The Doorway of Hope Part 2 - the Lifting Up of Holy Hands

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD psalm 134:2

What is the lifting up of hands?

Lifting up of hands in the Bible always resulted in mighty miracles. Moses parting the water Exo 14:26. The battle were Moses had to lift up his hands from morning till sunset Exo 17:11

Body language says a lot. Although the mouth says nothing. Actions speak louder then words.. Everyone knows that, right? When we are open, our arms are open. When we are closed, our arms are folded.

Let me start by sternly saying that people who say they cannot lift up their hands to the Lord are in pride. Pride is evil in the eyes of the Lord. To lift up your hands is the simple action of throwing your hands in the air and holding them there for any length of time during worship, prayer or praise.
Imagine someone who falls into a pit. Its all dark around them. The only light they see is that above them. Will they not lift up their hands when someone stretches forth to pull them out? This is also our state in this world. We live in a dark world and the Lord is stretching forth His hands to lift us up. Will we not also lift up our hands to reach His? With this in mind, I can can also say that people who don't lift up their hands to the Lord, are basically saying that they don't need saving.

Why we should lift up our hands

Lifting up of hands also stands for surrendering. We surrender our life and heart to the Lord .
So when we pray with hands lifted up we surrender the situation to the Lord. Lifting up our hands also shows our longing for the Lord.
With the miracles of Exodus in mind, we can say there is a supernatural meaning behind lifting up our hands.
I once heard in a sermon that when we lift up our hand to the Lord it is also a sign to the angels working on our behalf to go forth for us. This is not a strange thought because we stretch out to the Lords salvation. It is also a sign of trusting in the Lord.

When I lift up my hands to the Lord, I believe my heart is saying to the Lord:

"I love you. I can do nothing without you. From you is my salvation. In you I trust. Help me! I long for you".

The Lord gives so many promises to those who trust in Him, wait on Him, cry out to Him. Because with our hands we lift up our heart. Something supernatural happens when we do this. 

The Apostle Paul is telling us in the letter to Timothy:
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing". 1 Tim 2:8
It comes to mind that when men do this they are pledging allegiance to the Lord with their heart. How many
people pledge allegiance to futile things like a flag. Why is it hard for them to do the same for the Lord? When we lift up our hand to the Lord we should be aware that our heart is praying a different prayer than our mouth is.  With our hands and heart lifted up to the Lord we can easily say, "THANK YOU LORD!!" - an even bigger sign of trusting the Lord.

Psalm 66:16-20
"Come and hear, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.
I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;
but God has surely listened
and has heard my prayer.
Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!"

This passage shows the heart of one who was in a deep pit of trouble, and he chose to trust the Lord. This person surrendered to the Lord. He must have lifted up his hands to demonstrate it to the Lord; maybe even cried many tears without saying a word. However God saw his HEART! If he could have spoken beautiful heartfelt words, but cherished unbelief in his heart, God would not have listened. So what better way to speak to the Lord than with our hands lifted up and our heart surrendered?!!

Psalm 66:10-12
"For you, God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.
You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.
You let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance".

Look at the trouble this person went through. One would think he would have every reason not to trust God and even to be angry with Him. But he did what pleased the Lord and so the Lord brought him out. Trusting in God is the place of abundace. The Word tells us "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" Mat 6:33
and also:

"'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." ( trusts in God) Mark 9:23 I believe these promises are linked to trusting God with our life, and that without trust we cannot receive anything from the Lord.  So what a difference the small action of lifting up our hands to the Lord, to demonstrate our trust and surrendering to Him, can make in our spiritual growth. If this small action was of no significance, Paul would not have mentioned it. Let me end by challenging all believers to examine their heart when they lift and don't lift up their hands to the Lord. What are you saying with your body language? This will affect your spiritual life. The Doorway of Hope is in front of us, opened. What will we do? Let us allow the Lord to prepare us for the amazing things He has in store for us, by simply lifting up our hands to Him in worship, praise and thanksgiving.

God Bless!!!

The Doorway of Hope

" There I will give her vineyards back to her and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt " Hosea 2:15

This is such an amazing promise to all children of God.  However there is so much that can be said about this because I believe there is a red cord that ties all promises in the bible together. It is like before you can have one you have to do the other. Every promise is linked to another. I believe it takes many stages of growth  on our part before we will see these promises manifest. God promises to do something but it does not mean that we just lay back and see it happen. I always wondered about that. The Word says this, but my life shows that..and I ask why my life is not in line with the Word. I will try to explain how I now understand that all promises are linked and it takes action on our part.

We have to remember that we are Spirit first and then flesh. The invisible comes first and then the visible.
The state of mind comes first and then the action. The first battle ground and valley there is, is that of our mind. First we are defeated in our mind and then this defeat is seen in our life. We have to guard our heart and mind with the word otherwise we will be defeated in life.We don't have a physical valley of trouble but it is visible in our life's circumstances. Also the doorway of Hope has many layers.
First of all is that God gives it. He gives it by faith. In your heart and mind you know "It is done." When we have prayed for something we know in our heart that God has heard and answered our prayer.
The second layer for me is based on other promises in the Word "It is written." Because you know it is written you also know that God has already said "YES".  For example, you can pray for healing, but you can also say,  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed "Isa 53:4-5.

So it is written, so it is done.

This scripture will turn your valley of Achor in your healing into a doorway of hope, if that is what God intends for you.
If a situation you find yourself in is designed by God for your growth then it will be as He leads, but if a situation is caused by our enemy, it changes when we overcome with the word and the power of our testimony.

The doorway of hope is also found in the verse “In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.”  Phill 4:6

Thanksgiving is the doorway of Hope. When we give thanks we demonstrate our faith in God; that it is done, according to His Word. We show our trust in Him. And He does say that without trust ( faith) it is impossible to please Him. And in fact we receive nothing ( in our heart first). The Lord Jesus performed many miracles, but in the places where the people did not believe He could not do any. Although they needed healing they did not receive it.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

So God gives the doorway of Hope, but we have to enter it. It takes action on our part othewise we will stay in the valley of Achor with the doorway in front of us. I have the image of a doorway that opens in this dimension and leads to another dimention but the door is made from glass. The password is: THANKSGIVING.

When we enter that door with thanksgiving we then start to adjust the eyes of our mind to the new sorroundings. Our mind gets renewed and this has effect on our physical life. We are seated with Christ in the Heavenlies in the spirit and in the physical we walk on earth.
" for as he thinks within himself, so he is"..Prov 23:7.

From our mind (thinking), to our heart ( believing)  to our mouth ( confessing), to our reality ( salvation)

"For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."Rom 10:10 

Many people pray for a lot of things God has already said "YES" to. In these last days we have to step up our game. We have to get familiar with God's "YES" in order to have "the power of our testimony." When we have experienced something once it is easier to experience it again. It becomes our natural state. The supernatural becomes Natural. We need this state of mind and heart to see the promises that God has made to manifest. There are still so many promises unrealised. The greatest manifest of power has yet to happen. How will we see if our hearts are blind?

The rest of the teaching I leave to the Holy Spirit in your heart. May He enlighten the eyes of your understanding.

God Bless!!!