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Why Lifting Your Hands in Worship Is Spiritual Warfare

“Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.” — Psalm 134:2

Have you ever been in a worship service where you wanted to lift your hands… but something held you back?

Maybe it was fear. Insecurity. Or just not understanding why it even mattered.

But, can I tell you something?

There is supernatural power in the simple act of lifting your hands to God.

Your Hands Are a Weapon

In Exodus 17, Moses stood on a hill as the Israelites fought the Amalekites. And scripture says that as long as his hands were raised, Israel was winning.

But when his hands dropped… the enemy started to win.

Your worship posture is connected to your spiritual victory.

Lifting your hands—what the Bible calls “Yadah” praise—isn’t just symbolic. It’s strategic.

It’s surrender, yes. But it’s also warfare.

When you raise your hands, you’re declaring:

• I trust You, Lord.
• This battle is Yours.
• I am choosing praise instead of fear.

Your...

4 Powerful Prayers for Embracing Simplicity in a Distracted World

In a world constantly shouting do more, be more, buy more, our souls are aching for less. But not just less noise—they’re craving more of Jesus. The spiritual discipline of simplicity is about living with an undivided heart, choosing what matters most, and surrendering the distractions that pull us away from God’s presence.

If you’ve felt overwhelmed, spiritually cluttered, or disconnected, these 4 prayer points will help you realign with the peace and purpose found only in Christ.

1. Lord, give me an undivided heart.

“Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.” — Psalm 86:11

The root of spiritual simplicity is singular focus. When our hearts are divided—half for God, half for everything else—our worship suffers. Pray for a heart that chases only Him.

Prayer:
Father, I confess that my heart has been distracted and divided. I’ve been pulled in so many directions, and...

Spring is here!

The birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and it’s the perfect time to teach our little ones about faith, worship, and the beauty of God’s creation. 🌿✨

But how can we take advantage of this season to help our kids grow spiritually? That’s exactly why we created the NEW PraiseKids SPRING into Praise - The Power of Sound digital download! 🎉

This 35+ page resource is packed with faith-filled activities, a hands-on gardening project, and a powerful devotional that will bring your family closer to God—all for just $7!

Why This Year’s SPRING into Praise is Extra Special!

🌼 Totally Revamped & Full of New Content!
This isn’t just another devotional—it’s an interactive experience designed to engage your kids in creative ways! From learning about the power of sound in worship to getting their hands dirty in the garden, this download is unlike any we’ve ever created before!

🌱 A Hands-On Gardening Project to Teach Faith!
Children will plant real seeds while learning how fa...

The wait is over!

Announcing our new online Bible study: DEEPLY ROOTED 🌳

Starting Monday, January 6, 2025, learn how to be disciplined to seek God & stay planted in every season.

SEEKING TO DEEPLY ROOT YOURSELF IN THE LORD?

🌳 Our study is crafted to guide you through an introspective journey across 12 spiritual disciplines: Bible Study, Meditation, Confession, Worship, Prayer, Fasting, Simplicity, Stillness, Obedience, Giving, Joy, and Fellowship.

🌳 Whatever your current life season, these disciplines are designed to foster growth, instill peace, and breathe life into your spiritual journey.

🌳 The application of these disciplines varies from person to person and from season to season, but their purpose remains the same: to know God more intimately and to be more like Him...HOLY.

Join us weekly beginning, Monday, January 6, 2025 @ 8pm!

Need the Zoom link? Register here: www.soulofworship.com/onlinebiblestudy

In the heart of every worshiper lies a desire to connect more deeply with our Savior, Jesus Christ.

At the Soul of Worship Ministry, we strive to create avenues for this profound connection through weekly in-depth online Bible studies, encouraging social media content, and in-person community events. This month, we're inviting you to be a part of something special.

With every donation of $50 or more, we're offering a token of our gratitude: a mystery bag valued at over $75, filled with ministry merchandise designed to inspire and uplift your worship journey.

This is not just a bag of goodies; it's a treasure trove of faith, hope, and love.

Your generous support enables us to continue our work and touch more lives.

Together, we can foster a community of worshipers who are empowered to release an authentic sound of worship that moves mountains and brings heaven down!

 Are you ready to discover what mysteries await?

Make your donation today and join us in spreading the joy and po...

LAUNCHING...🚀
The new Daily Devotions with Soul of Worship Ministry Facebook Group!

For quite some time now, the LORD has been nudging me to start some type of "Daily Devotions" but I have to admit that I was afraid of the daily commitment. After all, I'm a wife, homeschooling mom of 2 and now a puppy mom. Not to mention all of the ministerial responsibilities I hold at our local church.

"Teach them how to worship," I'd hear the Holy Spirit say.

"LORD, I already do a weekly Bible study on worship and work daily on supporting the Soul of Worship Ministry. What else do you want me to do?"

"Show up daily."

After much prayer, and wrestling with the LORD, I feel like I've gotten the download on how to start this Daily Devotions initiative.

In full transparency, I was originally looking at building a networking area within my website. BUT, it was too complicated and I think I was overthinking it. After spending all this time building something new, will people login daily to my website?...

 "And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” 

Mark 2:22

When we think of a grape vine, we know that it bears grapes. And what is the process of the grape? We could eat it as is, off of the vine, or we can press it to make juice, or we can make sweet wine.

To create wine, first you would need to grow the grapes, then harvest, crush, process, ferment, pressurize, filter...it’s a meticulous process!

The best wine is aged so you also need to add patience to the list of steps. Once you are done with this process, wouldn’t you want to protect this wine you just made?

Jesus says that He is the vine and we are the branches (John 15:5).

When we bear fruit, we bear these grapes and God Himself takes the time to process us. Jesus states, "Why would we put new wine into old wineskins?"

Why would we take the chance of losing the wine He worked so pa...

Many of us know that Psalm 119 is the LONGEST psalm in the Bible.

But why is Psalm 119 so long? What makes Psalm 119 so robust and special?

On Monday night during our online Bible study Zoom chat, we began the process of dissecting this skillfully written masterpiece and try to uncover some of its hidden jewels of revelation.

I felt like my head was going to explode even as we talked about just the first 16 verses! 

God's Word is so precious.

No wonder this psalmist felt it necessary to write 176 verses that give glory to God for the excellencies of His Word!  

Here are some fun facts about Psalm 119 that you might not know.

1. Psalm 119 is written in the style of an acrostic poem.

2. Psalm 119 is divided up into 22 sections, each section representing a letter of the Hebrew Alphabet.

3. Each of the 22 sections of Psalm 119 has exactly 8 verses, and in the Hebrew, each verse starts with the Hebrew letter it is assigned.

4. The Hebrew alphabet is pictographic in nature so each ...

How do we overcome discouraging naysayers? 

1 Samuel 17:28
Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”

Here we are in the story of David and Goliath.

David was sent by his father to take food to his brothers and found himself witnessing Goliath’s taunts. Curious, David begins to ask what is happening and here comes his oldest brother.

In this verse Eliab is upset with David and insults him, even tried to tell him his heart is in the wrong posture.

Imagine if David would have gotten dismayed by this and left?

This story would have turned out a lot different.

Often, we are sent on divine appointments to fulfill God’s purpose, but the enemy will use someone to discourage us or set limitations on us because he knows what we...

 

 

 

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Are You Struggling to Implement a Gratitude Practice?

I recently spoke with Carlisle Russell from FaithGateway about practicing gratitude as a Christian, the struggles we commonly face, and how to take actionable steps to add gratitude to your daily Christian walk.

In this 20 minute discussion, we answered the following community questions:

1. What does it look like to live a life of thankfulness in your heart to God?
2. As you consider God, what are 3 aspects of His character that make you thankful?
3. Why is gratitude an important quality in your Christian life?
4. What does gratitude look like outside of the home? For example at work or outside in the community?
5. How can we explain gratitude to our children? 
6. In what ways do you struggle to be thankful?

Click on the video above to hear our discussion o...