strangely, when we speak to our Father about a brother or sister, we instinctively retreat into the dark behind our eyelids.
What if that habit has diminished the warmth of intercession? What if we have made prayer an inward cave instead of an outward communion? The early disciples lifted their voices together after Peter and John were released, praying openly and boldly, not described as bowed and hidden (Acts 4:24-31). The prophets often prayed standing, eyes lifted, hands raised (1 Kings 8:22-23; Ezra 9:5-6). Daniel “opened his windows toward Jerusalem” and prayed three times a day (Daniel 6:10). Nothing in these scenes suggests the modern custom of folding into oneself; instead, they prayed in a posture that matched expectation—open, awake, alert.
There is something deeply human and biblical about praying with your eyes open. Jesus looked at people before He healed them (Mark 10:21), looked at the multitudes before He blessed the bread (Mark 6:34, 41), and looked toward heaven before giving thanks (Mark 7:34). His prayers were not detached from the world around Him; they entered into the moment, seeing the need while calling upon the Father.
To lift the eyes is not to be irreverent; it is to be expectant. When Jesus says the Father “sees in secret” (Matthew 6:6), He is not commanding eyelids to seal; He is calling for sincerity. When the psalmist lifts his eyes, he is not turning inward, but upward—toward the God who hears, helps, and holds.
So let there be a holy freedom in your praying. Bow your head when you need to; close your eyes when distraction swarms. But do not feel bound by a posture that Scripture never commands as the norm. Let your eyes be open when you pray with others; look at the brother you are interceding for, the sister whose burden you carry, the child you bless in the name of the Lord. Let your face rise toward heaven in private prayer; follow the Savior who lifted His eyes to the Father. Prayer is not less holy when your eyelids are lifted. It may, in fact, become more honest, more human, and more filled with living fellowship. The God who hears your whisper is the God who invites your upturned face.
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ADDITIONAL PASSAGES FOR FURTHER REFLECTION ON EYES-OPEN PRAYER
These Scriptures strengthen the case that the overwhelming biblical pattern is eyes lifted—not eyes closed:
Psalm 123:1 — “To You I lift up my eyes, You who dwell in the heavens.”
Psalm 5:3 — “In the morning I direct my prayer to You, and I look up.”
John 11:41 — Jesus “lifted His eyes” before raising Lazarus.
Luke 18:13 — Even the tax collector, though bowed, still “would not lift his eyes to heaven,” which implies it was the expected posture.
2 Chronicles 20:12 — “Our eyes are upon You.”
Lamentations 3:41 — “Let us lift our hearts and our hands to God in heaven.”
Hebrews 12:2 — Prayer and endurance come by “looking unto Jesus.”
Scripture never commands closing the eyes in prayer.
The eyes-closed posture is a tradition—sometimes helpful, but never required.
BDD
