Unfortunately, many denominations have taught against lifting our hands to the Lord, saying that it's just an emotional trip people get into. But according to the Bible, hands are an EXTREMELY POWERFUL weapon in spiritual warfare, in addition to worship and praise unto the Lord. There are literally hundreds of scriptures that teach us the importance of our hands and the different ways to use them in our spiritual exercises. Currently though, we will focus on the lifting of our hands up or outward in praise, worship, adoration, and prayer to the Lord.
One scripture I did not list, but is really more of a biblical story to read found in Exodus17:8-13, is the time when Moses had to lift his hand (& staff, the staff represents the Holy Spirit) until the Israelites enemies were defeated, but Moses was getting tired, and when his hand would fall downward, the Israelites would begin to get defeated, so Aaron & Hur came and helped Moses by holding his hand (w/his staff in it), higher up into the air, as a result, Joshua and his troops were able to crush the army of Amalek.
I have heard it explained that when we lift our hands to the Lord, it can be an act of surrender to Him and His will for our lives. When the police arrest someone, right when they first catch them, what do they tell them to do? “Put your hands up! Higher!” Granted, that is for them to make sure they are free from weapons in their hands, but when you lift your hands, you are signaling to them that you are not going to fight them, you are surrendering to be in their captivity. This totally relates so well to our relationship to this holy God that is worth all that we can possibly give. This is an act of humility, showing that we are giving up our prideful ways that cause us to fight against God, instead of allowing Him to be Lord of our lives and show us His WAY.
Next, the lifting of our hands has been related to the fact that God is our Daddy, scripture has called Him our “Abba”—which is a Greek term that is slang for “Father” but meaning a more endearing type of word than that, which relates to our English word, “Daddy”. Jesus said that we are to have the faith of a child, concerning our relationship to Him. So when you were a small child, how do you think you showed your daddy when you needed him, & your desire for him to hold you in his arms? You most likely raised up your hands high for him to pick you up! Likewise, we NEED God, we need His protection, His grace, His love, His peace, His healing, His intervention in our lives, His vision, His wisdom, His patience and understanding, His strength, and His discipline and correction. Let’s face it, we NEED Him BIG TIME! Let’s worship Him w/ ALL of our heart, soul, mind, body and strength, and demonstrate how much we want and need His help and love in our lives.
The last one I will mention, though there are many more examples, is that when we are lifting our hands are to heaven. We are physically demonstrating our stretching forth our hands to touch the throne of God and receive His love, power and grace into our spirits. Like a car needs gas refilled regularly to keep going, we need to be filled with His Word, His power and all that He knows we need often. Or we will get spiritually pooped and give up the fight against the enemy of our souls.
Since the Word of God is our instruction book for life, let’s now look at the verses below to support the belief that it IS indeed God’s will for us to lift our hands toward Him in our times of praise & worship.
2nd Chronicles 6:12,13,29~ Then Solomon stood with his hands spread out before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire community of Israel Temple Temple
Each day I call upon You, I lift up my hands to You for Your mercy.
Psalm 143: 6~ I stretch forth my hands unto You; my soul thirsts after You, as a dry and thirsty land. Selah.
