Laying on of Hands Discussion
Merry Christmas everyone,
I pray that you are getting blessed from these discussions, I am. I
received a few posts on laying on of hands. The first two that I
received were experiences almost identical to my own. I have also been
slain in the spirit and I have experienced the power going both ways.
The laying on of hands is a foundational doctrine, we cannot dispute it,
we cannot add to it, but with more faith we can experience the power and
not just leave it as a ceremonial function. Then we can go on.
Many things were mentioned here that can lead to more discussion. Or
not, we could just accept the power and move on if we all can agree to
the first two as being supernatural and with power. It was also
mentioned that it is something that cannot be taught, then I need to
change one page a bit to reflect not in teaching the gift but rather
teaching one to have the faith to receive the power. Brother Alan sent
in much and mentioned that there were some that improperly laid hands
on others. Virtue was mentioned below as to the power, also visions
when under the power, I have also felt the anointing in my hands. One respondent does not believe that there is anything supernatural in laying on of
hands, but traditional, maybe discussion here, others may see it as
completely supernatural. One man is sceptical of it which is fine but
more faith is certainly about to be received there in understanding that
the Lord is the source of what others receive as spiritual power.
Jay.
I have been a Christian for more than 10 years, but although I have
believed
in and lived around charismatic theology for most of my life, I have
only
experienced the mighty power and manifestations of the Holy Spirit in a
major way over the past three years. As for the topic of laying on of
hands,
here is my input:
I have been physically healed countless times through the laying on of
hands
(through others' as well as my own). I believe that faith is the key, as
stated in James 5 (which is only one example). There is such a stigma
with
the belief in divine healing, and questions often arise. I can't answer
all
of them, but I will say this--God does not get angry when we question.
In
fact, He wants us to question. How will we ever find truth otherwise? So
I
encourage everyone to focus on the Lord, and He will reveal exactly what
they need to know. However, it is very important to remember that His
timing
is much, much better than ours. This is something we often hear but do
not
accept. It's difficult to hand over the steering wheel and let Him take
control, but it's definitely the best thing to do. He will always guide
us
on the best path. He knows us better than we know ourselves. Just look
at
Psalm 139--He knew us before we were even born.
You asked if anyone had been slain in the spirit. I have fallen many
times,
and although each experience has been awesome, each has served a unique
purpose. God speaks in so many different ways, and one of the reasons He
has
slain me has been just to reassure me that He is in control, and that
His
love for me is greater than I will ever be able to comprehend. Remember
that
He will always leave the 99 sheep to bring back the lost one. That is an
encouragement. I believe that being slain has many purposes, and that we
should not focus on the act, but rather what God might be teaching us
through it--even if it is simply to rest in His arms.
You also asked about transmitting and receiving power through hands.
Besides
being physically healed, I have been ministered to mentally,
emotionally,
and spiritually through the laying on of hands. I believe that it is a
form
of agreement in prayer but can also work when the person receiving has
little or no faith. I have witnessed this many times, in myself and
others.
I will give more detail if you are interested in specific experiences.
As far as lifting holy hands and stretching my hands out to others...
There
is definite power in lifting hands to worship. Besides being a sign of
complete surrender, lifted hands form the shape of a funnel through
anointing flows directly to where it needs to go. Stretching hands out
to
others is a sign of agreement in prayer.
Jennifer Greagrey
Hi Jay:
From age 13, I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. From
that point
in my life, I grew up, mainly, in churches that were very free in the
gifts of the spirit being in operation. I have also been in churches
where the gifts of the spirit were either controlled or not allowed.
There are different reasons for "laying on of hands" as you
said,.....Impartation of gifts, mantles, healing,blessings, offices, and
anointings.
There are also different results of laying on of hands.
Different
times, (or people) that have prayed for me or I have prayed for..... had
different circumstances result. I have prayed for and have been prayed
for when the result was...... being slain in the spirit. I have never
been unconscious during any of these times though. I felt woozie when I
got up many times but not always. I have never had visions or had the
Lord talk to me during these times either....... I have had other
people
have visions for me though while I was under the spirit........ I have
received dreams and vision and heard the Lord speak to me directly, many
other times......... I have had visions when I was praying for someone
else.......... Sometimes I felt something,.... sometimes nothing,......
sometimes just a relaxing surrender........... I have felt the virtue
(or power) leaving me through my hands at times ......and other times
not...... I have felt anointing or a tingling in my arms and hands after
falling in the spirit........ I have felt the anointing on my hands and
mouth in this way, several times............ Once lately I saw and felt,
an electric spark as I laid hands on a friend at church........ But I
never know when this is going to happen and I don't feel led to pray
for
everyone..................so I don't have control of the gift.....God
decides when and where........and sometimes things can interrupt, and
the
prophecy will continue after the interruption is over. That happened
just the other night at a prayer meeting. I thought in my mind that the
prophecy would end because of the interruption. It did not, I continued
on as if nothing happened after just a minute.
My personal opinion is the Lord does things different ways so we
don't
get dependent on anything but HIM. He also knows our hearts and I think
if you are going after the sensations or manifestations,instead of
relationship with HIM, you are in danger of receiving another spirit
besides the Holy Spirit. (My opinion) To me it is very important that
the body of believers are free to worship in spirit and truth.
Balance
is the principle in all the scriptures. God is LOVE and we are to
become
like Him. He said we are to be wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove.
Many people's ideas are from doctrines they have been taught. If you
read the bible as a whole and let the Holy Spirit guide you.....it is
different than if you have learned doctrine or theology.
I don't believe everything you see out there that is labelled
"God's
moving" is. But I wouldn't want to do away with the real because the
false is out there too. The story of Moses in the palace of The Pharaoh
is one example. The Magicians and Moses did the same wonders for a
while, but there was a time when the Magicians could no longer compete
with the LIVING GOD.
The Lord says when we stand before Him there are those that will
say, "
Lord,Lord have I not done great wonders in your name." And He will say
,"Depart from me you workers of iniquity, I NEVER KNEW YOU."
You can't Love without relationship. God is Love so He is
relationship.
He didn't come to condemn the world, He came to save it. Many places I
see, more condemnation than love. The Lord showed me that Condemnation
comes from man and Conviction comes from the Holy Spirit.
I'm saying this because the churches I grew up in, condemned
people if
they didn't do things their way or have the "Manifestations of the Holy
Spirit" but they didn't even begin to know what love was all about.
And
these are not even the world they are supposed to be brothers and
sisters
in the Lord. The others say love is the only thing you need and lose
out on the benefits of the gifts of the spirit.
I say if you read the word and seek to KNOW HIM, you will find
the gifts
manifesting in your life automatically although; being taught that they
are not for today has caused a wall of unbelief for many that keeps them
from receiving. Timing is God's and we seem to think we know better
sometimes.
It is OK to share what the Lord has done in your experiences
with Him, I
don't think you have to teach people to impart the gifts. I think that
is God's job. There is too much today trying to teach people to do this
or that. What happened to just letting them feel free to do whatever
the
Holy Spirit is telling them to do? Can we trust God to do the work in
them?
I can remember when they were trying to teach people to speak in
tongues. Now there are seminars to teach you to heal people and I can't
identify with any of that. Imparting gifts is a bit different but I
really feel we need to consult the leading of the Lord before we do
anything. I have recently been told I could prophecy to anyone that
stood in front of me. If that is true why do I only feel led by the
Holy
Spirit to do this at certain times and only to certain people, not
everyone.? I don't feel like we should try to control the impartation
on
the gifts. That is doing it in ourselves or by another spirit , that we
open ourselves up to, if we aren't willing to wait on God. I don't
believe in commanding God to do anything. He is God, not us. We move
out in obedience to Him and His word and there is a fine line that has
been jumped over lately in the, "new moves of God", I think. These have
been my observations and experiences and I share them as such.
In the name of Y'shua,
Annette Hake
First, let me say that I am from a rather varied and curious
background.... raised in the Southern Baptist Church, then in the
Presbyterian USA church, educated at a charismatic / holiness / missions
college and currently pastor of an independant Christian church...
My love and passion is early church history....
Now then, on the laying on of hands...
certainly it is understood to be an ancient tradition... going back even
into the Old Testament, and connected with the annointing of the Kings.
I do not necessarily think there is anything supernatural about laying
on
hands... although I have personally experienced the refreshing of the
Holy Spirit as men of God have prayed over and for me with hands laid
on....
We are given the example by Paul and the commandment by James to anoint
and pray over the sick.... this would I suspect include the laying on of
hands.....
It is not a wierd or controversial thing.... it is orthodox and deeply
connected to our traditions....
For what it's worth...
Mark O.
Thank you Jay. I don't really have much to say about laying of the
hands
except that in general I'm skeptical of it. I little bio to help
everyone
know where I'm coming from:
I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church, but as I began to question
and
read the history of Christianity, it became clear to me that
Christianity in
general, whether Protestant or Catholic, has drifted in the wrong
direction,
so I found a Messianic Jewish congregation to attend. I feel that they
are
going in the right direction, but they don't have all of the answers
either,
so hopefully, as a group, we can get a clear vision of the ekklesia.
MEM
December 24, 1999
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