1 Timothy 4:14 “Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.”
The above quoted passage of scripture is the second example recorded of both the speaking and revelation gifts being made manifest through the laying on of hands. In this passage the apostle Paul reminded Timothy that the elders had laid hands on him, and at the same time they had spoken prophetic words over him. Again in this example we see that there were two gifts of the Spirit manifested through the laying on of hands. The first was the gift of prophecy, for Paul said that prophecy was used. The second gift that was manifested was the gift of the word of knowledge, for the prophetic word given to Timothy told him what spiritual gift the Holy Spirit had imparted to him on that occasion. Obviously that was an accurate word given; because Paul had then witnessed Timothy begin to operate in that gift from that point onwards. And so in his letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul encouraged Timothy not to neglect his gift but rather to continue to use it for the edification of the church.
Acts 22:12-16 “Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, (13) came to me; and he stood and said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And at that same hour I looked up at him. (14) Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. (15) For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. (16) And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
The next example we will look at is the same account that we looked at earlier, when Ananias laid hands on the apostle Paul to be filled with the Holy Spirit and have his sight restored (Acts 9:17). In the passage of scripture quoted above Paul recounts this event to us, and he elaborates on what Ananias spoke over Paul when he laid his hands on him. From this account we can see that Ananias gave Paul a word of knowledge, in that he told Paul that God had chosen him to know the will of God and to be His witness to all men. It is important to note once again, that Ananias was an ordinary disciple being used by the Lord to operate in the spiritual gift of the word of knowledge through the mechanism of the laying on of hands. And so we can clearly see from the examples we have examined in this section that it is scriptural for the speaking and revelation gifts to also operate through the laying on of hands. In my own ministry the Lord has used me to give words of wisdom and words of knowledge prophetically, both through just speaking to individuals and also through the laying on of hands. I have always found however, that the most accurate words that I bring are through the laying on of hands. And in fact sometimes I know that the Lord wants me to give a word to an individual, but I must lay hands on that individual before that word is released through me.
Michael E.B. Maher
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