Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let us lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens.
- BSB Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:
- NKJV Let us lift our hearts and hands To God in heaven.
- NASB We raise our heart and hands Toward God in heaven;
- NLT Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
True repentance lifts up the heart, not merely the hands, to God in heaven.
Overview
Prayer with raised hands must be matched by a raised heart, that is, sincere inward devotion and not mere outward ritual. The verse guards against hypocrisy in worship and seeks God where He dwells. It echoes the consistent biblical demand for heart-religion fulfilled in worship 'in spirit and truth' (John 4:24; Ps. 86:4).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ps 25:1Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.
- Ps 28:2Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.
- Ps 86:4Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
- Ps 143:6–8I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.
- Ps 63:4Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
- Ps 141:2Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
- 1 Th 2:8So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The weeping over a ruined city and the steadfast mercies that are new every morning point to the man of sorrows who wept over Jerusalem and whose mercy rises new from the grave.
How Lamentations 3:41 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.