Last night at Bible study, we talked a little about the Church at Antioch laying hands on Barnabas and Paul as they were commissioned for their first missionary journey. I was thinking that it is a unification of the spirit, soul, and body of each member of the church. There is something very significant about the combination of prayer, fasting, and laying hands. And it is not just for the person on whom hands are laid, it changes everyone involved:
2 Tim. 1:5 I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. 6This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. 7For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
So, I don't think I should view "laying hands" on someone as some magical incantation, but I shouldn't minimize its significance, either. As I think about it, I remember quite a few passages throughout the Bible involving "laying hands".
Heavenly Father, thank you for blessing me and revealing the Lord Jesus Christ to me. Lord, may my hands be used in your service. Lord, I offer my hands as part of the living sacrifice that I want to be. Lord, please take my hands and use them as your own; may they be used as the hands of Jesus Christ. For I am crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Thank you. Hallelujah! May you receive glory and honor today. I ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose hands healed thousands and whose hands bled for me. Amen.
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