I remember the first time I lifted my hands in worship. I was about 15 or 16 years old. I was so nervous my hands went numb. I mean come on, I grew up in a Southern Baptist Church. Hand raising was really only for a few really excited worshipers (unless you are doing the hand motions to Our God is an Awesome God, that didn’t count). So when I felt compelled to lift my hands at a revival service filled with people from a full gamut of denominations, I thought those around me would think I was crazy. But I did it anyway (and nobody seemed to even notice).
From that moment on, something began that never stopped. I began to let go of what others might think of me and express myself in worship to God. It took a long time for me not to care. And I still care a lot about what people think about me (that is another post for another time). But today, when I worship, I feel free to express myself to the living God.
So for those of you out there who maybe don’t get it yet. Maybe you don’t see the need to express yourself, after all, God knows your heart. Here are a few reasons why I lift my hands…
1. I lift my hands in celebration. People do it at a football game, why can’t I do it because I am excited that I worship the God of the universe. And I have come into His house with His people and we are saved and able to worship freely, so I celebrate.
2. I lift my hands in surrender. If I sing the words to a song that says, “Lord have your way,” I want to express it with my hands. It affirms it in my heart too.
3. I lift my hands in expression. I clap, I smile, I lift my hands because I am expressing my love and affection to the Lord.
4. I lift my hands as an offering. When I sing something like, “I offer my life to you,” I hold my hands out, like I am physically offering myself to God.
5. I lift my hands as if I am reaching out to my Father, like my children reach up to me. Like a cry for help or an expression of my need for Him.
Expressing yourself in worship does not have to happen in a corporate gathering. It can happen in your car or in your house, in your private time with the Lord. I hope that next time you feel the need to express yourself outwardly towards the Lord that you will have the courage to do it and do it again. And yes, God knows your heart, but He wants to see your expression.
Comments
I LOVE this! I just recently had this conversation with our 11yr old, who during worship would put her hand 1/2 up, or would lift my hand when she thought I should. After the service, we talked about many of the things you have mentioned above. I’m proud to say, that she is a hand raising fool now….when she feels it, up they go :) It’s such a blessing to see her grow in faith, and learning to worship early on! Thank you for your leadership!
Posted By: Heather Garfield | July 24th, 2012 at 11:06 am
I definitely feel like when I lift my hands to him that it is me surrendering and letting my guard down to my unfailing Father. I feel like so many miss out on knowing him and surrendering to him in that way when they don’t allow themselves to just do/be in those moments of worship.
Glad to know that I am not the only one lifting my hands up to worship while driving. For a second, I think to myself..”is anyone going to think I am crazy” and then it hits me-WHO CARES!
looking forward to your blog post on not caring what others think..as a new mom, I am finding that more and more difficult in this season (if I am honest)…
Posted By: Angelina Graham | July 24th, 2012 at 11:21 am
Thank you so much for sharing this. I grew up Southern Baptist as well and it was not accepted to do this. So many times, I so want to raise my hands and I don’t b/c I worry if I’m “being distracting” or what others will think. God is really working on my heart in this area and your post came a great time. This past Sunday, was the first time I just fully surrendered to my worship just being about God…and not worrying about others. I know I still have a lot of growth, but it was a step in the right direction.
Posted By: Beth | July 24th, 2012 at 11:54 am
Yep! It’s me again…LOL!!! I was just telling my husband that I usually always leave a comment on your blogs. I truly love coming to your blog every day if I get the chance because you are such an inspiration, encourager, give great ideas & just very “real”.
I too once was intimidated of what people thought when I raised my hands but I came to the point is that I did not care what people thought because raising my hands was a submission to the One who gave His life for me and in return I am so passionate about Worshiping our King. The greatest feeling in the world being a Worshiper and being part of a Praise Team is taking people into His presence to meet with God. LOVE..LOVE…LOVE to Worship our Lord!!!
Have a Happy, Blessed Day Holly :-)
Posted By: Tina | July 24th, 2012 at 1:15 pm
I grew up Catholic, so it took me a pretty long time before I really felt comfortable lifting my hands. Once I understood the significance of it, I couldn’t stop, of course. I still remember the first time I brought my mom to Elevation, and she said “It was ok, but what’s with all the hand raising?” I love that you put spiritual and practical together in this!
Posted By: kelly summers | July 24th, 2012 at 1:35 pm
Love this! What a great reminder of how many different reasons we can worship our mighty God! Thank you for this post!
Posted By: Natalie | July 24th, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Thank you. I soooo needed that!!! I grew up going to church with my grandparents in a small church of God where the band was terrible and the people singing were even worse. I never understood why they lifted their hands in worship. As a result of that and even though I know now why people lift their hands it is still difficult for me at times. Thanks for sharing, this makes it much clearer and it is refreshing to know I am not the only one who worries about what others think.
Posted By: Jennifer | July 24th, 2012 at 1:46 pm
I love to lift my hands in worship and have done so since I was young but my husband does not and we go to a Baptist church. If I were to lift my hands now He would not like it all. What would be your advice, to worship anyway or to respect his preference??
Posted By: Stacie Jones | July 24th, 2012 at 2:12 pm
I have also just recently been able to do this. I had felt the same way you did, worrying about what people would think of me. I’m 20, and you’re right, once you start, you never stop! I felt free from judgement because I knew my God was proud of me and that was all that mattered.
Posted By: Deanna | July 24th, 2012 at 2:39 pm
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the timeliness of God! How appropriate for you to post this message this week! My husband came to me Saturday night, while we were blasting Elevation music and dancing around, and he said “I wish I felt confident enough to lift my hands in church.” “You do it unabashedly and are practically jumping up and down in praise…..why can’t I be that free?” His Catholic past and concern about how he might “look” was keeping him at bay. Lo and behold, and praise God, this Sunday, he actually raised his hand! In the car on the ride home, he said, “wow, that didn’t even hurt…. maybe next week I will raise both!”
Love your topic. Love our church. Love and pray for your family daily. Tku for all you do, and for the men out there…..GET OVER IT! REAL men raise their hands in church, not just eat quiche! :)
Posted By: Christa Corsi | July 24th, 2012 at 2:51 pm
Holly, so glad you addressed this because many people today are under the bondage of religion! Thanks again. I shared this on my FB page, too!
God bless and ya’ll do an awesome job at all Elevation locations!
Posted By: Cheryl Hebert | July 24th, 2012 at 2:51 pm
The fact that you just posted about this topic gave me goose bumps! This is a big thing I’ve been struggling with. I grew up going to churches where people lift their hands, dance, convulse, fall over, you name it, but I have never done anything. I usually don’t even sing because I am well, completely tone def at best, lol. This is one of the main things I’m working on right now, letting go and not worrying what others think and worshiping and expressing my love and appreciation to God. Just this past Sunday I went to church with my Boyfriend, his mother and step dad. Actually, to your church, Elevation in Matthews for the first time ever(was amazing by the way)! I was even more reluctant than normal to lift my hands, but I just told myself that God deserves the praise. I picture how in heaven we will all be bowing down and worshiping him(do I really want to wait until then, what does that say about me if I can only do it if I’m actually in his physical presence). So I let go and lifted my hands and IMMEDIATELY felt closer to him! I feel like that child reaching for my father and it’s almost as if I can feel his embrace, feel him holding my hands and feel him lifting me up! This is still something that I struggle with however(will probably be a while before I actually sing, I usually just close my eyes and drink in the song and spirit), but this post helps a lot!! So thank you!!!! It’s amazing how God can always get just the right message to you, exactly when you need it! I will continue to let go of my fear of what people think of me and raise my hands in worship to him.(juuuust gotta make sure I get out of bed early enough before church to get that shower in!!) , lol!
Posted By: Anita Scuteri | July 24th, 2012 at 3:02 pm
Holly,
My brother took his life 2 years ago (June 2010) after coming out of the Valley Psalm 23 God opened my eyes and God put different things on my heart <3 and one of those things was to RAISE MY HAND(s). At first I was not comfortable doing that, but with the Holy Spirit's prompting I just did it, I agree with your message, yes we Praise, Surrender etc.. to God and Jesus. God once prompted me to raise my hand, and if mine was the only one raised say in a large group, a couple thousand, I am to raise it. God is so GOOD!! Let's all start raising our hands, and as Isaiah 6:8 says: Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? ”And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (reminds me of us saying to God Here We Are Lord, and raise our hands).
Posted By: Catherine "Kitty" Green | July 24th, 2012 at 3:42 pm
This is such a refreshing blog! Elevation is unlike any other ministry I’ve ever been a part of. I’ve attended a Mennonite church, a baptist church and several non-denominational churches with cultural diverse congregations but everyone seemed to express their worship the same. Lots of screaming, yelling and crying! I love to dance before God, would that be ok at a church like Elevation?
Posted By: Shaina | July 24th, 2012 at 3:57 pm
Thanks for this post. I struggle with this whole idea, because when I lift my hands I distract myself. I stop worshipping, and stop focusing on God, thinking about the whole hand thing – and then I get annoyed about how easily I can self-distract…. Easier to just not do it at all. But then I started noticing songs that sing about lifting our hands in praise, and realize that singing those lyrics without lifting hands in praise is a bit hypocritical, at best. It became easy to do when the lyrics tell me to do so. (This kinda goes along with a blog post I want somebody to write about ‘dangerous worship lyrics’ – bold lyrics we sometimes sing without meaning it or even thinking about what we are saying. Any takers?)
Posted By: Therese | July 24th, 2012 at 4:02 pm
Id love to see scriptural reference about this. Such as David dancing for the Lord, or shout unto the Lord, or Psalm 134:2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the Lord.
Enjoyed reading!!
Posted By: Morgan | July 24th, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Thank you Holly!! That is a wonderful reminder for all of us who are “hand raisers”.
Blessings on you today!!
Posted By: Lanae Bengtson | July 24th, 2012 at 4:40 pm
This was a great post! For me I do the opposite of what my mind tells me to do. Often when I feel like I don’t want to express my worship unto the father I realize its those times I need to the most. It’s my sticking to the devil attitude:)
Thanks for the encouraging word.
Posted By: Trish Small | July 24th, 2012 at 5:11 pm
What a wonderful post. I like the reasoning and we are ALL called to fully participate in our worship of our Savior, Lord God Jesus. I say, let’s RAISE THE ROOF in raising our hands in glory to God in the highest.
Posted By: Tonja duBois | July 24th, 2012 at 5:15 pm
I always said like the old commercial said” raise your hands if you’re sure”
Posted By: Janice Rushin | July 24th, 2012 at 5:39 pm
I lift my hands for the reasons you spoke of, but also because God asked me, in my spirit, if I was ashamed of Him… that was a huge eye opener and when i didn’t raise them He would ask me that question until I gave up my self centeredness and just loved on the Lord in worship….
Posted By: Nicole Frette | July 24th, 2012 at 10:41 pm
Thank you so much for this post! Sometimes I feel as if modern worship has moved far from the passionate, excited types of worship we see in the Bible, and it is such an encouragement to read about how you’ve found the lifting of hands to be an authentic, vivid expression of your love for God and commitment to Him.
Posted By: Lauren | July 24th, 2012 at 10:57 pm
Thank you Holly for your wonderful post. I could relate to all the reasons you raise your hands and I too feel the same. I especially liked the part about not worrying about what others thing about me. This is something that gets easier and easier as I see myself as God sees me. We are all so incredible made. Loving you in Jesus from Wisconsin!!! Blessings to your family!
Posted By: Nancy Nelson | July 26th, 2012 at 7:06 am
Thanks for sharing your heart Holly. I am an avid worshiper, my body is my instrument of worship to the Lord. You have don’t an excellent job of expressing raising your hands. Until someone does this don’t don’t realize the release you can experience. It’s just like dancing unto the Lord. So much power and so much freedom. Dance is more than an outward expression but an inward feeling being expressed to the Lord. Not only is dance a form of worship its also a form of warfare!
God is so good and he blesses us with many forms of expression to Him.
Many blessings to you and your family
Hugs,
Gail
heartnsow.com
Posted By: Gail Metcalf | July 26th, 2012 at 9:24 am
This couldn’t have come at a better time. I am on the core team at Elevation Extension Columbia & we are really trying to excite our young people and fill them with vision & get them excited about worship. I try to have a huddle with them before our worship experience and get them in the frame of mind so they feel free to worship and not be ashamed. If you shout and raise your hands at a concert, why not do it for our Heavenly Father. I have heard some people say it is like asking the kids to “fake it” but this is an amazingly honest and heartfelt answer to that. I am going to read this on Sunday for the teens. You said it perfectly, thank you so much Holly!!
Posted By: Ashley Brokop | July 27th, 2012 at 10:00 pm
I SO love this and relate to it. Thanks so much for sharing your perspective! And thanks for trusting God and stepping out in faith with your husband day after day. Lives are being impacted in HUGE ways!
Posted By: Cheryl | July 28th, 2012 at 12:31 pm
God Bless, you Holly. I’ve been opening up my palms to God when I worship, but it makes more sense to lift my hands and surrender all to Him instead. Gonna give it a try next Sunday. Watch out, other worshippers, these opened hands and arms are gonna be flying!
Posted By: Stacie | August 7th, 2012 at 6:03 pm
I lift my hands in praise to tell Jesus I love him, he deserves all of me. I’m somewhat of a shy person and do not like to draw attention to myself. However, I feel the Holy Spirit move me to express my love and thankfulness to Him with my voice and my raised hand or hands. When I talk I use my hands a lot to express myself, so why should I not use then to express to Jesus my devotion.
Posted By: julie | December 5th, 2012 at 2:10 am
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