As Christians, praying is an important aspect of our faith that God’s Word encourages us to grow in. While there is no requirement in the Bible to pray specifically on a rug, God gives us models for how to worship, intercede, and honor Him through prayer.
What is a Christian prayer rug? Christian prayer rugs are different sized and styled pieces of fabric that are used during prayer. They are not used for ritual, but for deepening your relationship with Jesus. You do not have to use a prayer rug while praying.
Even Jesus saw the importance of getting away with the Father to spend time with Him in prayer. On multiple occasions, He left the crowds and His disciples to seek the will of His Father.
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
Mark 1:35 ESV
Practicality of a Prayer Rug
Prayer rugs as mentioned above, are not required for prayer. Using a prayer rug is not inherently more holy than praying without one. In fact, Jesus came so that we wouldn’t need to go to a certain place to pray, but so that we could worship in spirit and truth.
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.
John 4:23-24 NIV
Nevertheless, prayer rugs are meant to help us in our time of prayer and supplement our relationship with Jesus. If you find it hard to focus in your quiet time or want to honor God in a new, creative way, getting a prayer rug could be a great option for you.
Because prayer rugs take up a designated space inside your house or even outside, you could exercise great intentionality when choosing a spot for it. It is an easy, tangible way to remind yourself of what exactly you’re doing and why you’re doing it.
Like going to an office that motivates you to get work done, having a specific spot for prayer will motivate you to intercede and spend time with Jesus. You may even want to place your prayer rug in a prayer room.
If you don’t have any extra room for this, no sweat, simply lay your rug wherever you feel would be most glorifying to God. Maybe in front of a window so that you can worship God’s creation outside as you pray, or tuck it in the basement or a secluded room where you know you won’t be distracted.
When we are intentional about prayer and set aside a place specifically for it, we are showing God how serious and passionate we are about Him, His Word, and His people. We can shake up the spiritual realm by surrendering space for Jesus to fight our battles and defeat the enemy on.
How to Use a Prayer Rug
When using a prayer rug, use the time you have to bring your thoughts, requests, praises, thanksgivings, and more to God. Cast all your cares on Him because He cares for you.
You can use your prayer rug to meditate on God’s Word and pray through Scripture. You can use it to intercede, call down heaven, and pray for blessings over whoever you feel lead to pray for.
Remember that the Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth and breakthrough and that this is a time to soak up His Spirit and get away with Jesus. It is not about ritual, but about your relationship with God.
Why Prayer Rugs Matter
Christian prayer rugs matter because as you use them to pray, you are honoring God by worshipping Him through your intentionality.
Chances are that if you have the heart to use a Christian prayer rug, you have the spiritual gift for intercession and genuinely want to lift others up in fervent prayer to God, and that’s incredible.
Keep cultivating this desire and spiritual discipline by finding unique ways to glorify God through prayer and He will reward you with His presence.
But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:6 ESV
Now that we understand why prayer rugs matter, let’s look more at different types and designs for prayer rugs.
Design of Prayer Rugs
Just like the fact that prayer rugs aren’t required but can be used intentionally, the design of them is not necessarily important but can be used as a way to worship God.
God tells us that we can worship Him in everything we do, even in small things like choosing a prayer rug. Though the design of your rug is based on mainly preference, if you’d like to be intentional with choosing a rug for your time of prayer, consider these aspects of design:
Size
Whether the size of a small cloth or a whole room-sized rug, make sure you choose a rug that serves your needs and space.
Maybe you’d like something as simple and small as a doily or handkerchief to put in your purse or pocket.
As a travel-sized item, you could easily access it wherever you are and use it as a reminder for how close Jesus is to you. Though you may receive a few odd stares, whenever you whip it out in public to pray silently, you could get a few questions about it and use it as a tool for evangelism.
On the other hand, a larger rug in your home could be used for kneeling or lying down in the Lord’s presence. You may want it big enough to spread out your journals and Bibles on.
Who’s to say you can’t get the best of both worlds and get both a smaller and larger prayer rug?
Source
If you’re buying a prayer rug, you may want to make sure the rug is ethically sourced and made in a healthy way. As much as God cares about your prayer time, He also cares about the manufactures and workers who created the rug. Again, this is about worshipping God by being intentional in the little things.
If your rug is homemade, you will have more freedom as to how you want it styled.
Style
For your prayer rug, whether homemade or not, you’ll probably want a clear design, something that isn’t distracting with lots of pictures or words on it. This goes without saying that the rug shouldn’t have anything not God-honoring on it, like an inappropriate print on it or something you wouldn’t want to focus on during prayer.
There are so many different patterns and textures to choose from for your prayer rug. You could decide that you want it rough and course to remind you of the seriousness of interceding for others, or instead you may want it soft and fuzzy as a way to remind you of how safe you feel in the Father’s arms.
If you have a quilt, you could dedicate each square or section to a certain category for prayer, such as your family, the nation, unbelievers, and so on. The same can be done for knotted rugs, with each knot being a new prayer.
Though there’s no right or wrong formula for deciding on a prayer rug and there are so many possibilities for you to choose from.
Since praying and prayer rugs are not about ritual but about your relationship with God, getting to the quiet place with Jesus is all that truly matters (with or without a prayer rug).