Lord Lift Me Up - Part 4

 

Are you comfortable raising your hands in worship?  Did you know that it's Biblical? 

 

I remember the first time I raised my hands in church.  I was scared because my Baptist church looked down on it.  But the day I raised my hands in worship I was set free!  I've done it ever since, even in the church I mentioned.  I'll tell you another story about that at the end of Nancy's devotional.

This series by Nancy Campbell has been so encouraging to me and I hope it will bless you, too.  It's from Nancy's weekly e-mail devotional (used with her permission).  You can sign up for the e-mails on her website.  www.aboverubies.org

PRESSING ON TO HIGHER GROUND

Part 4

 "Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees;

and make straight paths for your feet . . . "

(Hebrews 12:12, 13)

6. LIFT UP YOUR HANDS

There are many Christians who don't like to lift up their hands and yet there are so many Scriptures which encourage us to do this. Apart from the exhortation of the Scriptures, I think it is a natural thing to do. When I am reaching out to God in prayer or lifting up my heart to worship Him in song, I find it is inherent within me to reach out my hands to God. When we are longing after God and thirsting after Him in our inner man, we inherently want to do something tangible. As we lift up our hands to Him, we give action to our inner longings and it becomes more powerful and real to us.

Let's look at the Scriptures, shall we? I think you'll be surprised to see how many there are on this subject.

a)  We lift up our hands in prayer and worship

1 Kings 8:22, 23: "And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: And he said, LORD God, of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath . . ." (2 Chronicles 6:12, 13).

Psalm 28:2. "Hear the voice of my supplication when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle." David was speaking of the Holy of Holies which housed the shekinah glory of God. He longed for God's presence in his life. He couldn't contain it only within his heart. He had to lift up his hands toward God.

Psalm 63:1-4: "O God, thou art my God early will I seek thee; my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee . . . To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live, I will lift up my hands in thy name." How can we thirst and long after God without reaching up our hands to Him?

Psalm 134:2: "Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD." Do you lift up your hands when worshipping God in the congregation of the believers? This is a biblical admonition. Encourage your children to raise their hands as they worship God. Children are not as inhibited as adults and it's the best time to get them into the habit while they are young. It should be a habit of their lives and something they should never be embarrassed about. 

Psalm 141:1, 2: "LORD, I cry unto thee . . . Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." This Scripture gives us the pattern of coming to God every morning and every evening with the lifting up our hands in prayer. The golden alar of incense, which the priest would light every morning and evening, represented the prayers of the saints (Revelation 5:8; 8:3-5; and 9:13).

Lamentations 2:19: "Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the LORD: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street." In the Bible, lifting up the palms or hands is a metaphor for prayer. It is paramount with intercession and prayer.

Lamentations 3:41: "Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens." If our heart is truly lifted up to the Lord, we will want to lift up our hands to Him too.

I must tell you this funny story about a friend of ours. He had grown up in a very conservative church and came into a church where people were lifting their hands in praise to God. He said in his heart that he would never do such a thing and determinedly kept his hands down. As the worship continued a wasp suddenly stung his elbow and immediately his hand shot up! He realized God was speaking to him and he was never afraid to raise his hands in worship after that!

1 Timothy 2:8: "I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting."

More next week.

Blessings from NANCY CAMPBELL

www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

"Dear Father God, my heart reaches out after You. I need You. I want You more

than anything else in this world. And therefore I reach out my hands to You

too. I cannot help but reach out to You with my whole being. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

I am not ashamed to reach out my heart and my hands to the One who created

me and also died for me. He is worthy of all my praise and worship.

 

***

I was a member of a very large Baptist Church and on Wednesday nights, the children attended choir classes and then sat down front in the sanctuary during the Bible study time. One night, I was sitting in the balcony looking down on the little five-year old children's choir.  The orchestra began to play an up-beat, toe-tapping song.  A little girl jumped up, clapping, and dancing with with all her heart!  She made it about half-way to the pulpit before a choir teacher grabbed her and led her back to her seat.  It made me so sad.  I thought how wrong it was to dampen her joy in praising the Lord and only wish everyone could feel that free to worship God.

In our synagogue, we raise our hands, sing and dance, wave flags, play tambourines, and even shout for JOY!  I think it's such a blessing.

 

  

**Graphic by MiYah Music - used by permission