In our fear of substituting substance for show, evangelical Christians have often ignored the power of our bodies. Kneeling, lying prostrate on the floor, or standing with hands uplifted in prayer can all be physical expressions of true postures of prayer – humility, brokenness and receptivity. Raising our hands in worship can be flamboyant, self-promoting and insensitive, or it can be the overflow of a heart of true praise and love for God.

When God tells us through St. Paul , “I urge you, therefore brethren, to present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to the Lord, which is your reasonable service of worship,” he meant it. Give God your body! It is hard to take our souls and bodies in two different places.

If our bodies are joined with a prostitute (1 Corinthians 6:15-20), we are joined with the prostitute. If our bodies are drunk with wine, we are filled with a substitute source of joy and peace besides the Holy Spirit, and that is a huge spiritual problem (see Ephesians 5:18). If our bodies express humble receptivity, there’s a good chance we can be humble and receptive to the sustaining life of Christ we are receiving by faith.

-Steven Breedlove, “Walking the Liturgical Path“