Obviously, the commendable idea behind a bowed head and closed eyes is to remove distractions and hence aid concentration. In some churches the posture is encouraged to give privacy to people who might respond to a call for salvation. As an occasional practice, this posture is fine but if it becomes the prominent way in which we pray, it might have unintended side effects.

Even on a blind date, people open their eyes! Whereas darkness and gloom depress a person, light brightens one’s spirits.

I think for most of us there is a firmly established link between a bright sunny day and fun, excitement and high spirits. Blackness, on the other hand, tends to produce a more somber mood. The connection is so firmly wired in the human psyche that it is part of everyday speech. “Dark times” are depressing or distressing, whereas someone said to have a “bright” personality is cheerful. “You light up my life” means you make me happy. Perhaps you can think of other examples.

Given this strong link between brightness and happiness/excitement, it would seem harder to keep associating the thought of prayer with excitement and eager anticipation, if prayer is linked in our minds with the blackness of closed eyes.

I’m not laying down any law. I myself sometimes close my eyes in prayer. Perhaps, for you, closing your eyes conjures feelings of peace. That’s not exactly exciting but it could be quite welcome in times of stress. What especially concerns me, however, is my suspicion that a bowed head or slumped posture generates little but despondency. Consider such expressions as, “downcast” (ie. looking down), “hang your head in shame,” “keep your chin up,” and so on. The Psalmist called his God “the lifter up of my head” (Psalm 3:3 – literal translation). In both Testaments, to pray bowed down or prostrate was out of the norm. Such a posture was usually a response to crushing negative emotions such as grief or fear. Bowed knees are in a different category, since one can kneel with the hands or head raised.

Taken from Prayer Secrets

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