2 Comments

  1. Victoria Nimmo Walters
    April 7, 2016 @ 1:23 PM

    Wow! I never thought of this before, but I think you’re probably right on the money with the idea of a ceremonial equipping and sending forth: two parts, a group address alongside an individual blessing with the laying on of hands. What a word picture that paints in my heart!

    As you talked about the practice of laying on of hands throughout the Bible, I remembered back to the days when my boys were teenagers. We faced a constant challenge with them. Somewhere along the line, we encountered a teaching about the “Blessing of the Father” being passed to the son(s) through the laying on of hands. Royal Lee took the message to heart and began making a practice of laying his hands on each of the boys before they left the house for school each day. He wasn’t overtly ‘spiritual’ or even ‘ceremonial’ about the practice. He would simply place his hand on their shoulder (individually) and speak a word of blessing over them. (Something simple like: Whatever you face today, remember God is with you, you can handle it.)

    Before long, my youngest wouldn’t leave the house without “Dad’s blessing.” Of course he didn’t call it that. But when he finished getting ready for school, he would go to Royal Lee and stand quietly, waiting for him to lay his hand on him. It didn’t solve every situation–he was still very strong-willed and rebellious. But it created a bond between the two of them. At Royal Lee’s funeral (Scott was already married by then and had a little one of his own) he talked about how much he loved his Dad’s hands and sang about “The Touch of my Father.” To this day, he will tell you how deeply he was impacted by those daily blessings.

    I also wanted to comment on your prayer to the Holy Spirit. During Alpha prayer times we (as a prayer team) are instructed to open our prayer with each individual who approaches us with the invocation “Come, Holy Spirit,” and then pause until we sense His presence and prompting how to pray. Sometimes the pause seems unnaturally long…but we are seeking the intervention of the Holy Spirit’s SUPERnatural power, not what we can ‘summon up’ naturally. He never fails to show up, if we just wait for Him. That is a practice I have tried to incorporate into my private prayer times as well–I don’t always succeed. Sometimes I just jump right in there and start talking, but when I remember to take that pause and center myself on His Presence, prayer time is pure joy.

    Thank you for starting this blog, Annette. Reading it each day brings joy to my very bones. I love you so much!

    • avincent
      April 7, 2016 @ 3:41 PM

      Thank you for sharing your story about your boys. I never knew that Royal Lee got to be such an important part of their lives. Thank God for second fathers!

      I start each morning’s reading/blog time with a prayer. I know I need to increase that time spent in prayer. I pray that I will hear with my heart what He is sharing in His word and that I can communicate it through my fingers (on the keys).

      I have never been very good at sitting still and praying, but I can certainly get into His presence with song. When my heart sings it’s like I’m standing right beside Him. I get this same feeling when I read His word and imagine it happening. I think that is why I see the stories instead of just reading about them.

      Thank you for all your encouragement in my writing. Knowing that someone is actually touched and seeing Jesus in a different way helps me know that I AM doing what He told me to do. I never want to be doing this just to boost my ego, though that happens too sometimes, but to be writing and sharing so others can have “story time” with Him too.

      I love you too!