As well as engaging our senses, true worship engages our entire bodies.

Bob Kauflin of Sovereign Grace Ministries wrote in his weekly internet column, "I grew up in a religious tradition that downplayed outward emotional responses to God. If you sang with enthusiasm during the service, you were basically singing a solo. Heads turned, necks craned. 'Who is that singing so loudly and what could they possibly be so excited about?'"

Do you identify with Bob? Is it difficult to outwardly respond in worship? Let's look at what scripture says...

What Does Scripture Say?

The Word of God is purposely not specific about instructing us exactly how we should physically worship God because God wants us to find new and fresh ways to worship Him, just as He reveals Himself to us in new and fresh ways throughout our lives. 

What scripture does focus on is our heart attitude of worship. Romans 12:1 says...

	"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship."

Examples From Scripture

Although instruction on physical worship is vague, there are numerous examples of praise and worship in scripture. Consider these Biblical positions in worship:

• Sitting – Acts 2:2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
  
  
• Kneeling – Psa. 95:6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
  
  
• Standing – Rev. 7:9 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
  
  
• Lying Prostrate – Neh. 8:6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
  
  
• Bowing Head – 2Chr. 29:30 King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed their heads and worshiped.
  
  
• Lifting Hands – Psa. 141:2 May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

Consider these Biblical expressions in worship:

• Spoken Praise – Psa. 145:21 My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.
  
  
• Lifting Hands – Psa. 134:2 Lift your hands in holiness and bless the Lord.
  
  
• Shouting – Psa. 98:4 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, …
  
  
• Playing Instruments – 2 Chr. 23:13 The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and singers with musical instruments were leading the praises.
  
  
• Dancing – Psa. 150:3-5 Hallelujah! Yes, praise the Lord! Praise him with the trumpet and with lute and harp. Praise him with the drums and dancing. Praise him with stringed instruments and horns. Praise him with the cymbals, praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
  
  
• Clapping Hands –Psa. 47:1 O clap your hands, all ye people: shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
  
  
• Singing – Psa. 47:6 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises unto our King, sing praises.

The Church, in general, has long transferred the understanding of the sinful flesh to any use of the human body.  However, we fail to remember that we are created in the image of God.  Author and hymn writer Brian Wren makes a convincing argument for us to use our bodies in worship. In his book Praying Twice: The Music and Words of Congregational Song, he writes...

	... The Bible affirms that human flesh, and the human body, are part of the material universe that God creates and affirms as “very good” (Genesis 1:31: Paul’s use of “flesh” in opposition to “spirit” describes, not the body as such, but human life in opposition to God).  Because “the Word became flesh and lived among us, revealing God’s glory, full of grace and truth (John 1:14), we may logically affirm that “good is the flesh that the Word has become.” By contrast, the early church acquired the increasingly powerful belief that the human body is shameful and distasteful, that sexual desire (seen as located in the body) is a temptation rather than a blessing, and that everything bodily is inferior to, and hostile to, our “spiritual” and “rational” nature ... Many worship traditions still act as if the body were an embarrassment.  We find it hard to talk or pray about bodily matters in worship.  Our seating patterns minimize movement, and our movement vocabulary is limited.  We stand, sit, crouch or kneel, pass the offering plate, and occasionally shake hands or hug each other as we pass the peace ... Yet God did not make us as brains walking on stilts, but as embodied beings.  The Word became flesh, not disembodied intelligence, and our body life enhances or diminishes our spiritual life.  Posture, eye contact, and body language help to shape our attitudes and relationships.  When we sing from the heart, with full voice, some of us use our bodies more thoroughly, perhaps, than at any other time in worship.  Our diaphragm expands to draw in air, which is expelled through the delicate muscles of the larynx, producing sound that resonates through the head, given meaning as tongue, teeth, jaw, and lips follow complex signals from the brain to form the words we sing.  Persuade a congregation to sing the first stanza of [their favorite hymn], giving it everything they’ve got so that the roof shakes, and you’ll hear what a bodily experience congregational singing can be and rediscover how bodily commitment invites a commitment of spirit.  Body and spirit are inseparable: ... When body attitude combines with deepest beliefs, [worshipers] are taken out of themselves into a heightened awareness of God, beauty, faith, and one another.