Throw Them Hands Up

Why do people raise their hands in worship?

As a frequent concert goer, I have seen a lot of hands up in the air during worship.  However, I rarely see it in my church.  While talking with a friend recently, she commented that she was only able to raise her hands during private worship. 

That comment swirled around a whole 12 hours before I decided I needed to dig a little deeper into this.  I realized I had made a lot of assumptions about this activity, which may or may not be true and I wanted to know.

So, I did what any curious American would do.  I googled it!

What I found was that some of my assumptions were correct, others were not.

I thought my church was a little stuffy on this.  I'm not sure that was totally correct, but I found some information which might support why they seem stuffy.  Evidently, raising hands in worship has been considered part of charismatic worship.  And, charismatic has been labeled BAD because it appealed to emotions instead of intellect.  In my church, plenty has been said about charismatics both directly and indirectly.  I can certainly understand why people would be hesitant to throw their hands up and worship freely.  Sad, but true.

Another thought I had which was only partially true was that the act of raising hands was a movement of the holy spirit in you during singing or prayer time.  That might be true, but I found some specific guidelines while researching this topic.

Two-handed; hands raised, palms facing inward signifies the act of receiving.  It is described as asking God to give or speak to you.

Two-handed; hands raised, palms facing outward signifies the act of standing in awe.  This could also be a sign of surrender.  It gives us a non-verbal way to say, "Hear I am, completely unworthy but I give myself fully to You."

One hand raised; palm facing outward is a sign of testimony or that you agree.  It is also a way to show commitment. 

It is hard for me to make the connection in all of these to being motivated solely by feeling. 

Isn't it true that the bible states very clearly that we are to do all of these things?  We are to ask God for what is needed through prayer.  We are to surrender to God.  We are to agree with the bible, if we didn't then we wouldn't be Christians. 

Since I don't know the bible well enough, I doubt I would have found this without my dear friend google.  There are actually scriptures straight from the bible which support this idea that it is ok to raise your hands during worship.  In fact, I think it encourages it.

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.  I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.  Psalm 63:3-4

Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who minister by night in the house of the Lord.  Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.  Psalm 134:1-2

I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land.  Psalm 143:6

Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.  1 Timothy 2:8

Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven.  Lamentations 3:41

For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear, As I live forever.  Deuteronomy 32:40

Whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house.  1 Kings 8:38

Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.  Psalm 28:2

Obviously, you can see what I see.  It's stated many times, many ways in the bible.  I ask, if it is in the bible, how can it be considered bad?

Here I am at my next question, the $1000 question.  If you feel led to raise your hands during worship and don't, why?  Are you denying the holy spirit because of what man says or your fear judgement in the world? 

I may not know much, but what I do know is that the bible should be the base of what is true for you and me.  I believe we should fear what the bible says we should fear. 

So, after much research, reading and looking at what the bible says.....THROW THEM HANDS UP and worship God.