Why I Raise My Hands

Orginally published on Tuesday, October 17, 2006 at 7:00 AM
by Todd Rhoades

Have you ever been to a worship service and noticed that there are some folks who lift their hands and some who don't? Have you ever had the inner struggle to determine whether or not you would lift your hands or should lift your hands? I have. So how do you deal with it? Let me try to help...

Of the various ways that the Bible describes our relationship with God, we can look first to the one that portrays Him as Father and worshippers as His children. I can remember when my children were toddlers. There were two very distinct times of their day when they would lift their hands. If they had fallen and they were struggling with dealing with the consequences of having fallen they would often just sit there, right where they were, and they’d begin to cry. If they knew that I was within “earshot” they would do what was necessary to get my attention. Once having gained my attention, they would lift their hands until I would come and pick them up. Then I would hold them close and let them know that their daddy was on the scene and everything was going to be alright. Neat times. Another time in the day when my kids would lift their hands was when I’d come home for lunch or come home at night from the office. They would crawl, waddle, walk, or run to me (depending on where they were in the developmental process). They’d stop at my feet and just lift their little hands with the biggest smiles on their cherub faces. I hadn’t done anything other than show up.  And that’s all it took for them to get to me as quickly as possible and lift their hands in my direction.  My response to the lifting of their hands was one of welcome, love, intimacy, and closeness. It was an absolute highlight of my day!

Let’s look next at our relationship to God as Master or Teacher. We are the students. If you remember, there were two reasons for you to lift your hands in school:  if you had a question or if you knew the answer to a question. These translate into our spiritual lives as well. How many days have there been in your life when you had questions?  It would be easier to count the days when you didn’t, right?  But isn’t it good to know that if you have Jesus in you heart, resident and President, you can say with assurance that you KNOW The Answer!

If you’ve fallen down, fallen short, fallen behind, or fallen away, take some time today to lift your hands in worship.  If you are thrilled beyond measure to be in the presence of your Heavenly Father, lift your hands in worship.  If life has thrown you a curve ball and you find yourself asking life’s most difficult questions, lift your hands in worship.  And if you’re blessed to know with a very certain knowledge The Answer Himself, that is truly a time to lift your hands in worship.  This is why I lift my hands.

FOR DISCUSSION: Is raising hands more a product of your background and upraising or of your openness to worship God?  (Or both?)

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Tony Foeller is the Senior Pastor of Anna First Baptist Church in Anna, Illinois.  He has served churches in Dadeville, MO, Marion, IL, Greenville, IL, and Parma, Ohio.  He’s married to Cheryl and has three kids in the youth group...that explains the gray hair!  His hobbies include golf, fishing, hunting, and writing.  He can be reached through his personal blog or the church’s web site.  www.annafirst.com | brotonysblog.blogspot.com

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Hi... I'm Todd Rhoades. I'm a Christ-follower, husband, father and I love to connect leaders with other leaders. Hopefully you'll find something here at MMI you like and will return often. If you want, you can find out more about me or follow my every step on Twitter.

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