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-- © GodSpeak International 1999 --
-- Do not republish without written permission from <copyright@godspeak.org > --

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND CONTRIBUTING RESOURCES
Author: Fred Kelly <fredkelly@prodigy.net>
Editors: Teresa Seputis, Al Vesper

Prophetic-School MiniTraining Series

Laying on of Hands

The Impartation of the Anointing

Course 8 -- Part 2

Healing the Sick by the Laying on of Hands

2 Timothy 1:6 "For which cause I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee through the laying on of my hands."

Romans 1:11 "For I greatly desire to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to establish you;"

The laying on of hands includes three principal areas: 1, The healing of the sick. 2, The impartation of the Holy Spirit (this includes the gifts of the Holy Spirit as seen in 1 Cor. 12). 3, Practices of commissioning for the ministry. We will look at: The prophet and the laying on of hands in each lesson.

In this lesson we will look at healing and the laying on of hands. Please note that this is ONLY one of many ways that healing comes. There is anointing with oil as in Mark 6:13 "And they drove out many unclean spirits and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them." And there is prayer for healing by the elders, as per James 5:14-15 "call the elders and have them anoint with oil and pray." Also we can just speak the healing word as Jesus did.

In this lesson, we are going to look at just one of these methods, healing through the laying on of hands. Jesus Himself told us that the believers will lay hand on the sick. Mark 16:18b: "they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." Jesus did this as He walked here on the earth. The New Testament has numerous accounts of Jesus laying hands on people to heal them. Jesus walked in the office of a prophet (we also see that Jesus walked in all of the offices of Eph. 4:11) so all that he did is an example for us to follow. We read this account from the early season of His ministry: Luke 4:40 "Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them."

One might ask "what is so important about the laying on of hands?" As Christianity evolved from the days of the early church, laying on of hands was considered an extension or adaptation of a natural human action. However, it was also an act of impartaoni. The act of laying on of hands shows one of three things:

1st
The person laying on hands may be imparting spiritual blessings or gifts or authority to the one whom hands are laid on.
2nd
The person laying on hands may be acknowledging publicly some spiritual gift or authority that has already been received from God by the person on whom hands are laid.
3rd
The person laying on hands may be publicly committing to God the person to whom some special task or ministry is given by the laying on of hands.

Some times, all three purposes are combined in the same act of laying on of hands. Let us take a short journey through the Old Testament to see the importance of this...

Laying on of hands in these contexts is first mentioned in Genesis 48:14 "And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the first-born." (ASV)

In this passage we see that it was an accepted practice that Jacob's blessings should be imparted to his two grandsons by the laying on of his hands upon their heads; the greater blessing was imparted through Jacob's right hand, lesser with the left hand.

In Numbers 27 we see that Moses a prophet of God at the end of his ministry laid hands on Joshua to appoint a new leader, we read:

18 "And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom [is] the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; 19 And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight. 20 And thou shalt put [some] of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient."

Now we can see the result of this in Deuteronomy 34:9 "And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses."

These passages give us an understanding of the importance of laying on of hands. This was of great significance both for Joshua himself individually and for the congregation of Israel. Moses a prophet of God accomplished two things by this spiritual act ordained of God: 1st Moses imparted to Joshua a measure of the spiritual wisdom and honor which he Moses had received from God. 2nd Moses publicly acknowledged to the children of Israel God's appointment of Joshua to succeed him. We can see that Paul in Romans 1:11 speaks of the same act (impartation of spiritual gifts)

Romans 1:11
For I greatly desire to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to establish you;

Elisha a prophet of God used his hands to impart healing as part of what he did to bring life to the dead boy. This shows we need to do as God tells us to do in his word. Let us look at what happened:

2 Kings 4:33
He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD. 34 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. 35 Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.

Now let us look at the NT: Jesus Himself in His commission to His disciples said:

Mark 16:17
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Here we see five supernatural signs which follow the preaching of the gospel and may be claimed by all believers through faith in Jesus name. The laying on of hands in the name of Jesus is a way whereby physical healing may be ministered to the sick.

The laying on of hands is one of the conduits through which the healing power of God flows. When the prophet or any believer lays hands on some one in this context of healing it imparts the supernatural healing power of God to the person on whom hands are laid. Very often this person will feel within his/her own body supernatural (dunamis {doo'-nam-is}) power of God at work. At times there will not be a feeling of the power supernaturally even though there was an impartation of healing, this is where faith will result in a healing. 2 Cor. 5:7 "for through faith we walk, not through sight" (YLT)

Walk in your anointing which God has given to you, and using it in obedience to God, and to bless others. This is one of the keys to seeing the dunamis power being imparted to those who need a healing.

Walk in your calling, your anointing, (1 John 2:20) "And ye have an anointing from the Holy One. 27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you"). Walk as the Master Prophet Jesus did, for He has shown us the way.

The following are some scriptures to show Jesus working under and in the anointing:

First let us look at Luke 4:18
18 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Mark 8:23-25
23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. 24 And he looked up, and said, "I see men as trees, walking." 25 After that he put [his] hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

Luke 4:40
Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.

Luke 13:11-13
11 And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up [herself]. 12 And when Jesus saw her, he called [her to him], and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. 13 And he laid [his] hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

Acts 9:17-18
17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, [even] Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.

Acts 28:8
And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him.

It is important to give scriptural instruction to all who ask to have hands laid on them for healing. They should be told of the necessity of holding on in active faith until the healing comes and is complete.

One word of caution must be given here: Laying on of hands can be a powerful experience, a temporary interaction between two spirits through which supernatural power is released. Normally the power flows from the one laying on hands to the one on whom hands are laid, but at times it can flow the opposite way. This could come from a demon, depending on the one who has hands laid on them. This is why Paul said in 1 Timothy 5:22 "Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure." So we need to be prayed up and walking in a fresh anointing, today's anointing, not yesterday's anointing, and covered by the blood of Jesus; also binding the powers of darkness and loosing the power of the Holy Spirit and having a believer agree and pray with us. This can be done as an ongoing thing for we never know when we will be used of God. When we do this there need not be any alarm about laying on of hands.

Now, you ask, how does this relate to the prophetic? It relates because the Holy Spirit is the one who gives us the gifts we need to minister. The Lord often ties the prophetic closely to the realm of physical healing. For instance, God frequently gives words of knowledge about conditions that He desires to heal. Or He releases a supernatural wisdom or discerning of spirits to be used in this type of ministry. See 1 Cor. 12:8,9,10.

Those of us who operate in a prophetic gifting need to be open to be used in many different ways, including healing. Some of you have already experienced this. Others of you have not.. but those who have not must not assume that God will move today precisely like he moved yesterday. We must continue to seek Him for a fresh anointing, for today's anointing instead of relying on yesterday's anointing. We must be open to however God wants to use us. We must draw close to Him and prepare ourselves, and we must be careful not to forsake gathering together to pray and seek Him for direction and for anointing.. there is much anointing in unity (see Psalms 133:1-3). Personally, God uses me in healing as well as in prophetic ministry. I meet each Monday with four others who are in prophetic ministry. We discuss the prophetic words which have come in the church service. We also pray for each other, the church, and gather to ask what God is saying to the church today. We desire to stay sharp and alert to what God is doing now.. so we won't miss anything and so that we can minister effectively with Him in whatever He is doing.

Discussion Questions:

The next lesson is on the impartation of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (this includes the gifts of the Holy Spirit as seen in 1 Cor. 12).



-- © GodSpeak International 1999 --
-- Do not republish without written permission from <copyright@godspeak.org > --


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