The first time, I heard of someone praying naked I was shocked.
It seemed unholy and immoral. Having gone to Catholic church as a child, I was taught to cover your body before God. Even into my adult years this still seemed like the rule to follow.
However after hearing a spiritual sister’s story, I could sense the humility and honesty this experience brought. Her prayers were answered.
It’s not easy to imagine stripping down for anyone, let alone doing so and kneeling before God. Not to mention, many people are not comfortable with their own nakedness. Perhaps too much time spent looking into “fashion” has placed more importance on clothes that cover what we really are, flesh and bones.
It’s become accepted that nudity is reserved solely for sexual intimacy and a naked body symbolizes sex. But why does it seem easier to be intimate with another human than God? He won’t point out your cellulite, he knows and accepts you as you are! God is waiting for us to let him in.
So if you really want to let Him in, it’s time to drop the barriers. So when I say pray naked, yes I do really mean nude. Bare. Without a stitch of clothes, revealing to the most high your bare assets, yes, your bare bum. It may seem uncomfortable or immoral, but remembered, before Adam & Eve ate the forbidden fruit they roamed around naked. Adam & Eve were only clothed after they first sinned.
There is no shame in nudity, in fact clothing signifies shame. Without clothes we are at our most vulnerable. We are open. Without the protection of clothing we cannot cover our doubts or our fears. When you want something from the Lord, ask for it naked.
This exercise forced you to approach prayer as it was meant to be: open, honest and revealed and uncovered you can’t hide your deepest desires. With clasped hands and moving lips it can be easier to pretend. True wants can be hidden behind rehearsed mumblings. HE can see us regardless but undressed, we see ourselves. Without attire we are as naked as Eve or as naked as Adam. Naked equals unguarded. Exposed.
If God wants us to come to Him as we are. Come stripped. If you want something so bad that your heart hurts from asking. Pray for it naked. Ask for it without pride or prevarication. Ask for it like the world is going to end. Reach deep inside and let go of the fear that this prayer, like the others, will go unanswered. Let Him see beyond the polite request, the whispered pleas and the mumbled appeals. Miracles require that God see beyond the want to the need.
Pray naked. Forget modesty and ask the Lord to answer your most secret wish from the very start. When God answers prayers he doesn’t see the naked body. He sees the naked heart.
