Thursday, August 25th

Lift your hands.

“Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.”
Psalm 141:2

Are you aware that it has been found out from research that people in the music industry especially those in concert live longer? Most of them live to their 70's, 80's and 90's. One of the reasons observed and stated was because of the lifting up of their hands.

Amazingly, when you look at the various words for praise in the Bible, one common trend is the lifting up of the hands. This means that one of the ways by which we offer praise unto God is by lifting up our hands. Do you lift your hands when you pray, praise or worship God?

Our opening scripture lets us know that the lifting up of our hands to God is as the evening sacrifice. The time of the evening sacrifice is the ninth hour of the day (three o' clock in the afternoon). When you study the Bible there are three unforgettable instances about the evening sacrifice. The first was when Elijah called down fire from heaven. He called down fire from heaven at the time of the evening sacrifice. (See 1 Kings 18:36-39). The second was when the angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel; he appeared to Daniel at the time of the evening sacrifice. (See Daniel 9:21). The third was when an angel appeared to Cornelius at the time of the evening sacrifice which is also the ninth hour of the day. (See Acts 10:3).

Therefore if the lifting up of our hands is as the evening sacrifice, it shows us that when we lift our hands to God in worship or praise it increases angelic activity. So the next time you lift up your hands to God, not only are you offering praise to God, know that angels are released on your behalf for your good.

Instruction.
Read Psalm 95:1-6 and Psalm 63:1-11 in praise to God.

For further study, read:
Exodus 17:8-13, Psalm 63:4-5, Psalm 134:1-3,           1 Timothy 2:8.

Doing the Word
Always remember to lift up your hands during prayer and praise to God.