Before the pastor begins to preach, he says, “Let’s pray.” And most people, without even being instructed, will close their eyes. Back in the days when we had the altar call at the end of a church service and most Christian special events, the speaker would make sure we had “all heads bowed, every eye closed,” to ensure that those who walked down the aisle had some measure of privacy.
Closing our eyes when we pray has become common and almost universal across Christianity, especially among Protestants and Evangelicals. But where did this idea come from? Do we see it in the Bible?
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Closing our eyes during prayer doesn’t have any clear biblical connection, but we can find the roots in culture and tradition.
Early Christians probably adopted certain physical actions to show reverence and humility, passed down from Jewish customs. These included raising hands and bowing but not closing the eyes. Over time, keeping eyes closed became a way to block out distractions to foster more intimacy and focus on God.
All ancient religions and cultures developed similar positions to show reverence, like bowing, kneeling, or covering the face. People did such things when approaching royalty and those in power. For Christians, closing their eyes likely became an extension of these things to show their submission toward God in worship and prayer. It helps to focus on the spiritual over the physical. Especially for the Christian who believes in an unseen God and Spirit, closing the eyes symbolizes a priority of the heavenly realms over what we see.
Over time, closing eyes became an accepted norm, especially in the Western Church and liturgy, a culture encouraging quiet and reflective styles. People would understandably do the same in private to have a personal, internal dialogue with God. The Protestant Reformation and resulting movements highlighted the personal relationship with God, so prayer reinforced the practice. In many Protestant and Evangelical traditions, prayer became more conversational than formal, making closed eyes a more natural way to find intimacy with God.
Evangelicals began to encourage the practice during the advent of the altar call, usually at the end of a Gospel presentation. During this part of the service, people seeking to get saved or who had other needs would come to the front for leaders to pray for them. Closing eyes and bowing heads showed humility and kept some people from being embarrassed, which leaders hoped would better encourage people to come forward.
Over time, closing eyes became universally common and almost an essential element of prayer for many Christians, no matter the denomination. Sometimes, more charismatic or Pentecostal groups will keep their eyes open for prayer in public and private settings. However, most teach closing eyes during prayer to children (along with folding hands) as a way to show respect and humility.
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While the Bible mentions various prayer postures—standing, kneeling, prostration, or even lifting eyes to heaven—it doesn’t reference closing eyes during prayer. However, for many, the idea of closing our eyes symbolizes reverence, humility, and submission. God does not command any physical position for prayer, and especially in the New Covenant, prayer is a matter of the heart, and we see those ideas supported in the Bible.
The biblical descriptions of prayer often included the person’s humility. In 1 Kings 8:22, Solomon stands before the altar of the Lord and spreads out his hands to pray during the Temple’s dedication. Reading Daniel 6:10, Daniel knelt three times a day in prayer, even under the threat of death in the lion’s den, showing his obedience and devotion to God. The priest Ezra falls to his knees with his hands spread out to the Lord and confessed the sins of Israel, asking God’s mercy and forgiveness on their behalf (Ezra 9:5). The psalmist invites all of Israel (the people of God) to bow before the Lord in Psalm 95:6. “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.”
In the New Testament, Luke 18:9-14 recounts the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The tax collector (a despised position for the Jews) feels unworthy to pray. He beats his chest and looks down while he prays. This shows his humility, which meant his prayers were heard by God, in contrast to the prideful approach of the Pharisee. Jesus also modeled prayer with different expressions. During a moment of desperation, Jesus kneels and prays in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:41), symbolizing his submission and humble pleading with his Father the night before his death.
The Bible may not mention anyone closing their eyes, but our emphasis should be on the posture of the heart, not a religious position alone. God values a humble and sincere heart more than anything.
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Scripture provides several narratives where people prayed with their eyes open, often looking toward heaven and lifting their hands while standing. The psalmist encourages us to address God this way. “I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2). The poetic imagery highlights the act of lifting the eyes to seek God’s help and guidance.
Jesus prays to the Father before raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:41-42), including the line, “And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard me.” Christ’s act of lifting his eyes reveals his open acknowledgment of addressing a higher and different reality, symbolized by the sky, the “heavens,” and eternal heaven beyond. Further, in Luke 9:16, Jesus feeds the five thousand. Before multiplying the fishes and loaves, he looks to heaven and blesses the food. Here, Christ acknowledges God as the provider. In Mark 7:34, when Jesus heals a deaf and mute man, he also raises his eyes to heaven.
Prayer has many purposes and goals, one of which includes changing our perspective. We are transformed by the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2). This requires thinking differently according to eternal truths. All of us have lived with a limited and earthly mindset, and we need a change of perspective. People live and act from what they feel and believe. To live a changed life, to follow and obey God, the way we think must be radically shifted by God’s revelation through the Bible, the Spirit, and Christian disciplines like prayer.
Raising the eyes indicates we call upon something higher and greater than ourselves. Therefore, it can be just as humble and submissive as bowing or closing our eyes. Jesus wasn’t more or less obedient to the Father if he knelt or stood and lifted his eyes.
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The common practice of closing our eyes to prayer offers both benefits and warnings.
The main positive is that it blocks out external distractions. Over the past few centuries, our world has only become busier and more visually stimulating with TV, the internet, and constant entertainment kept in our pockets with our smartphones. Shutting our eyes gives us a sense of solitude and helps focus our thoughts on God. Especially in times of anxiety or worry, closing our eyes helps us place our attention on the unseen but real God, allowing his peace and guidance to calm our hearts and minds.
Closing the eyes adopts a posture of humility and reverence. No, we aren’t more holy because of how we stand or kneel, yet a physical act can help reinforce and encourage the position of the inner person. In this way, the practice connects with a broader scriptural theme of approaching God with respect and pleading. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. The One who loves us abundantly is also the only power in existence. We should learn to approach him with awe.
As far as negatives, we can begin with the obvious: the Bible records no one closing their eyes in prayer and neither does it instruct us to do so. This doesn’t make it wrong or sinful in any way. At the same time, we must be careful not to teach it as a biblical practice, especially when other postures do exist in Scripture.
Additionally, closing our eyes to pray might reinforce the idea that proper prayer needs to look a certain way to be effective or meaningful. This leads to a very limited understanding of prayer. Paul tells us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), which can’t happen if it’s dependent upon closing our eyes. No one can live life with their eyes closed all the time. Further, this limits our understanding of prayer. We can pray during every activity of life, keeping an open conversation with the Father to acknowledge he is always with us and sees us at all times.
Contrary to the Evangelical altar call tradition, closing our eyes in group settings can isolate us from the community situation. Corporate prayer should unite us, and keeping our eyes open can help create a group connection. And teaching children to pray only when their eyes are closed and hands folded leads to their misunderstanding and limited thinking regarding prayer.
Closing our eyes can offer some benefits, such as greater intimacy and focus on God. However, it can also limit our comprehension and flexibility in prayer. As Jesus adopted different postures and acts while praying, so should we, as led by the Spirit and the situation. In all things, God values our motives far more than the posture when we pray, whether our eyes are open or closed.
Peace.
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