Paul wrote to Timothy that the church needs to prioritize prayer. He said, “First of all I urge that prayers and petitions be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority…” Then, he says, “therefore I want men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.” We focus many times on the subject or content of our prayers, which is important. But Paul also addresses the condition of our heart and the position of prayer. He tells men to lift up holy hands.

(1Timothy 2:1-4, 8)  “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, {2} for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. {3} This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, {4} who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth….{8} Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.”

When I think of lifting holy hands, several thoughts come to mind. First, hands refer to the things that we do. If we put our hands towards a task, it means that we are giving ourselves to accomplish the task. When James speaks to sinners of cleansing their hands, he is telling them to repent of the evil things that they have been doing. Holy hands mean that we are innocent of doing evil things. This is also what David has in mind when he speaks of how a man of integrity has clean hands and a pure heart.

 (James 4:8)  “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

(Psalms 24:4)  “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, And has not sworn deceitfully.”

When I think of holy hands, I also think of consecrated and anointed hands. When the priests consecrated themselves, they consecrated their clothes, their bodies, and all the utensils that were used. Everything was consecrated and was considered holy. When we consecrate ourselves to the Lord, our hands are holy hands.

Another thought that comes to mind about lifting holy hands is the Hebrew word yadah (Strong’s H3034). It literally means to throw a stone or arrow, or to extend the hands. At times it is translated as praise the Lord. (See Psalms 43:4 or Psalms 67:3,5.) Many times, it is translated as thanks. When people gave thanks to the Lord, they lifted up their hands in praise. (See Psalms 75:1.) However, it is often translated as confess, as in confessing sin. (See Numbers 5:7.)

Finally, I think of Moses. As long as his hands were lifted, Israel defeated their enemy. When his arms got heavy and dropped, the enemy prevailed. Therefore, they brought a rock to support his hands; and then Aaron and Hur supported his arms. The lifting of hands signified victory. (See Exodus17:11-13.)

The lifting of holy hands could possibly represent coming to the Lord in praise and thanksgiving. It could be coming to Him in a spirit of repentance and confession. It could be in faith for the victory. The next time you begin to offer prayers and entreaties, consider lifting up holy, consecrated, victorious hands.

Karen and I have prayed together every morning for many years. We begin our prayers with thanksgivings, and then we begin to praise God and hallow His name. In Psalm 100:4, we are told to enter His gates with thanksgivings and His courts with praise, so we have tried to begin our prayer times that way. In 1 Chronicles 16:4-7 David assigned Asaph and his relatives to give thanks to the Lord. That was their main job, to continually give thanks to the Lord. In Psalm 50:23 God tells us that those that offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving honor Him. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 we are told to pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks for this is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus. In Hebrews 13:15 we are told to continually offer a sacrifice to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. The scriptures are clear in the Old and New Testament that we are to continually give thanks to the Lord; that is His will for our lives.

Some mornings we may spend thirty minutes just giving thanks and praising His name. We do not even get to praying for our daily bread, for His protection, and the many other things that we usually pray about. But, God already knows those needs of ours, and He also knows that we have taken time to honor Him with our prayers of thanksgivings and praises. I encourage you to take time to thank God for all the things that He has done and continues to do in your life.

In 1986, I had seen God answer lots of specific prayers. He was really encouraging us to pray about everything. After receiving the oak trees, I began to pray for a cocktail tree. A cocktail tree is one that has had several kinds of fruit trees grafted into it. Since I was living in Florida, I prayed for a citrus cocktail tree, one with oranges, lemons, and grapefruit.

Shortly after our sixth child, David, was born, I received a phone call from Fred Dunn, who lived in Apopka, Florida. At that time he owned Dunn Nurseries. Fred was an elder in his church, and he had heard from someone at our church in Orlando that the Murchisons had just had their sixth child. Even though Fred did not know me, he called me to congratulate us on our sixth child. He said that he wanted to give us a special baby gift. He added that I would probably not know anything about what he was going to give us, but God had moved on his heart to give us a cocktail tree. I told Fred that I had been praying for a cocktail tree, and that this was an answer to prayer. I was really excited. I drove to Apopka, Florida and introduced myself to Fred Dunn. He showed me their selection of cocktail trees and let me pick out the one that I wanted. I thanked him for it, and went home and planted the tree. Once again, God had answered another specific prayer. We enjoyed the fruit from that tree for the next seven years, which is when we moved from Orlando to Atlanta. Pray specifically. Trust God to provide your every need and desire. He delights in our prayers and loves to give good gifts to His children.

In 1985 Karen and I moved into a house at 1340 Boreas Drive in Orlando, Florida. The developer had not planted any trees in the yards, so looked rather bare. I began to pray for God to give me an oak tree for the front yard. I prayed every day for this oak tree for nearly a year. It would have been easy to go to Home Depot and buy a $10.00 oak tree, but I was asking God to provide an oak tree. One day I drove up to my house and could not help but see two Water Oak trees in my front yard. On my door there were instructions on how to take care of my newly planted oak trees. Orange County had come and planted these two oak trees and they left the instructions on our front door. None of the other houses in the neighborhood received an oak tree or any other kind of tree. Our house really stood out because of the oak trees. My neighbors wanted to know why I got oak trees. I was happy to pull out my prayer notebook and show them that I had been praying for God to give me an oak tree for the past year, and He was behind it. I never told anyone except for Karen that I was praying for an oak tree. I never contacted anyone at Orange County. I simply prayed and asked God to provide, which He did. He gave me two oak trees, not just one. Pray specifically. Pray persistently. Pray expectantly. Our Father in heaven loves to answer our prayers.

Pray specifically!

In 1989, Karen was expecting David, our sixth child, and we were out of room in our Chevrolet Celebrity wagon. So, we were praying for a 15-passenger van. We heard our friends, Ken and Gail Barnes, needed another bench for their tan van. We did not want the last bench in a van, as we needed it for strollers, groceries, etc., so, we asked God for a tan back bench for the van that we would buy. We found a used maroon 15-passenger that fit our budget, and when the salesman showed it to us, it was missing the back bench. I asked the salesman where the back bench was, and he said they did not have one, but they would be glad to give us a back bench, and they did. And you guessed it, the only bench they had to give us was a tan bench for our maroon van. The salesman apologized that it didn’t match, but we were excited. God had answered a very specific prayer for a tan bench. We were able to bless the Barnes with a tan bench that matched their van, and we had a van that fit our family needs.