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Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who minister by night in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord! May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who is the Maker of heaven and earth (Psalm 134).

Once, when I took a two-week course at a retreat centre, our professor, the late Dallas Willard, began the course with two instructions: you will sleep 12 hours the first three nights and then 10 hours thereafter and you will go out into the wilderness and pray Psalms 145-150 at the top of your lungs with hands lifted high.

Wise counsel! As a culture, we deprive ourselves of sleep. We are too tired! Fatigue hinders our ability to drive well, and it hinders our ability to commune with God well. I think this is somewhat obvious, even if we need it pointed out on occasion.

Still, the instruction regarding Psalms 145-150 elicited almost as much resistance as the one regarding sleep. Here we were, 25 church leaders from around the world, and we were somewhat embarrassed to be caught praising God enthusiastically. Makes one wonder! I wonder if we are too limited in the ways in which we commune with God. Its mostly a mind exercise. Should we involve our bodies more? Should we consider how our bodily postures influence our communion with God? Can our bodies help our souls be more in tune with God?

At least in part, Psalm 134 invites us to consider these questions. Many of us, who were brought up in the protestant part of the Christian church, understand prayer to be \u201casking God for stuff\u201d. None of us would define prayer that way, but when we listen to our prayers, that is the bulk of it. Further, prayer is conducted by sitting or kneeling reverently trying to get our minds (and maybe our souls) to stay focussed on the task at hand. Rather limited, don\u2019t you think?

This is the last psalm of Ascents, those communal songs the Israelites sang during their pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the religious festivals. It appears that the final night of these festivals was spent, at least in part, in communal worship, with hands lifted.

This psalm has a long usage in the church as part of the day\u2019s final canonical hour, called compline. In the monastic tradition the day ends with a service of song, scripture, and personal meditation. Psalm 134 is part of that service.

In Protestant circles, there is a long tradition of ending the day with prayer. Many Christian parents teach their children to kneel at their beds for prayer before going to sleep. In this tradition, it is time for intercession, especially for forgiveness of sins committed during the day. This is good. But what about Psalm 134? Is it possible for us to end the day with praise? Is it possible to end the day with hands up lifted? How would it change our spirituality if each day is ended in praise? What if, after asking forgiveness, we got up and praised God for his grace? What if we went to sleep with the clean conscience grace gives?

Virtually all physical postures are fitting for prayer. Many are referred to in the Bible: kneeling (2 Chr. 6:13; Dan. 6:10; Acts 7:60), kneeling with face bowed to the ground (Is. 45:23; Phil. 2:10), full prostration, that is, laying flat on the floor (Rev. 4:10; 5:8). Sitting seems to be a prayer-posture particularly fitting for settings of contemplative quiet (Luke 8:35; 10:39). Many, too, have found walking to be a fine way of communing with the Lord (cf. Luke 24:13-17); nor should lying on (in) one\u2019s bed be excluded from among the acceptable postures of prayer (Psalms 4:4; 62:6).

The most favored in the Orthodox Church has been that of standing, which combines the features of dignity, attentiveness, readiness, obedience, and vigilance. Its helpful to vary the postures we adopt for praying depending on the occasion and need of our prayers. I suspect that our bodies are useful spiritual tools. Sometimes, the body can lead the soul.

Our psalm speaks of standing: a posture of both giving and receiving. The worshippers are encouraged to lift heir hands as an act of blessing God. But also, as a posture of receiving His blessing. Maybe it\u2019s the image of a little child reaching up to hold the hand of a parent. That simple gesture signifies gratitude for the security the parent offers while at the same time receiving it. A fine way to commune with our God.