The Language of Christians - "Laying Hands"
In this sub-series, I'll be discussing some of my favorite words and phrases in the Christian experience. It's not to say that they are all-together unique to Christians but in my own history, I didn't use them in the same context before I came to faith. Among my favorites is "laying hands". The term "laying hands" is used in reference to the physical act of putting your hand(s) on someone who is the recipient of prayer. If you can't reach the person you might connect with someone closer, making a chain, or you might even stretch your hand out if there is distance between you.
There is something special about adding a physical connection or act when the prayers are focused toward a specific person or people with the same goals in mind. When you gather with others and you hear the words that fortify, encourage, lift up, edify, heal, protect and comfort it is incredibly powerful, for the recipient and the prayer givers. You hear a unique take on the needs and the Spirit speaks so differently to each prayer partner that it seems all points are covered. You feel as though each person has been perfectly placed in that moment. I'm a visual person so I imagine each word spoken, from the moment they leave our mouths, begins to fill out and take shape, floating to heaven as an offering to our Father. I can also see how the same words leave a part of their essence behind to cover the recipient with an armor of protection or healing balm. It is SO beautiful.
When you add the dimension of a physical connection to prayer there is a lending of strength, a sense of community and the comfort of being in agreement for a common goal. It is the knowledge that we are in life TOGETHER and we will not let each other see the hard times without support. There is such a feeling of well being when it's done and that peace rises above the circumstance. (NOTE: If you're not comfortable with physical touch, rest assured you don't NEED to connect for these same things to take place but it is another way to engage the senses in these moments of taking action.)
I've been the grateful recipient of "laying hands" for different occasions in my own life. The year my dad had cancer, when we went through months of unemployment and when I was preparing for Stephen Ministry training, stand out especially. One such occasion was during an Extraordinary Women's conference in Pensacola, April 2011. It was shortly after I initiated hospice care for my dad in California, I was back home to get my daughter to the end of the school year, and I was preparing to go back to see Dad into heavenly passage. My heart was split between these two states. The prayer and laying of hands was initiated by one of my favorite contemporary Christian artists, Francesca Battistelli before she sang her song, "Angel By Your Side". After Francesca directed us to lay hands on someone who was hurting, my precious friends chose me and they left their seats to gather. Writing this, it brings tears to my eyes as I remember the outpouring of their love and compassion for me. As the song began, I closed my eyes with their hands upon me...and I broke. All that I'd been holding in to keep my soul from shattering in my grief, came all at once and threatened to overwhelm me. Those hands kept me from jumping off the edge of my despair. My girls cried with me, held me up and offered a part of themselves when parts of me were falling away. As Francesca sang, it really DID feel like the angels were there too. Even in the midst of my grief, I remember thinking, "There are way more hands on me than I have friends" and there were no strangers doing this with us! To this day, it continues to be one of the most cherished moments in my life.
There is something special about adding a physical connection or act when the prayers are focused toward a specific person or people with the same goals in mind. When you gather with others and you hear the words that fortify, encourage, lift up, edify, heal, protect and comfort it is incredibly powerful, for the recipient and the prayer givers. You hear a unique take on the needs and the Spirit speaks so differently to each prayer partner that it seems all points are covered. You feel as though each person has been perfectly placed in that moment. I'm a visual person so I imagine each word spoken, from the moment they leave our mouths, begins to fill out and take shape, floating to heaven as an offering to our Father. I can also see how the same words leave a part of their essence behind to cover the recipient with an armor of protection or healing balm. It is SO beautiful.
When you add the dimension of a physical connection to prayer there is a lending of strength, a sense of community and the comfort of being in agreement for a common goal. It is the knowledge that we are in life TOGETHER and we will not let each other see the hard times without support. There is such a feeling of well being when it's done and that peace rises above the circumstance. (NOTE: If you're not comfortable with physical touch, rest assured you don't NEED to connect for these same things to take place but it is another way to engage the senses in these moments of taking action.)
I've been the grateful recipient of "laying hands" for different occasions in my own life. The year my dad had cancer, when we went through months of unemployment and when I was preparing for Stephen Ministry training, stand out especially. One such occasion was during an Extraordinary Women's conference in Pensacola, April 2011. It was shortly after I initiated hospice care for my dad in California, I was back home to get my daughter to the end of the school year, and I was preparing to go back to see Dad into heavenly passage. My heart was split between these two states. The prayer and laying of hands was initiated by one of my favorite contemporary Christian artists, Francesca Battistelli before she sang her song, "Angel By Your Side". After Francesca directed us to lay hands on someone who was hurting, my precious friends chose me and they left their seats to gather. Writing this, it brings tears to my eyes as I remember the outpouring of their love and compassion for me. As the song began, I closed my eyes with their hands upon me...and I broke. All that I'd been holding in to keep my soul from shattering in my grief, came all at once and threatened to overwhelm me. Those hands kept me from jumping off the edge of my despair. My girls cried with me, held me up and offered a part of themselves when parts of me were falling away. As Francesca sang, it really DID feel like the angels were there too. Even in the midst of my grief, I remember thinking, "There are way more hands on me than I have friends" and there were no strangers doing this with us! To this day, it continues to be one of the most cherished moments in my life.
Where two gather, there is Church. We become the hands and mouth of Jesus for each other and miracles can happen: Service members come home safely from deployment, bodies become healed, addictions are broken, prodigal children return and courage is found. Regardless of whether you lay hands in prayer, my prayer for all of us is to know we're in this together.
Francesca Battistelli's "Angel By Your Side"
(You'll notice from my drawings that 3:33 is a significant number to me: 3 for the Trinity and 33 is the age Jesus was when he died on the cross. This song's length is 3:33.)
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From Studio 3:33 - "Come As You Are" - August 30, 2010
This drawing was done with a huge gap between the day I started it and the day I finished it (I date them by the day it was finished) and my style changed in a very short period of time. Still, I hope the message is clear.
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