October 23rd, 2013 
dsisler Yesterday I shared how raising our hands to God is useful in other areas of our life, not just in worship and praise. After I posted the blog, I thought that I might have shared the importance of physically doing something, like raising our hands. So today, I’d like to plead my case for adding physical gestures to our worship and praise to God.
In the church I attend, kneeling in prayer is not a common practice. Within our brotherhood, there probably isn’t even room between the pews in most churches to even consider it. But I believe there are times in our worship or when we are in deep communion with God where kneeling would be appropriate. King David speaks of kneeling in prayer in Psalm 95:6 and Jesus knelt in prayer in Luke 22:41.
Perhaps kneeling isn’t the only position for prayer. In Matthew 26:39 (NIV), we see Jesus stretched out in prayer. “Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed.” During Jesus’ deepest struggle, He felt the need to lie flat on the ground in a position of submission when He approached God. I believe there may be times when this physical act might be appropriate.
So let’s talk a little bit more about Jesus and His encounters with others. Our Jesus, who is able to speak a world in existence and calm a sea with a few words, added physical touch to many of the miracles He performed. Jesus understood the importance of and need for physical touch. Let’s look at some of these encounters.
In Matthew 8:2-3, Jesus touched a man with leprosy.
In Matthew 9:25, Jesus touched the hand of a dead girl.
In Matthew 9:29-30, Jesus touched the eyes of two blind men.
In Mark 8:22-25, Jesus not only took the blind man by his hand, but Jesus also led him outside the village, spit in his eyes and then touched the man’s eyes.
And look how tenderly Jesus’ encounter with children was in Mark 10:13-16. We see Jesus not just touching and blessing the children, this passage tells us that Jesus “took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.” (Mark 10:16 – NIV) Jesus saw the value of physically doing something with these children and He did it.
I will say that there are plenty of passages in the Old Testament that lead us to believe how important it is to physically do something as part of our worship to God. There are sacrifices, acts of becoming clean, encounters with a burning bush and gentle wind, and even a prophet being carried up to heaven in a whirlwind.
But one that I specifically would like to mention is found in 2 Kings 19:14-19, specifically verse 14 (NIV). There were many incidents that occurred prior to this chapter. News of an impending attack by the Assyrian armies and even a threatening letter had been received by Hezekiah, King of Judah. These were difficult days in the kingdom for certain.
But Hezekiah went before the Lord. Not only did Hezekiah pray, but “he spread it out before the Lord.” He spread the letter from Sennacherib out so God could see it. God knew what was happening to His people. He didn’t need to see the message to know what it was. But Hezekiah felt the need to do something. Something physical, like spreading out a threatening letter before God.
Maybe a physical action isn’t necessary in each circumstance of worship or prayer, but certainly I believe there are times when kneeling or lifting up hands or touching another or spreading our difficulties out before God are appropriate. And I believe I’ve given some good examples of why we should consider doing so.
I pray that the passages of Scripture I’ve presented today will allow you to look at lifting up hands a little differently. When we view any of these actions as acts of worship, there is no room for judgment. Our hearts speak volumes to God, but when we pair our pure hearts with acts of worship, we are drawn closer to God and allow others to see what God is doing in our lives.
What do you need to lay before God today?
Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Donna
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