61_The Laying on of Hands.pdf

Volume XVI, Issue 1

L EGACY

T HE T EACHING

OF D EREK P RINCE

The Laying on of Hands

Imparting blessing, authority and healing

Had it been left merely to human understanding to decide which are the six basic doctrines

of the Christian faith, it is quite probable that this doctrine of laying on of hands would

never have been included. However, in the last resort, the best commentary on the Bible is

the Bible itself. In this teaching letter, we will be examining the aspects of the fourth of these

doctrines—the laying on of hands.

hat precisely are we to understand by this

phrase, “laying on of hands”? It is an act in

which one person places his hands upon the

body of another person, with some definite spiritual

purpose. Normally this act is accompanied either by

prayer, a prophetic utterance, or both.

Outside the sphere of religion, this act of laying on

of hands is not something strange or foreign to normal

human behavior. For example, in some parts of the

world, when two men meet who are friends, it is

normal for them to lay their hands upon each other’s

shoulder. This act constitutes an acknowledgment of

their friendship and of their pleasure at meeting each

other. Or when a mother has a child complaining of a

headache or fever, it is quite natural—in fact, almost

instinctive—for the mother to place her hand upon her

child’s brow and in this way soothe or caress the child.

Within the sphere of religion, the practice of laying

on of hands may thus be considered as an extension or

an adaptation of what is basically a natural human

action. As a religious act, the laying on of hands

normally signifies one of three possible things.

First, the person laying on hands may thereby

transmit spiritual blessing or authority to the one upon

whom hands are laid; second, the person laying on

hands may thereby acknowledge publicly some spiritual

blessing or authority already received from God by the

one upon whom hands are laid; third, the person laying

on hands may thereby publicly commit to God for some

special task or ministry the one upon whom hands are

laid. At times, all these three purposes may be combined

in one and the same act of laying on hands.

Two Old Testament Precedents

If we now turn directly to the Bible, we find that the

laying on of hands was already an accepted practice in

the earliest records of God’s people, as provided by the

book of Genesis. For instance, in Genesis 48:14 we

read how Joseph brought his two sons (Ephraim and

Volume XVI, Issue 1

Manasseh) to his father Jacob to

receive Jacob’s blessing:

for Moses to make provision for

this need is recorded in Numbers

27:18–20:

By this divinely ordained act,

Moses accomplished two main

purposes. First, he transmitted to

Joshua a measure of the spiritual

wisdom and honor that he had

received from God; second, he

publicly acknowledged before the

whole congregation of Israel God’s

appointment of Joshua as the

leader who was to succeed him.

Then Israel [Jacob] stretched

out his right hand and laid it on

Ephraim’s head, who was the

younger, and his left hand on

Manasseh’s head, guiding his

hands knowingly, for Manasseh

was the firstborn.

And the L ORD said to Moses:

“Take Joshua the son of Nun

with you, a man in whom is the

Spirit, and lay your hands on

him; set him before Eleazar the

priest and before all the congre-

gation, and inaugurate him in

their sight. And you shall give

some of your authority to him,

that all the congregation of the

children of Israel may be

obedient.”

At first, Joseph thought his

father had made a mistake, and he

tried to make his father switch his

hands, placing the right hand

upon the head of Manasseh, the

firstborn, and the left hand upon

the head of Ephraim, the younger.

However, Jacob indicated that he

had been conscious of divine

guidance in placing his right hand

upon Ephraim and his left hand

upon Manasseh. With his hands

still crossed in this position, he

then proceeded to bless the two

boys, giving the first and greater

blessing to Ephraim and the lesser

blessing to Manasseh.

This passage shows plainly that

it was an accepted practice that the

blessing of Jacob should be trans-

mitted to his two grandsons by

laying his hands upon their heads;

and, furthermore, that the greater

blessing was transmitted through

Jacob’s right hand and the lesser

through his left hand.

For our second example, we

read that as Moses came near to the

end of his earthly ministry he

asked the Lord to appoint a new

leader over Israel who should be

ready to take Moses’ place. The

way in which the Lord ordained

New Testament

Ordinances for Healing

Let us now turn to the New

Testament and see what part this

ordinance of laying on of hands

plays there. We shall find that

there are five distinct purposes for

which laying on of hands may be

used, according to the precepts

and examples of the New Testa-

ment. They are: the laying on of

hands for physical healing, to

impart the baptism in the Holy

Spirit, for imparting spiritual gifts,

for sending out Christian workers

from the local church, and for the

appointment of deacons or elders.

The first of these purposes

(which is the only one we will be

looking at in this study) is directly

associated with the ministry of

physical healing. It is authorized

by Jesus Himself in His final com-

mission to His disciples at the close

of His earthly ministry, as recorded

in Mark 16:17–18. In these verses

Jesus appoints five supernatural

signs that are to accompany the

preaching of the gospel and which

may be claimed by all believers

through faith in the name of Jesus.

The way in which Moses carried

out this commandment of the Lord

is recorded in verses 22 and 23 of

the same chapter:

So Moses did as the L ORD

commanded him. He took Joshua

and set him before Eleazar the

priest and before all the

congregation. And he laid his

hands on him and inaugurated

him, just as the L ORD commanded

by the hand of Moses.

The result produced in Joshua is

recorded in Deuteronomy 34:9:

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

L ORD had commanded Moses.

From these passages we see that

this act of Moses laying his hands

upon Joshua was one of great

significance both for Joshua

individually and for the whole

congregation of Israel collectively.

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Volume XVI, Issue 1

The fifth of these supernatural

signs appointed by Jesus is:

In this way the two ordinances are

combined in one. However, this

need not necessarily be so. It is

perfectly scriptural to lay hands on

the sick without anointing them

with oil. Likewise, it is perfectly

scriptural to anoint the sick with

oil without laying hands on them.

The question naturally arises: Is

there any difference in use or

purpose between these two or-

dinances—that is, laying hands on

the sick and anointing the sick with

oil? Are there times or situations

when it is more appropriate to use

one ordinance rather than the other?

And if so, what are the scriptural

principles guiding their use?

therefore that this ordinance of

anointing with oil is intended

primarily for those who already

profess faith in Christ and are

associated with a Christian church.

The second important lesson

contained in this passage from the

epistle of James is that God expects

Christians to associate themselves

with a church and that the leaders

of this church should be ready to

minister in faith, according to the

Scripture, to the physical needs of

their church members. The phrase,

“ Let him call for the elders of the

church, and let them pray over him,

anointing him with oil in the name of

the Lord” carries both of these

implications: first, that every

Christian is associated with a

church in such a way that its

leaders both know him and are

known to him; and second, that

these leaders are ready to minister

physical healing to its members in

faith, according to the ordinances

appointed by God for the church.

If we now turn back to the other

ordinance of laying hands on the

sick, as set forth in Mark 16, we

shall see that the context suggests

that this ordinance is intended to

go together with the preaching of

the gospel to the unconverted—

that its primary use is therefore for

those who are not yet converted or

who have newly come to the faith.

We form this conclusion from

the fact that this, like the other

supernatural signs ordained by

Jesus, follows immediately after

His commandment to evangelize

the whole world, as given to His

“And these signs will follow

those who believe: In My name

they will . . . lay hands on the

sick, and they will recover.”

Here the laying on of hands in

the name of Jesus is appointed as a

means whereby physical healing

may be ministered to those who

are sick. Later on in the New

Testament, in James 5:14–15,

another slightly different ordin-

ance is appointed:

Is anyone among you sick? Let

him call for the elders of the

church, and let them pray over

him, anointing him with oil in

the name of the Lord. And the

prayer of faith will save the

sick, and the Lord will raise him

up. And if he has committed

sins, he will be forgiven.

For Christians

The passage in the epistle of

James about anointing with oil

begins with the following words:

“Is anyone among you sick? Let him

call for the elders of the church.”

Since the epistle of James is

addressed primarily to professing

Christians (although among the

Jewish people), the phrase “among

you” would seem to refer mainly to

believers. This fits in also with the

commandment that immediately

follows: “Let him call for the elders of

the church.”

A person who made no pro-

fession of faith and was not

associated with a Christian church

would not be included in the

phrase “among you”; nor would

such a person know who the

church elders were for whom he

should send. It would seem

The ordinance here appointed is

that of anointing the sick with oil

in the name of the Lord.

Both of these ordinances alike

are effective only through the

exercise of faith in the name of the

Lord Jesus. In the case of anointing

with oil, it is specifically stated that

prayer must accompany this act. In

the passage about laying hands on

the sick in Mark’s gospel, no speci-

fic mention is made of prayer.

However, in most cases it would be

natural to pray for the sick person

as well as lay hands on him.

Again, when anointing the sick

with oil, it often seems natural—

indeed, almost instinctive—to lay

hands upon them at the same time.

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Volume XVI, Issue 1

disciples in Mark 16:15–17:

are members of churches, but rather

for the unconverted or for those

who have newly come to the faith.

In what way will healing come

as a result of the laying on of

hands? The Scripture does not give

any precise or detailed answer to

this question. Jesus says merely,

“They will lay hands on the sick, and

they will recover.” In place of the

phrase “they will recover,” we

might translate alternatively, “they

will become well,” or more simply

still, “they will be well.”

By these words of Jesus, two

things remain within the sov-

ereignty of God: the precise way in

which healing will be manifested,

and the precise length of time that

the process of healing will take.

Side by side with this we may set

the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians

12:6: “And there are diversities of

activities [operations] , but it is the

same God who works all in all.” In

this matter of laying hands on the

sick, there are what Paul calls

“diversities of operation.” That is,

the process of healing does not

always operate in the same way

each time.

In one case, the laying on of

hands may be a channel through

which the supernatural gift of

healings operates. In such a case,

the person who lays on hands by

this act transmits the supernatural

healing virtue, or power, of God to

the body of the one on whom

hands are laid; and very often this

latter person actually feels within

his own body the supernatural

power of God.

And He said to them, “Go into

all the world and preach the

gospel to every creature. He

who believes and is baptized

will be saved; but he who does

not believe will be condemned.

And these signs will follow those

who believe . . .”

Gradual process?

At other times, however, there is

no sensation of power at all, but the

laying on of hands is simply an act of

naked faith and of obedience to

God’s Word. However, if there is

genuine faith, healing will follow

even though there may be no

dramatic or supernatural experience.

Again, Christ does not specify

the length of time that the healing

process will take. Sometimes com-

plete healing is received instantly,

as soon as hands are laid upon the

sick person. At other times, how-

ever, healing comes only as a

gradual process. In this latter case

it is most important that the per-

son seeking healing shall continue

to exercise active faith until the

process of healing is complete.

Taken from an article in

Renewal magazine.

Jesus then goes on immediately to

enumerate the five supernatural

signs, ending with the healing of the

sick through the laying on of hands.

This indicates that each one of these

supernatural signs, including the

healing of the sick, is intended by

God to bear testimony to the divine

truth and authority of the gospel

message in places where this message

has not previously been heard.

This is in line with the account

of the disciples’ evangelistic ac-

tivity with which Mark’s gospel

closes—that is, in Mark 16:20:

And they went out and

preached everywhere, the Lord

working with them and con-

firming the word through the

accompanying signs. Amen.

For further study, we recom-

mend Derek Prince’s booklet:

Transmitting God’s

Power

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This indicates that the primary

purpose of these supernatural

signs—including the healing of the

sick through the laying on of

hands—is to confirm the truth of

the gospel message among people

who have not previously accepted it.

It seems clear, therefore, that the

method of ministering to the sick

through laying on of hands in the

name of Jesus is primarily intended

not for established Christians who

Derek Prince Ministries

P.O. Box 19501

Charlotte, NC 28219

704.357.3556

www.derekprince.org

TL081

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