Following both oral tradition and the format in various published hymnals (including Hymns for Today's Church, 1982), Lift Up Your Hearts precedes Stassen-Benjamin's stanza with four other stanzas derived from early Christian liturgies and the "Easter Canticle," which quotes from 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 and 15:20-22. So the text contains biblical and liturgical phrasing familiar to all English-speaking Christians. Together these textual ingredients make a powerful praise chorus. Following the tradition of many praise choruses, other stanzas can be added, for example:
Jesus is risen from the dead!
Christ is the Lord of heav'n and earth.
Praise be to God forevermore!