Are we ashamed?

Did you know that God is seeking men (and women) who will raise holy hands to Him in worship and prayer?
I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. 1 Timothy 2:8 (NIV)
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
and praise the LORD. Psalm 134:2 (NIV)

Let me be clear; this is not a Biblical command. If we do not raise our hands in worship, that is NOT sin. I am not insisting that people do this, but quite honestly most of you don't because you are more worried about what people think that what God desires. If you don't raise your hands in submissive prayer to God, have you analyzed why?

It could be that you are ashamed to raise your hands. You could be worried about what people think. We tell ourselves that we don't want to upset new visitors. Relax about that; visitors appreciate anything that is authentic. They can sniff out phony.

I had this in tomorrow's sermon and I took it out because the sermon was too long, so I blogged it instead. Personally, I raise my hands to the King of Glory because He deserves it. I love Him because He loved me enough to pluck me out of hell. He is my primary affection and I am vastly more worried about what He thinks than what people think. Jesus got pretty blunt about this in his discussion about who is a true disciple of his:
Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. Luke 9:23-26 NIV

Am I ashamed of him? Unless you have a bum shoulder, let yourself go.

Don’t force it (you should not do something that you do not truly feel), but submit and try it.
We fist pump an Albert Pujols' home run, but won't submit our hands in prayer and worship. I have seen a bunch of you go crazy over AP; how about we show our appreciation to the King of Glory?