Dear Gramps,

The past few years I have become afflicted with arthritis in my legs more and more. It makes it harder and harder for me to get down on my knees to say my prayers. But I just don’t feel like it is reverent enough, or respectful enough if I just sit in a chair and fold my arms to pray. As it is, when I get up from saying my kneeling prayers I am so hobbled up and sore that it has become very discouraging. I long to be able to continue to kneel in humble reverence before my Father in Heaven. Do you have any suggestions on how to solve this terrible dilemma in saying my prayers.

Hobbled, in Gresham, Oregon

Dear Hobbled,

Kneeling is one expression of reverence, but kneeling itself is not reverence. Prayer is an attitude, not a posture. President James E. Faust spoke to this aspect of prayer in the April conference of 2002.

“Many prayers are spoken while we are on our knees. The Savior knelt as He prayed to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. But silent prayers of the heart also reach to heaven. We sing, ‘Prayer is the souls sincere desire, Uttered or unexpressed’” (President James E. Faust, The Lifeline of Prayer, Ensign (CR), May 2002, p.59).

And the Savior said in Doctrine & Covenants 25:12,

For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.

The Savior also mentions the many places in which prayer would be appropriate—

Therefore, verily I acknowledge him and will bless him, and also thee, inasmuch as thou art faithful in counsel, in the office which I have appointed unto you, in prayer always, vocally and in thy heart, in public and in private, also in thy ministry in proclaiming the gospel in the land of the living, and among thy brethren (Doctrine & Covenants 81:3)

And, finally, the Savior taught—

Look unto me in every thought, doubt not, fear not. (Doctrine & Covenants 36:6)

I can appreciate your desire to express your reverence by kneeling. But if that is difficult, kneeling, because of associated pain, could even detract from the sincerity of prayer. Hopefully, you will feel comfortable praying while sitting down and while lying down and while walking and while riding. I am confident that the Lord understands your desires and will hear and answer your prayers regardless of the posture in which they are offered.

Gramps