Why Raise Hands?

I thought it was odd. “They are just trying to get attention…wanting to be noticed for being super spiritual."

I was saved in a church where the format was less formal, but nobody ever raised their hands during worship or dared to show any emotion.

When I went to large group Christian gatherings and saw people from other churches raising their hands, I found it curious and had no clue why they did it. Some of them seemed to be downright weird, crying and contorting their faces, etc. That turned me off. But others were just normal people who were obviously “into” what they were singing, periodically lifting their hands while singing to God, or sometimes when in prayer.

But I was critical. I thought it brought too much attention to the person doing it.

But then I kept reading about it in the Bible. Over and over, I saw how God’s people in Bible times raised their hands when praying and worshiping, as though they were reaching up into the heavens and letting go of what they were holding onto here.

God answered Moses’ prayer as long as his hands were lifted, and when he got tired and let them down, he stopped. Throughout the Psalms, David not only talked about lifting his hands to God in worship, he instructed worshipers to lift their hands while singing and praying.

Then there was Paul. He told Timothy that he desired people everywhere to lift their hands in prayer to God.

That was hard for me to get away from. I mean, that’s what’s in the Bible — the book I claimed to be my instruction manual for all of life, and especially for my spiritual life.

So I started lifting my hands in prayer when in private. It did something in me. Posture affects our thinking and feelings (behavior has a way of doing that). It made my praying more real and my claim to consecration more sincere. Try it yourself. You’ll see.

It soon became such a habit of mine that, without thinking about it, I started lifting my hands in prayer even when praying with others. And before I knew it, during times of corporate worship too.

I feel pretty bad about my judgmental spirit in the days when I criticized others for this. Maybe some people in church are self-righteous, but I’ll let God take care of that. Myself, I just want to connect with God. And following biblical instruction for worship, including putting pride away and dismissing what other people think, leads us in a more meaningful ushering into the presence of God.

I challenge you. Try it. I think you’ll find something changing in you when you do.