Is It Scriptural To Lift Up Our Hands In Prayer To God?
The Bible presents a number of different postures in which people prayed to God , for example:
- Exodus 4:31 - Bowing down one's head
- Daniel 6:10 - Kneeling
- Matthew 26:39 - Falling on one's face
- Luke 18:13 - Not look ing toward heaven (expressing a contrite and humble spirit as a sinner who is in need of the grace of God).
- 1 Kings 8:22,23 - Spreading out one's hands toward heaven
- Nehemiah 8:6 - Answering "Amen, Amen!" while lifting up one's hands
1 Timothy 2:8 - "I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." This is in reference to the Christian, male prayer/worship leader. Although the word "hands" is primarily a figure of speech pointing to the importance of the "holy" character of the man who is leading the prayer (much like Acts 2:23 and Ephesians 4:28), one may lift up his hands, fold his hands, etc. in prayer. However, one should not lift his hands in the air merely to imitate the denominations. Instead, we should be imitators of faithful, New Testament Christians (1 Corinthians 11:1).
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