“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” (Romans 12:1).

The Bible mentions many ways we can “offer our bodies” to God as we worship.

“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;” (Psalm 95:6).

“Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!” (Psalm 47:1).

“Then David danced before the Lord with all his might;” (2 Samuel 6:14).

“In the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” (Hebrews 2:12).

“I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.” (Psalm 63:4).

I want to address one of these today, lifting our hands. Our Pastor Wayne mentioned recently about how some churches and people are shy about being demonstrative in praise. We’re all made differently and God knows our hearts. But I want to share something God showed me about our hands. Remember that our praise and worship is supposed to be ALL to God and we can express it in different ways.

Raising our hands with palms facing forward can signify surrender. A policeman would say, “Hands up!” We surrender to God. With palms facing inward may indicate, “I’m a vessel Lord, fill me up.” Palms facing up in front of you might indicate you are offering yourself to God or laying your burdens at His feet. And then, there is the height of our arms. Some will raise them waist high, some shoulder high and some stretched out as high as they can get them. Then, there are some who don’t lift their hands at all. Again, God knows our hearts. I’ve also seen some who will, when clapping at the end of a song, raise their hands over their heads and clap.

We bow our heads, clap our hands, move our bodies, sing praises, and lift our hands all to the glory of God. I’ve noticed too that when Teresa is doing sign language up front, the sign for applause is raising and shaking your hands.  Let’s praise God with a pure heart, He loves it.