And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen,
with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with
[their] faces to the ground (Nehemiah 8:6).
In some churches, raising hands in worship is a controversial topic. Some see it as a
demonstration of "attention getting" more than an act of worship; and for some
people it is. Some see it as wrong because it is not the traditional approach to worship,
while others see nothing wrong with it because, for them, it is the traditional approach.
No matter the reasoning, there are sure to be a great number of people to raise hands for
wrong reasons as there are people who don't. For while some would look down on someone for
raising hands, they may within themselves quench the Spirit that guides them to lift their
own hands. Not that they might lift hands as some sort of demonstration of religious
freedom, or because it is based in some sort of traditional "properness"--but
simply because they are so focused on God, that they are led to respond by "lifting
up their hands."
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I raise my hands to God,
to some it may seem odd,
But do they know the reasons why I do?
It is not done for show,
but for simply letting go,
of the things my hands have tried to hang on to.
I lift my arms up high,
though some people wonder why,
It's clear to see they do not understand.
I am not some "Charismatic,"
with cobwebs in my attic,
I just want to grab onto my Father's hand.
Maybe if they knew,
the reason that I do,
is not for some fanatical display.
Instead it is a plea,
for God to comfort me,
and hold me as I go from day to day. |
Jesus said it well when he described a group of people as those, "which strain at
a gnat, and swallow a camel" (Mt.23:24). We can so easily get caught up in nit-picky,
outward particulars, that we lose sight of deeper, more purposeful intentions. Raising
hands should not be an issue. Unfortunately, those who argue for it often do so with an
attitude of "I have a right. . ." while those who argue against it often do so
with expressions like, "I just don't like it." All the while, hearts are more
focused on appearance than worship.
A congregation who raises hands, and one that does not, they can both be spiritually dead.
The psalmist writes, "Let my prayer be set forth before thee [as] incense; [and] the
lifting up of my hands [as] the evening sacrifice" (Psalms 141:2). A greater
sacrifice is to put aside petty differences and lines of contentions, and find it within
our hearts to remember that their are people beneath the hands that are lifted.
Paul writes, "I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands,
without wrath and doubting" (1 Timothy 2:8). "Without wrath," he says. Oh
that we could stop using our hands as issues of disagreement, using them to hold each
other down--and begin using them as true instruments of worship by raising them (in
spirit, if not physically), to lift one another up.
You do not have to lift your hands to worship God, but you do not have to keep them down
either.
I personally have lifted my hands in a congregation only a couple of times. I have lifted
them often in the privacy of my home as I have worshipped and loved on my Lord. Some may
yet wonder why. For me, it has been a response to God as Father. A small child that wants
to be picked up by a parent comes to that parent with arms lifted and hands high.
"Pick me up daddy," they might say. I too, have come to my Heavenly Father and
raised my arms to Him to say, "Pick me up Daddy." I want to be lifted. I want to
be loved. And I want to be held in the safe and secure arms of my Lord.
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