Laying on of Hands
Laying on of hands
Laying on of one's hands is similar to that of anointing with oil in that the act itself doesn‘t accomplish anything, but rather, it‘s our faith put into action that makes the difference. The Lord tells us to do a variety of things because He knows that they encourage our faith in His strength and power. We can perform certain duties and actions ourselves but it’s His ability that produces the outcome, not ours.
There are many speculative reasons as to why God chose our hands to lay on others and to raise in praise to Him, but one of the most obvious is the fact that it’s our hands that we do the majority of our daily tasks with. Working, playing, picking up, setting down, … it’s all done with our hands, in most cases. It’s with our hands that we create and embrace, protect and let go, and realizing this, we can appreciate the value of our hands and the fact that God wants us to use them to “carry” out His will.
Many times, laying on of hands was used in dedicating someone to service in God, much like the anointing oil was used to separate and consecrate to the Lord.
“So you shall bring the Levites before the LORD, and
the children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites;
and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD,
like a wave offering from the children of Israel, that they
may perform the work of the LORD.”
Numbers 8:10-11
“And the LORD said to Moses: ‘Take Joshua the son
of Nun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and
lay your hand on him;
set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the
congregation, and inaugurate him in their sight.”
Numbers 27:18-19
“Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of
wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him;
so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as
the LORD had commanded Moses.”
Deuteronomy 34:9
“and the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they
chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit,
and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas,
a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles;
and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.”
Acts 6:6
“When they heard this, they were baptized in the name
of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them,
the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues
and prophesied.”
Acts 19:5-6
Some people use these verses to say that a person must lay hands on an individual in order for them to receive the Holy Spirit. However, there are other instances that prove differently as in the case of Peter’s ministry to the Gentiles when he spoke to Cornelius and the Holy Spirit came upon them without the laying on of hands. This and many other such cases show that it is not our act of laying hands on someone that invokes the Holy Spirit to abide with them, but rather, it is their faith in God’s gift that the Holy Spirit then comes upon them.
Laying on of hands can be a powerful illustration of the working of God’s power in and through our lives.
“Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you
by prophesy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.”
1 Timothy 4:14
Notice that the elders of the church both laid their hands upon
Timothy and prophesied according to God's will. How sad that
today very few men in the church who are in an eldership position
take to using the gifts of the Holy Spirit to minister in someone's life.
Laying one’s hands on someone for the purpose of the Lord was, and is, serious business and not to be taken lightly.
“Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins;
keep yourself pure.”
1 Timothy 5:22
There seems to be a very real connection with what we do and the
spiritual realm that wars against us,
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
places."
Ephesians 6:12
which should remind us that we must heed the voice of the LORD and
be holy (separate) for He is holy (Leviticus 11:44, 1 Peter 1:16).
The misuse or misunderstanding of laying hands on someone can be dangerous.
Notice Acts 8:14-24. The sorcerer Simon thought he could actually pay money to receive the “power” of giving the Holy Spirit to someone by laying hands on them. Peter’s response to Simon was this:
“Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!”
Laying on of hands ties us in with those we’re touching.
There is a personal connection made with touching someone, whom we
lay hands on in order to bless and dedicate to the Lord.
*This is because if we have fellowship with Yeshua then we
automatically have fellowship with those who are in Him.
On the flip side of this, if we have fellowship with the
Lord and we lay hands on someone (for the sake of
ministering to that individual) who does NOT then
we are struggling against the powers of darkness
that inhabit that unbeliever.
There is something to be said about one body - the body of Messiah. If we’re laying hands on one another but they are rejecting the will of God, then we have made ourselves susceptible to the enemy.
There are those who greatly misuse or imitate the gifts of the
Spirit for the sake of gain. Many well known t.v. evangelists
have garnered much reckognition for their "healing powers"
as they would lay hands on people and deliver them from
"sicknesses". However, we always see a pattern in these
cases that the attention is brought upon that individual rather
than the Holy Spirit of God Himself. The devil, who disguises
himself as a messenger of light, uses these people to draw
others away from the truth of Scripture.
When one who is truly using the gifts that God has given them does so for the absolute glory of God, the focus is always on the Lord. The individual who is ministering seems to disappear from people's attention, but he/she is rewarded by God for their service (Matthew 5:16, 3-4)
Writing to Timothy again, Paul says,
“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you
through the laying on of my hands.”
2 Timothy 1:6
Though the Lord did work some unusual miracles through Paul, the bible says, we must realize that, while He may not do the same through us, we are to still lay hands on those who are in need of the Lord’s healing touch as we pray for them, anoint them with oil, and lift them up before our Almighty God.
