laying on of hands.
8/31/20262 min read
Perfect Day, Saints!
God reminded me of Derek Prince’s testimony about praying for someone with a spirit of sorrow and how, afterward, he couldn't stop crying himself. God led me to examine if praying for people with unclean spirits can cause a similar effect.
Derek Prince frequently shared powerful, raw personal testimonies about how he learned these exact spiritual laws the hard way.
Teaching on 1 Timothy 5:22, he warned that the laying on of hands is a real supernatural transmission that can transfer dark things if done carelessly.
He tied it back to the strict Old Testament pattern where priests were explicitly forbidden from laying hands on anyone or administering blessings until their own consecration was completed.
In Leviticus 8:33, God commanded that the priests could not even leave the entrance of the Tabernacle for seven days until their ordination was finished. They had to be entirely separated and purified by the blood of the sacrifice before their hands could be used to mediate for others.
Only after this strict seven-day lockdown period—on the eighth day—was Aaron permitted to lift his hands and minister to the people (Leviticus 9:22). This sequence proves that an un-consecrated hand is an unauthorized hand.
Derek Prince explained that laying hands operates under a spiritual principle he called the law of contact and transmission. He testified that early in his ministry, he was highly eager to pray for everyone, blindly laying his hands on people without discernment.
He discovered that just as the Holy Spirit can flow through human hands, unclean spirits and demonic oppression can also be transmitted backward from a defiled person into the person praying. Because he laid hands on people who were deeply entangled in the occult or severe rebellion, he inadvertently shared in their sins and absorbed their spiritual burdens.
Secondly, for years, despite being a highly successful and baptized minister, Prince secretly battled a heavy, suffocating cloud of depression. It would descend on him like a dark shroud, cutting him off from his family and shutting down his emotions. He tried everything—praying, fasting, waking up early, and making resolutions—but nothing worked.
He eventually realized this oppressive spirit had gained legal entry into his life. He taught that when you carelessly lay hands on or let an un-consecrated person lay hands on you, a door opens in the spiritual realm. He had to go through a deep process of personal deliverance, commanding the spirit of heaviness to leave him in the name of Jesus, and guarding his hands from that moment onward.
Because of what he suffered, Derek Prince left a stern warning for anyone who prays for others:
"Never let someone lay hands on you unless you know their character and know they are walking in holiness. And never hastily lay hands on others, or you will find yourself carrying demons you did not bargain for."
Stay on course in Jesus Christ, amen?
Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure. (1 Timothy 5:22 KJV)