הלכה על ברכות 20:27

One who stands before God in prayer should know that her existence and all of life’s blessings are dependent on God’s kindness and that God is not required to fulfill her requests; hence, she should stand before Him humbly. That is what the Sages meant when they said (Berakhot 10b): “One may not stand on a chair, on a stool, or on any other high place and pray, because there is no haughtiness before the Omnipresent, as it says (Tehilim 130:1): ‘From the depths I called You, Lord.’” The Talmud (Ta’anit 23b) relates a story about R. Yona who was known as a righteous person whose prayers were answered. When he was asked to pray for rain, he went to a low place in order to fulfill the verse: “From the depths I called You, Lord.” He prayed there until he was answered and rain began to fall. For that reason, it is customary in some congregations that the ḥazan’s place is lower. This also explains why the ḥazan is described as “descending before the ark” (“yored lifnei ha-teiva”).