Hand Worship
🔞 ALL INFORMATION CLICK HERE 👈🏻👈🏻👈🏻
Hand Worship
pixabay.com needs to review the security of your connection before proceeding.
Did you know the first botnet in 2003 took over 500-1000 devices? Today, botnets take over millions of devices at once.
Requests from malicious bots can pose as legitimate traffic. Occasionally, you may see this page while the site ensures that the connection is secure.
Performance & security by Cloudflare
About Us
Contact Us
Search
Search
Menu
Menu
menu
Materials
Releases
Media
Newsletter
Bookshop
Latest
menu
Materials
Releases
Media
Newsletter
Bookshop
Latest
About Us
Contact Us
Search
Search
Menu
Menu
Share Icon Share
Facebook
Twitter
Email
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
Twitter
The Biblical Research Institute is a website of the Seventh-day Adventist World Church.
Seventh-day Adventists are devoted to helping people understand the Bible to find freedom, healing, and hope in Jesus.
Adventist.org
Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research
Center for Adventist Research
Ellen G. White Estate
Geoscience Research Institute
Fundamental Beliefs
This page is also available in:
Español
Is there any biblical support for the increasingly common practice of raising and waving hands during congregational singing?
This question may not appear important, but it reveals that we are very much interested in a worship that is biblically based and does not violate biblical instruction. It also implies that waving hands while singing is creating some tensions. I will deal with the use of the hands during acts of adoration. It will become clear that in the Bible the ritual use of hands took place mainly during prayer.
1. Nonverbal acts: Body gestures play an important role in the expression of ideas and emotions. Studies on the role of nonverbal acts of worship in the Bible help us understand their significance a little better. In the Bible we have only the language of postures, gestures, movements, and facial expressions. Ancient Near Eastern art illustrates many of the gestures. The hand gestures we find mentioned in the Bible were also common in the setting of worship and prayer in the ancient Near East.
2. Lifting up hands: The expressions “to lift up the hands [ yādîm ]” or “to lift up the palms [ kappayim ]” are practically synonymous. They are used in different contexts and express different meanings in some cases. “To lift up the hands” is a gesture that expresses adoration in the context of worship. Those who ministered in the Temple were exhorted to “lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord” (Ps. 134:2, NIV). The gesture indicated that the object of praises was the Lord and that the whole person was involved in the act. It was also used to present to the Lord a prayer of supplication (Ps. 28:2), as if the prayer were placed in the palm of the hand and lifted up to the Lord asking Him to accept it (Ps. 141:2). In other cases the gesture appears to express the willingness of the person to receive from the Lord what was requested (Ps. 63:4, 5; Lam. 2:19). But the lifting up of the hands seems to express something deeper, something related to the human heart: “Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven” (Lam. 3:41, NIV). The lifting of the hands corresponded to the lifting of the inner being of the worshipper to God in communion with Him.
3. Spreading out the hands: In this case the verb is pārash (“to spread out”), expressing the idea that the hands were spread out in front of the person, not necessarily lifted up. At times it appears that the worshipper spread hands toward the Temple, the heavens (1 Kings 8:38, 39, 54; Ps. 44:20), or the Lord (Ex. 9:33). Spreading out the hands was particularly done during prayers of supplication (1 Kings 8:54; Isa. 1:15; Ex. 9:29; Lam. 1:17) or when there was a deep need for the presence of God (Ps. 143:6). Psalm 88:9 reads: “I call to you, O Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you.” The need of the psalmist was so intense that he begs the Lord for help. Although in deep need, the worshipper goes to the Lord and extends the hands to Him for help. This more intense gesture was an expression of the individual’s dependence on God (Ps. 44:20) and devotion of the heart to the Lord (Job 11:13).
4. So what? As far as I can ascertain, there is no waving of hands during worship in the Bible. The lifting of hands was common (cf. 1 Tim. 2:8). The Bible does not prescribe hand gestures for worship, but it describes accepted common practices. Ancient Christian art indicates that Christians used to pray with arms and hands stretched out to the sides depicting with their bodies the crucifixion. Today we typically put our hands together either in back or in front of our bodies, or simply let them hang to the side. Occasionally we may put our palms together and interlock our fingers—a practice common among ancient Romans and Sumerians. At other times the palms are brought together with the fingers pointing upward—common in Buddhist and Hindu religiosity. The introduction of novelties in our churches, influenced by charismatic systems of worship, can disrupt a worship that should be centered in our Creator and Redeemer and in His Word. It may be better to follow the common practice of the congregation where we collectively worship the Lord.
AdventistBiblicalResearch.org is the official website of the Biblical Research Institute for the Seventh-day Adventist World Church
© 2022 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Senior Pastor
Bayou View Baptist Church
Free Email Subscription New content, product discounts, and more!
Perform a Google search on the word “worship” and examine the “images” category. In my search, nine of the first ten images depict multiple people with their hands raised. The emoji for “praise” pictures two lifted hands.
Why is raising of hands in worship such a common practice (at least in America)? In this blog post I hope to address the following:
About twenty years ago, I attended a worship service where the senior pastor repeatedly exhorted the congregation to “raise holy hands.” He pointed to 1 Timothy 2:8 to support his instructions. When discussing the issue of lifting hands in worship, people generally point to this passage for biblical justification. I hope to show why this common interpretation and application is fallacious.
1 Timothy 2:8 says, “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling” (ESV). These verses specifically apply to worship (in this case prayer) in the church. The broader context addresses, “how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God” (1 Tim. 3:15). 1 Timothy 2:8 specifically states:
In this passage, Paul clearly delineates some of the differences in male and female roles in the church (2:9 begins Paul’s instructions for women). Since this passage is specifically addressed to men, Christians should not employ it to call everyone to raise their hands.
Furthermore, this command for men relates to a specific activity: prayer (more on this below). The Apostle also requires that these men be holy and not angry or quarreling (which appears as a common feature of the false teachers Paul addresses in 1 Timothy). This text is simply not a call for the whole church to raise their hands while they worship.
What does this passage mean? In ordering worship for the church, men should lead in prayer, raising their hands when they pray, be holy, and not be angry or quarrelsome. It’s ironic that so many apply this passage to raising hands while singing, but rarely to a man while praying.
The New Testament rarely addresses the issue of raising hands. One can find three other instances, none of which appear in the context of church worship (Luke 24:50; Rev. 10:5-6; Hebrews 12:12). Therefore, no examples or commands for all Christians to lift their hands in worship can be found in the NT.
The Old Testament, however, contains several references to the raising of hands. These examples include:
In 1 Timothy 2:8, Paul draws on the OT practice of lifting hands in prayer (#1 in the summary above).
Based on the OT evidence, the best case or justification for raising hands in worship can be found in Psalm 134:2 and 141:2 (from # 2 in the summary above). These two examples give rise to several questions the serious student of the Bible needs to address:
At this point, many might say, “This is nit-picky—why are you concerned about this? Just let people worship the way they want.”
As Christians, we want to accurately interpret and apply Scripture. The importance of worship requires that it be given significant attention, especially from pastors and those who lead others in worship. We should consider it a serious matter for a leader or teacher to misinterpret and misapply any text that affects how the church worships God.
Because of the nature and sufficiency of Scripture, we should derive our practices of worship from Scripture alone. I fear that many people derive their worship practices primarily from the example and experience of others. How do people learn to worship? Generally, the same way they learn to do other things—by example.
Let’s consider a hypothetical example:
Matilda gets born-again, begins loving the Lord, and desires to worship with her church. When her church gathers, all the people raise their hands while singing praises to God. It’s likely Matilda will begin raising her hands as she sings—Why? Because of her experience, and the conditioned behavior of her fellow worshipers.
Here’s another hypothetical example:
Gil is a Christian twelfth grader. He goes to a large conference with his student group. The worship band exhorts everyone to raise their hands and sway. Like most of his 5,000 fellow students, Gilbert raises his hands and begins swaying with the crowd—Why? Because the crowd was exhorted to do so by the band, and all his friends complied. Meanwhile, many student leaders look on, and based on this outward expression say, “Wow, they are really worshiping!”
Here are some poor motives/reasons for lifting hands in worship:
Our expressions of worship should arise from being convinced that God commands or commends them in his Word. We don’t want our worship to merely be learned behavior based on the example of others. We want to derive our worship practices from Scripture (what God says), not experience.
Here’s another question: Given that the practice of everyone lifting their hands in worship is not found in the NT, why has it become such a popular and common practice in churches? This probably stems from the following:
Christians should not allow the practice of raising of hands in worship to lead to what Paul prohibits in 1 Timothy 2:8—quarreling. As with all matters, we should search the Scriptures and base our faith and practice on what God says in His Word.
We also need to recognize our context: In America many Christians (genuine born-again believers) have only experienced worship in which everyone raises their hands. Many have never considered this expression in light of the Scripture. In our desire to make disciples, we should humbly and patiently sit down with other believers and talk about all our worship practices with our Bibles open.
I personally think the issue of raising hands in worship falls in the category of “opinions” Paul addresses in Romans 14–15. In addressing this issue with others, we should follow his counsel and, “pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding” (Rom 14:19).
Years ago, I was forced to attend a Roman Catholic Church mass to fulfill a requirement for a class I was taking in seminary. At first, I was not too pleased with this assignment, but as it turned out, it was quite an eye-opening experience to be sure. For me, having…
After concluding a conference devoted to the theme of worship and reading for a full year in preparation for this past G3—I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about how we worship, why we worship, when we worship, and the ultimate goal of worship. As we study the subject…
Some of the most powerful words regarding the Bible are found in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." Needless to…
Chris King serves as the Senior Pastor of Bayou View Baptist Church in Gulfport, Mississippi. He taught preaching for Boyce College Online from 2013-2020. Dr. King is a graduate of West Virginia University and earned his Ph. D. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Receive important updates and announcements on G3 Ministries events and resources.
Subscribe to our email list below and never miss the latest content or an exclusive offers.
Join Plus
Plus Login
Join Plus
Plus Login
Robert Hampshire
Christianity.com Contributing Writer
2022
28 Feb
Christianity /
Wiki
/
Church
/
Why Do We Raise Our Hands in Worship?
Receive Newsletters Delivered to Your Inbox!
In addition to your newsletter(s), you will receive email updates, timely articles, and special offers from Christianity.com.
About Christianity.com
About Us
Advertise with Us
Feedback
Terms of Use
Site Map
Privacy Policy
Link to Us
RSS
California - CCPA Notice
California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Christianity.com is a member of the Salem Web Network of sites including:
Copyright © 2022, Christianity.com. All rights reserved. Article Images Copyright © 2022 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated.
When we express our worship to God in heartfelt and biblical ways, we can rest assured that our actions are giving the glory that God is due while simultaneously pointing others to him and helping instigate their own worshipful expressions.
While Christian denominations and churches across the world have much more in common than they do different, evangelical churches especially share similar major doctrines, leadership structures, membership expectations, outreach strategies, bible study approaches, teaching techniques, policies, and ordinances.
Most churches that gather for corporate worship even have similar elements in their services, such as singing, praying, taking up an offering, teaching, and an opportunity to respond.
However, exactly how churches go about expressing themselves in their worship can be very distinct from church to church and culture to culture.
But despite those distinctions, one of the most common means of worship expression in addition to singing is raising or lifting hands. Although it is such a common action, many people do not really know why they do it.
In general, the act of raising your hand or hands can have quite a few different meanings. For example, you might be trying to get someone's attention, ask a question, or simply put yourself in a disarming or surrendering position.
Someone might raise their hands to be picked up (such as a small child in front of their parents), to be hugged, or to reach for something above them. Many exercises or sports incorporate raised hands also to stretch, catch a ball, or signal for a pass.
It is also common for people to raise their hands in approval of a decision at a meeting, in appreciation of music at a concert, or in celebration of a play at a sporting event (especially if their team is winning).
Depending on the context and intent of the person, raising an open hand, a pointed finger, or a closed fist could carry different meanings as well. The act of raising hands is so common that it seems to be natural and even possibly involuntary.
There is no shortage of Bible verses that encourage or command God's people to raise their hands in worship. David sang in Psalm 134:1-3 : "Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD! Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the LORD!" (ESV).
David also declared that he would lift up his hands to God's "commandments" ( Psalm 119:48 ) and toward God's "holy sanctuary" ( Psalm 28:2 ).
Several other verses we should consider on this topic include:
Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension ( 1 Timothy 2:8 ).
Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them... ( Leviticus 9:22 ).
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven ( 1 Kings 8:22 ).
And all the people answered, 'Amen, Amen!' while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground ( Nehemiah 8:6 ).
Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven, And say, as I live forever ( Deuteronomy 32:40 ).
I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name ( Psalm 63:4 ).
May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering ( Psalm 141:2 ).
It is helpful at this point to understand that the most common word used for worship in the New Testament is proskyneo, which means "to kiss."
This demonstration of love , appreciation, or worth giving can be seen when a subject lays on the ground and kisses the feet of their king. We see this physical expression of worship exem
Old Wife Sex
Stepdaughter Porno
Tennessee Vs Mizzu Betting Spread