I LIFT UP MY HANDS
«Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name» (Psalm 63:4).
THE DIFFERENT CULTURES of the world have their peculiarities. For example, there is a very interesting one of the Cabécar people that we discovered in our missionary efforts with them. As a result of the coexistence we shared, we realized that, for them, getting on their knees is a sign of defeat. For that reason, they find it difficult to connect the concepts of praying to God and being on their knees. It is not that it is hard for them to accept Christ—many have given Him their hearts—but culturally, a position of defeat does not fit with an act of victory and strength as prayer is. In their mentality, prayer must be done standing up and with arms extended to heaven, which is their way of representing victory.
In the Old Testament culture, lifting up hands was the common stance for prayer. We see it, for example, in the following passages: «Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name» (Psalm 63:4). «Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You, when I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary» (Psalm 28:2).»Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven» (Lamentations 3:41). «Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord» (Psalm 134:2). «Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice» (Psalm 141:2).
We cannot deny the fact that the cultural customs surrounding us usually have little to do with biblical culture. It is up to us to turn to the Book of books every day to soak up its principles and values, and try to put them into practice in our lives in a way that makes sense for us today. It is not about fighting the culture that surrounds us, but contributing to it a light, a different flavor, which derive from a personal experience of the truths of the gospel. It is about doing our part through our dialogue, our example, and our defense of Scripture, sharing with those around us this Book that will help them to grow as it has helped us. Otherwise, our part is to love without judging; each person has a conversion process, which takes time and progresses at their own pace.
Today, whether it is on our knees or on our feet and with our arms extended to heaven, let us pray with faith to the Lord before leaving our homes.
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Take From: Daily Devotions for Women’s 2020
«One Day at a Time»
From: Patricia Muñoz Bertozzi
Collaborators: Lorina Maya & Alejandra Zavala