Lift beams, say (5)
I believe the answer is:
raise
'lift' is the definition.
(I know that lift can be written as raise)
'beams say' is the wordplay.
'beams' becomes 'rays' (rays of light).
'say' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'rays' sounds like 'RAISE'.
(Other definitions for raise that I've seen before include "Breed" , "What a poker player might do" , "Increased earnings in America" , "climb" , "Bring up; levy" .)