Spiritual Hands
The hand signifies power and work (whether the works of man or of God)
The Hebrew word for hand; Yad, can be translated as; hand, power, strength with connotations of possession
The Bible commands us to ‘lay hands,’ this is one of the six principle teachings of Jesus (Hebrews 6:1-3)
God made the hand for healing and for touch.
In this article we will explore how we can use our hands effectively both practically and spiritually…
Gods Hands
Let’s spend a few minutes glancing through the scriptures at the way in which God uses His hands, so that we may learn from and imitate Him!
God used His hands to make both heaven and earth; ‘Hath not my hand made all things?’ (Acts 7:50)
‘And the Lord said unto Moses, Is the Lord’s hand waxed short? Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.’ -Numbers 11:23
The LORD says this to Moses just before He is about to perform the miracle of sending quail to the Israelites in the desert.
‘From his right hand went a fiery law for them.’ -Deuteronomy 33:2. Some versions of this passage say, ‘with flaming fire at his right hand.’
‘Rays of brilliant light flash from his hands. He rejoices in his awesome power.’ -Habakkuk 3:4
The scripture speaks of God’s hand of judgment; ‘I have a plan for the whole earth, a hand of judgment upon all the Nations.’ -Isaiah 14:26
‘The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has spoken— who can change his plans? When his hand is raised, who can stop him?” -Isaiah 14:27
God uses His hand for deliverance; ‘For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.’ –Acts 7:25
Many of the good things that occur in our lives is because the gracious hand of God is on us; ‘According to the good hand of God.’ (Ezra7:9, Nehemiah 2:8, Ezra 8:18)
‘The hand of the lord was with them! And a great number believed and turned to the Lord.’ -Acts 11:21. When the hand of the lord is with us a great number will believe and turn to the Lord!
The Finger of God
There are some things that God doesn’t even use His whole hand to perform – a finger will suffice!
‘“This is the finger of God!” the magicians exclaimed’ when they saw the plague of gnats swarming throughout the land of Egypt (Exodus 8:19)
‘[…] he gave him 2 stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, written by the finger of God.’ -Exodus 31:18
‘If I drive out demons by the finger of God then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.’ -Luke 11:20
You’d think that driving out demons would require a hand, but the Kingdom comes as demons are driven out by the finger of God!
God Partners with Moses
Throughout the Book of Exodus, we see how God partners with Moses in raising his hand against the Egyptians, performing all kinds of miracles among them. ‘For I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand forces him.’ (see Exodus 3:19)
The LORD asks Moses ‘What is that in your hand?’ and tells him to use that shepherds staff to perform miraculous signs (3:20; 4:2-9,17, 30; 7:9; 15, 19, 20; 8:5-6; 16-18; 9:3, 8, 15, 22-24; 10:21-22; 13:3; 14:15-16, 21, 27; 15:6; 17:6, 12)
Just like God used Moses’ hands, He can also use your hands to perform all kinds of miracles and accomplish His purposes on earth.
The Hands of Warriors
‘He trained my hands for battle,’ is a phrase that appears in Psalm 144:1 and Psalm 18:34
The warriors in 1 Chronicles 12:2 are a good example of this, ‘All of them were expert archers, and they could shoot arrows or sling stones with their left hand as well as their right…’ They had trained their hands for battle!
How are you training your hands?
The Hand of the Diligent
We are to work with our own hands.
‘The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.’ -Proverbs 12:24
‘Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,’ -Ecclesiastes 9:10
‘Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.’ -Ecclesiastes 11:6
Our hands are to be diligent not idle, and whatever our hand finds to do, we are to do it with all our might. This is one way that we can ‘train our hands’
The Hand of Jesus
To learn how we can use our hands effectively in the Kingdom of God, we can learn a great deal from the way in which Jesus used his hands.
For his first 30 years, Jesus’ mainly used his hands mainly as a carpenter. But on turning 30 and being baptized in water and in the Spirit, he began his public ministry. He then started using his hands in a different way!
‘Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”’ -Mark 1:41
‘He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”).’ -Mark 5:41
‘A deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him, and the people begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man to heal him. Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue.’ -Mark 7:32-33
‘When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?”
The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.”
Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly. Jesus sent him away, saying, “Don’t go back into the village on your way home.”’ -Mark 8:22-26
Are you using your hands to heal people?
Jesus said, ‘they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover…’ -Mark 16:18
Lift Up Holy Hands
How can we prepare our hands to do the works of Jesus?
We are exhorted to ‘Lift up holy hands.’ in prayer (1 Timothy 2:8)
We are also instructed to ‘Cleanse your hands.’ (James 4:8)
Who may climb the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? ‘He that hath a clean hand.’ (Psalm 24:4)
Who Can Work Miracles?
Miracles were wrought by the hands of…God, Moses, Apostles, Paul and Elders (who anointed the sick with oil), Believers (who laid hands on sick)
Laying on of Hands is one of the basic principles of Christ (Hebrews 6:1-3) and is used to impart blessing, baptism in the Holy Spirit, to receive spiritual gifts, impartation of anointing, commissioning for ministry, revealing of ministry, healing and the working of miracles.
Are you practicing the basic principle of laying hands?
Spiritual Hand Activations
How can you begin to move in the miraculous using your hands?
‘Peter took him by the hand and lifted him up.’ (Acts 3:7). There are times that God will use us to help people to their feet. Be prepared in the place of prayer so that when you encounter someone in need you are ready to give them what you have received directly from Jesus as Peter and John did at the Gate Beautiful
‘And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people.’ (Acts 5:12). As we’ve seen during this series on ‘Contending for the Miraculous’, God wants to use our hands to perform signs, wonders and miracles. Have we offered our hands to Christ for His use?
‘Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.’ -Acts 14:3. From various readings of scripture, it seems that boldness often accompanies the working of miracles.
‘Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostle’s hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Saying, Give me also this power that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.’ -Acts 8:17-19.
Notice that, in this instance it was through the laying on of hands that the people of Samaria received the Holy Spirit. When was the last time you laid hands on people to receive the Holy Spirit?
‘And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues and prophesied.’ -Acts 19:6
‘And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul. So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and evil spirits went out from them.’ -Acts 19:11-12. It seems that there are not only miracles, but ‘special’ miracles. I don’t know about you, but at this stage I would be glad to see an increase of miracles, let alone special miracles!
Once we begin to see miracles as commonplace, we will receive an increase to the point where we see special miracles taking place in our midst!
How to Receive Gifts
Paul wrote to the Church in Rome and said, ‘I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.’ -Romans 1:11-12
But how did he plan on imparting a spiritual gift to others? How is that even possible?
When writing to the Church in Corinth, Paul says, ‘I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.’
This Church lacked no spiritual gift, whereas in Rome, Paul needed to impart spiritual gifts that were missing. So in your church, there is either a lack of gifts where there is need of impartation, or an abundance of gifts.
Where there are gifts we need to fan them into flame as Paul writes to Timothy, ‘For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.’ -2 Tim 1:6
And where there is a lack of gifts or where gifts need to be imparted, we can impart through the laying on of hands; ‘Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid hands on you.’ -1 Tim 4:14
When was the last time you used the hands God has graced you with to impart spiritual gifts to others?
God Wants to Use Your Hands to Work Miracles
As we saw at the beginning of this series; God can use you to become a wonder worker.
Offer Him your hands today, and let his use them to perform signs, wonders and miracles in the Name of Jesus
