LAYING OF HANDS

FOUNDATION SERIES ON THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST (VI)

LAYING OF HANDS

SCRIPTURE:

'He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf. Leviticus 1:4

And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them. Mark 10:16

… they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." Mark 16:18

Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Acts 8:17

For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 2 Timothy 1:6

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. Acts 13:2-3

So the LORD said to Moses, "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; Numbers 27:18

Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. 1 Timothy 5:22

OBSERVATION:

We first see the laying of hands in the Old Testament when the priest would lay his hands on the animal used as the burnt offering, and the guilt and sin of the worshipper would be transferred to the animal. This already gives us a picture of how hands are used as a conduit of transference of something from one place to another.

When Jesus walked the earth, a beautiful scene often in our memories is that of Jesus letting the little children come to him. He would take them in His arms and bless them, laying His hands upon them. Blessings would flow from the Lord to them through His hands.

The Lord also laid hands on people to administer healing. In the same way, healing power would flow through His hands, to heal people. Later, He also asked His disciples to do the same, to lay their hands on the sick that they would recover.

Laying of hands was also important in administering the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as recorded in the book of Acts. Spiritual gifts and anointing were also transferred through the laying of hands, like in Timothy’s case.

Also, the early church practiced laying of hands to commission new elders. Paul warned Timothy not to be hasty in particular to this commissioning, as to appoint an ill-suited elder could bring considerable damage to the church.

APPLICATION

Laying of hands should be a vital part of our Christian lives. Parents should often lay hands on their children and bless them in Jesus name. Whenever anyone in our family or friendship circle is sick, we should lay hands on them and speak healing in Jesus name. We can even lay hands on ourselves to pray for blessing or healing in particular areas.

In church life, we can ask our trusted leaders to lay their hands on us to bless us and administer the Holy Spirit and His gifts upon us. Leaders should lay hands on mission teams going out to minister, and also lay their hands on new members or leaders of ministry.

PRAYER

We bless You and thank You, Heavenly Father, for teaching us to lay hands. Help us remember, Lord, to reach out and bless others and bring Your healing to others, and even to ourselves. Increase our faith that we might believe, and expect Your work to be done  faithfully in our lives. May Your will be done in our lives, and help us grow more and more to know You deeply. In Jesus name, Amen.                    

Faith in healing

Faith in healing

Was listening to Pastor Robert Ssesanga’s message during the Healing Service in SIBKL recently and there were several important lessons for us to take note of.

When Jesus came and ministered upon the earth, He healed all the sick and cast out all the demons from those who came to Him. This established the fact that it is God’s will to heal everyone. The leper who came to Jesus said “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean”. However, this is not the correct way to pray, because it is the Lord’s will to heal because it is written, by His stripes, we are healed.

Jesus showed God’s will to heal when He walked upon the earth, and when He went back to the Father, He then sent His Holy Spirit to His disciples, that they may continue His ministry of healing. Who is able to heal others? Those who believe, as it is written, these signs will accompany those who believe – in my name, they will cast out demons, in my name, they will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover.

When we study the pattern of Jesus’ healing in the gospels, we see at least three distinct ways that the Lord healed people. Firstly, Jesus laid His hands on the sick and they were healed. In the book of Acts, we see the same pattern. Through Peter’s hands, people were healed. Through Paul’s hands, people were healed. Our hands are a conduit of God’s healing power, from point A to point B, from the living God to the person who is sick. When we lay our hands, we sometimes feel heat, which is the power of God, and sometimes we don’t, but the important thing is for us to believe. We are laying hands in Jesus name according to the Word of God, and so that person must be healed.

Secondly, Jesus at times spoke and brought about healing purely through His Word. He spoke to the paralytic “Stand up, take up your mat and go home”, and he did!  He spoke to the man whose hand was shriveled, “Stretch our your hand” and he did. We can receive healing by hearing and believing the Word of God even without any physical touch. The centurion believed Jesus’ word that his servant would be healed and he was healed that very hour.

Thirdly, Jesus healed even when someone touched his cloak. The woman with the issue of blood believed that if she could only touch his cloak, she would be healed and the moment she did, she was. The Lord felt power go out of Him and called out the woman and confirmed her healing. Later, in the Acts of the apostles, people brought the sick so that perhaps even Peter’s shadow might fall upon them and they were healed. Articles of clothing that Paul touched were also able to transmit healing to people far away. The healing passed from God to Paul to the article of clothing or handkerchief and brought healing to the sick person who touched the same article in faith.

In respect of receiving healing and imparting healing, the most important factor is faith. We must believe and keep believing that God’s Word is true, and healing is happening. In Jesus’ time, He could not do miracles in his hometown because of their lack of faith. We need the power of God and faith together to see miracles. The power of God without faith does not work. Sometimes, healing is not immediate. Some people comes back for prayer three, four times. Do not give up, but press on in faith. Believe that you are healed despite the symptoms and eventually God’s Word must come to pass!

He touched their eyes

He touched their eyes

Scripture:-

As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.” Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him Matthew 20:29-34

Observation:-

Great, loud shouts filled the air to the consternation of the Jericho crowd. “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” The two blind men screamed at the top of their lungs, louder and louder. The irritated crowd rebuked them over their incessant noise, but they would not be denied. Here was the only opportunity they had to receive their sight. In all likelihood, they would not ever have this chance again. Their disability was against them. The crowd was against them. But they did not give up. They called and they called, confident that Jesus could heal them if He would only stop and notice them.

Sure enough, the Lord stopped and called them to Him. “What do you want me to do for you?” The crowd hushed to a whisper, even as the blind men asked desperately “Lord, we want our sight”. And the Lord had compassion on them and touched their eyes. The crowd had no compassion for them. They cared not whether the blind men could be healed or not. They were interested in their own selves, their own needs. The blind men were totally unimportant to them. But not to the Lord. The Lord cared for them. The Lord identified with them. Tdhe Lord felt their suffering, their helplessness with them.

The Lord could have healed them with a Word, but He chose to heal them with a touch. When God touched man, divine power flowed through His hands to their eyes, bringing complete healing. They received their sight immediately and followed Jesus. Unlike the 9 lepers who went away and forgot about Jesus, these two blind men immediately set out to follow the Lord.

Application

Let us pray to be more compassionate like Jesus, who cared for the least of society – the disabled, the disadvantaged, the weak and feeble. He felt their pain, their helplessness, their frustrations. He came so that He may walk among us and be one of us, in all our frailties and weaknesses. Blessed be His holy name.

Let us also learn from the blind men who sought Jesus with such desperation and hope. Their actions proved their faith, for they did not stop crying until the Lord acknowledged them. How hard do we pray? Are all we have half-hearted prayers and boring, routine prayers? How much time do we spend seeking the Lord, enjoying His presence?

The touch of one human being to another has great value. It introduces a bond, a connection, a sharing. In the act of laying on of hands, we act as a conduit bringing God’s healing or blessing or protection through prayer to the person we are praying for.

Remember how the blind men immediately followed Jesus after their healing. The Lord heals us and blesses us for a purpose, to glorify His name! We are not healed or blessed for our own sake alone.

Physically, most of us can see well, although many of us may need spectacles. Nevertheless, we can be spiritually blind, blind in our perceptions, blind in our thinking, blind to the needs of others. We too need to ask Jesus to open our spiritual eyes and help us see.

Prayer:

We praise thee Father in Heaven for the glory of Thy name. Just as You are compassionate and gracious, help us be compassionate and gracious to others. Forgive our apathy, our blindness, our lack of concern for the many who suffer even among us. Change our hearts that we may see those in need, and be motivated to pray for them, to help them, to hope the best for them.

Help us seek You earnestly and passionately, Lord, Give us fresh hearts, fresh vision, Be with us O Lord for we are Your channels. Let Your power flow though our hands that we might  pass Your blessings to many. Let us always remember Your great sacrifice for us, that we might also follow You. May Your name be praised O Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

                  

Lessons from Visitation

Lessons from Visitation With Pastor Aynee

1. Bold proclamation of God’s truths, and God’s love, and salvation through Jesus Christ
2. Sickness and death comes not from God but from the devil for the devil came to steal, to kill and to destroy.
3. Jesus Christ came to give life, and life to the full.
4. These signs will accompany those who believe in Jesus Christ, they will cast out demons, they will heal the sick, they will drink poison and be bitten by snakes but not be harmed. Even when undergoing chemo, claiming promise of God for good cells not to be harmed by the poison.
5. Choose life. Don’t give up. He who has the Son has life, he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
6. Let fever burn away and burn away the dross with it.
7. Rebuke fever based on Scripture (just as Jesus rebuked the fever of Simon Peter’s mother) – Actually had immediate effect as after the prayer, Wong’s fever went off.
8. Ask patient to cry “Jesus, help me” 
9. Leave choice to the sick to ask for Pastor to return and continue praying. Seeking confirmation of God’s work
10. Number of 4, a good intercessory number, friends of paralyzed man3Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them

- Bleeding

Matthew 4:23-24

23Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.

Matthew 9:20-22
20Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."
 22Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.