So I will bless you as long as I live;

in your name I will lift up my hands.
Psalm 63:4

Perhaps this idea of raising your hands in worship is foreign to you. It’s not your background. You’re not used to it. It doesn’t feel natural. You don’t want to feel pressured to raise your hands. It’s not you!

All of that is understandable, but there is more to be said. Down deep, there are times when you want to lift your hands to God. There are times when you want to raise your hands to God above because this is the natural expression of joy and worship in your heart.

You feel something, something deep in your heart. You feel something inside and you want to give expression to these feelings of joy and praise. You want to give expression with your voice and with your hands. Your hands want to fly up to heaven. Or you want to clap or stand or kneel or dance. Youwantto express with all you are – heart, voice and body – what you feel inside, the depths of your praise and joy.

Think of a football game. It’s the championship. It’s a close game, a nail biter. The score is tied. The final seconds are ticking off. Your team throws a desperation pass to the end zone. Your team scores! They win! The whole place erupts. Hands and arms fly up! People shout and holler, clap and roar!

This is no polite golf applause. No one is sitting on their hands. Of course not! We want to give expression to our hearts. It’s completely normal and appropriate. It’s the way God made us.

When I gather in worship with God’s people, there are times when I feel so deeply that I must lift my hands to God, just as I lift my voice to God. It feels right. It feels good. It feels the way God intended it to feel.

Don’t feel pressured. Do feel free.

Give full voice to the praise and joy that you feel in your heart.