A couple years ago, when I was still with Blogger, I posted an article on this topic. I have a stat tracking divise on this old blogger site and it is interesting to note that this article is one of the top three in traffic count. And it is still being read often even today. So I thought I would post it again here.
“Back in April I did a post dealing with posture in prayer. One thing I didn’t touch on in that article was lifting hands in prayer. I had never seen anyone from our tribe pray with lifted hand(s) until recently. (Maybe its because I always keep my eyes closed). Now before I go any further let me say that I know that the posture of the heart is what is important to God. But I can’t help but wonder why it has never been a practice within my tribe? We are the folks that preach loud and long to , “Speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent.” Well the Bible isn’t silent on this one. Take a look…
“I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.” (Ps. 63:4) “I call to you, O Lord, everyday; I spread out my hands to you.” (Ps. 88:9) “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.” (Ps. 134:2) “Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, ’Amen! Amen!’” (Neh. 8:6) “Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.” (Lam. 3:41 KJV) “I fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God and prayed.” (Ezra 9:5-6) “Solomon knelt down before the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.” (2 Chron. 6:13) “As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up – one on one side, one on the other – so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword … Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. He said, ’For hands were lifted up to the throne of the Lord.’” (Ex. 17:11-16) “I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer.” (1Tim. 2:8) “Everyday,” David says in Psalm 88:9, “I call to you and spread out my hands to you.”
Note the following from Buddy Owen in an article adapted from his book, “The Way Of The Worshiper” “Look at your hands. They aren’t going to hurt you; just look at them for a moment. Magnificent aren’t they? Who gave us our hands? God gave them to us. What do we do with our hands? Well, we work with our hands. We feed ourselves with our hands. We play with our hands. We give gifts and receive gifts with our hands. We show affection with our hands. We also fight with our hands. We sin with our hands. Why are we so hesitant to worship God with our hands? Lifting our hands to God is a biblical posture of prayer. It is another physical demonstration of a spiritual truth. Just as we bow our hearts when we bow our knees, so we lift our hearts when we lift our hands (Lam. 3:41). By kneeling before God and lifting our hands to him, we are presenting our bodies to God as a spiritual act of worship. “
When we lift our hands with palms open it is a physical display of openness. As with kneeling in prayer, lifting our hands is simply another posture of devotion, humility and worship.”
Barbie Lanier, Our Children’s Minister
Rabboni...which is to say, Master 