Thoughts on Worship (Raising Hands)

In his book “Becoming a True Worshiper”, Tom Kraeuter gives four conclusions from a word study on worship.  They are one, that worship honors God  two, worship is directed toward God  three, worship requires involvement of the part of the worshiper and four, that worship is only available through Jesus Christ.(p. 15) In other words, worship is for God, requires a response and is only accessible through Jesus.

Throughout the scriptures there are many forms of physical response.  For this post I want to focus on one of those expressions encouraged in our worship leaders, as they influence the congregation in their leadership/worship.

The raising of hands

There are numerous passages in scripture that encourage lifting up hands to the Lord.  Psalm 134:2 says, “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.”  Psalm 64:3 says, “I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.”

I personally believe there is never a wrong time to lift your hands to God.  I do however, think that there are different reasons why and how we are to lift our hands in worship.  So the following is a list of four teaching points that I use with our worship team to give Biblical context for the purposes of lifting hands.

1.  Signifies a receptive heart

We raise our hands expecting God to respond to us. This is a posture of faith and a posture of prayer. God will respond to those who call out for mercy and help. Psalm 28:2 says, “Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.”

2.  Signifies complete surrender

As we hold up our hands, we are in a physical way saying “God, I surrender to you”.  Just like soldiers putting up the white flag of surrender and walking out with their hands held high, we are in the same way throwing up the white flag of our lives and surrendering to God’s will and His way. 1 Timothy 2:8 says, “I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.”  Romans 12:1-2, the classic worship scripture, tells us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices.  When we lift our hands it can represent the attitude of surrender.

3.  Signifies praise to God

Psalm 63:4 declares. “I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.”
In Nehemiah 8:6, Ezra led the people in praise to God. “Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, ‘Amen! Amen!’ Then they bowed down and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.”  This is probably the most common purpose that people raise their hands in worship.

4.  Signifies the extending of a blessing

The raised hand of a spiritual leader before the congregation is often used to signify a prayer of blessing upon his flock or congregation.  It can bless other people (Lk. 24:50-51) and bless the Lord (Ps. 134:2).  I will often times raise my hands over the congregation during times of prayer while praying for the needs of the people.  We encourage our worship team to extend their hand over people we pray for them (i.e. the sick, baby dedications, commissioning, etc.).

I know these points are not rocket science, but I hope they may help you in your personal worship, or if you are a worship leader, in how you lead your people.