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Laying hands on the sick

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Mark 16:15-18

Mark 16:20

Laying on of hands is one of the six fundamental doctrines of Christ found in Hebrews 6:1-2. As the body of Christ, we are so much the worse for emphasizing other fundamental doctrines listed here and ignoring this one. If there were as much teaching on laying on of hands as there is on eternal judgment, there would probably be as much faith in laying on of hands as there is in eternal judgment. People for the most part believe only what they're taught; few are diligent enough to study the Scriptures for themselves.

Laying hands on the sick is not difficult. You find a sick person and lay your hands on him in the name of Jesus, and Jesus, in response to his name being legally used in this manner, heals the person. You don't have to "feel" like it works. You don't have to "feel" power on the inside of you flowing into the person. (You might and you might not.) What matters is not what you or the other person feels, but that you are following Jesus' instructions for dealing with sick people, and that Jesus acts when you invoke his name on the earth.


Two people's faith is involved here -- your faith and the sick person's faith. That is why you probably don't want to just waltz in and lay hands on him. Faith comes by hearing God's Word, and if the other person has no idea what's going on, he isn't in much of a condition to hook up with you. If you have the time, you may not even want to lay hands at all, preferring to instruct the person about healing and leaving the actual laying on of hands for a future visit when the person has had a chance to understand what you want to do.

What do you say while you're laying hands on a sick person? Let me tell you a few things not to say. "Oh God, please heal him!" "Touch him, Lord!" "God, in your mercy, please take away this disease." I've heard enough of this junk to last a lifetime. When you lay hands on a sick person, you are not asking or begging God to do anything. You are following a Bible ordinance and you have a right to expect God to honor it without having to badger him or plead with him. Whiny, pleady prayers done in many churches actually prove that there is no faith involved in the process and it's no wonder that nothing happens. These signs follow them that believe, not them that doubt or whine.


Probably the best approach is to speak to the condition in the name of Jesus and command it to leave. We use the term "praying for the sick," but you'll have to change your thinking if you want to see results. You are not praying for the sick person. You are commanding the disease to go by the authority you have in Christ. If you want to throw in a few prayers for the person while you're at it, that's fine, but the bottom line is that you are exercising Christ's authority in the earth. You are doing the work in his name, and Jesus did not pray for the sick. Why should you do it differently than the person whose name you are using? That's right, Jesus did not pray for the sick. He was anointed to heal the sick and he healed them. You can't find any place when he stopped and "prayed for" the person and did any of the things that are common today among church people. Jesus believed that he was anointed to do what he did and acted on that fact. He has in turn anointed you to do his works. It's now up to you to believe that you are anointed to do those works and to act on that fact.

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