Laying on of Hands Discussion

December 24, 1999

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

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