The Gifts of the Spirit and Laying on of Hands

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

(1 Corinthians 12:4-11)

 In this passage of scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us about His gifts, of which He lists nine in total. Our Lord Jesus had all the gifts of the Spirit operating through His ministry except tongues and interpretation of tongues, for those two gifts are given only to the church and were not available to the saints under the Old Covenant. Unlike the Lord Jesus, however, we do not operate in all the gifts. Rather, each member in the body of Christ receives at least one gift of the Spirit, which we are then required to minister to the rest of the body (1 Peter 4:10). Therefore, ministering in the gifts of the Spirit is one of the main purposes for the doctrine of laying on of hands.

There are different types of anointing, and each gift carries its own unique type. Even within the various gifts, the Holy Spirit tells us that there are "differences of ministries" and "diversities of activities." Consequently, it is possible for two members of the body of Christ to have the same gift but operate differently from each other in ministering that gift.

For example, I have seen two prophets who both operate in the same gift of the word of knowledge. While one prophet could tell a person to simply stand up in the audience and then minister the word of knowledge to them, the other prophet had to have the person come stand in front of them and then lay hands on them—only then were they able to minister the word of knowledge to them. In both cases, it was the same gift of the word of knowledge being manifested, but there was a difference in the way they ministered their gift.

The gifts of healings would be another example. Notice that it is called gifts (plural) of healings (plural). For instance, some are anointed to heal blindness while others are anointed to heal people who are paralyzed. Even though the gift is the same, the anointing for that gift is given to the individual to operate in one area only, such as the healing of blind people, for example.

The Example of Agabus

And in these days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.

(Acts 11:27-28)

The above-quoted account in scripture gives us insight into how each individual carries a unique anointing from God to operate in the various gifts of the Spirit. This is an account of the prophet Agabus giving a prophecy in the church at Antioch. The point I wanted to highlight from this passage is the wording that the Holy Spirit uses to record this prophecy. The Holy Spirit says that Agabus "stood up and showed by the Spirit." In other words, Agabus did not merely speak forth the prophetic word given to him by the Spirit, but he also demonstrated, with corresponding actions, what God was saying through him.

Another account of the way Agabus operated in the gift of prophecy is recorded when he took Paul's belt and bound his own hands with Paul's belt, then prophesied how the Jews would bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him to the Gentiles (Acts 21:10-11). We see that Agabus was very demonstrative in the way he delivered his prophetic utterances. Most prophets are not used by the Spirit in this manner, but the reason it was recorded for us in scripture is so that we can learn to operate in our gifts in whichever way the Holy Spirit chooses to use us.

The Example of Philip

Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city.

(Acts 8:5-8)

In the above account, we see Philip being used by the Holy Spirit to heal many paralyzed and lame people in the city of Samaria. I'm sure that there were blind and deaf people in the crowds at Philip's meetings, but the Bible mentions nothing about them being healed. Why is that? The reason is because Philip was not anointed in that area—his anointing was for the specific area of healing those who were paralyzed and lame.

I'm sure that Philip prayed for the deaf and blind in his meetings, and it may be that some were healed, but he obviously had greater success in praying for the lame and paralyzed because that is where his anointing lay.

Conclusion

We see from these examples that when it comes to laying hands on people to minister to them, it is very important that, firstly, we know what our gifting is, and secondly, how or what method the Holy Spirit wants us to employ in ministering the gifts that He has given us. When we do this, we will see greater results in our laying on of hands. We will also see that we will be able to more easily release our faith in the operation of our gifts, for each one of us receives the measure of faith according to the measure of the gift that we have received from the Lord (Romans 12:3-6).

Michael E.B. Maher

Laying on of Hands

Buy Now

Donate

Payoneer