There is a common prayer gesture among Christians that is called praying hands or hands clasped or joined in front of the heart. Such a gesture of prayer is a symbol of obedience, submission, sincerity and repentance. There are others who raise their prayer hands as if pleading with God.
Natahn Ausubel, in his book “Book of Jewish Knowledge, said that this prayer gesture is not exclusive to Christians only. He said that Jews, even before the time of Jesus Christ, practiced it: “It has also been commonly assumed that crossing hands in prayer is an exclusively Christian custom. This is not the historical fact at all. Already in the post-exilic period, when the Jews prayed, they joined hands and observed this custom for several centuries, even after it was adopted by the Christians.”
Jesus, being a Jew, also prayed with his hands clasped. You must have seen pictures or images of Him in the Garden of Gethsemane in this gesture of prayer. In other works of art, you can also see the Virgin Mary and angels with their hands intertwined.
Hindus and Buddhists join the palms of the hands in the heart as a sign of veneration and respect. It is also a form of greeting. This is known as “anjali mudra”, which means offering (anjali) and seal (mudra). The people of India while making this gesture would say the word “Namaste”, which is a kind of sacred greeting. “Namaste” means “I bow to the divinity within you from the divinity within me.” How beautiful is the meaning of that word!
In prayer, our body certainly has a role to play in prayer along with our heart, mind, and soul. Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, in his book “Spirit of the Liturgy” said: “The body has a place within the divine worship of the Word made flesh, and it is expressed liturgically in a certain discipline of the body, in the gestures that have developed out of the internal demands of the liturgy…”
The Pope mentioned the custom during feudal times of placing joined hands on the hands of his ruling lord as a sign of his fidelity and loyalty. So, when we join our hands in prayer, we are symbolically pledging our fidelity and loyalty to God and placing our hands in His.
What happens when we pray or meditate with our hands intertwined or crossed? In yoga practice, it is said that putting our hands together literally unites the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Such a posture calms the mind.
I find that I can focus more on God and concentrate better when I pray using the prayer hands gesture. It’s as if folding, clasping, or joining my hands sends a signal to my mind to calm down. It is much the same when I kneel to pray. I see it as a time when I am in the presence of God, so I do it to show my reverence to my Creator.