As followers of Jesus, we are called to live above the norm, to live supernaturally in our everyday life. The Spirit of the living God is indwelling within us, empowering and energizing us from the inside out. Too often, as believers, we are easily influenced by the work culture, our bosses, and even co-workers around us. But it should not be for those carrying the Spirit of the living God inside us. Instead of just surviving through the day at work, we should be the ones thriving and shifting the culture and environment around us. In a previous blog, The Power of Decrees, I discuss the importance of our declarations as sons and daughters of God. God's image and innate nature to create have been hidden inside humanity since the world's creation. As God creates through speaking, we also, as His sons and daughter, carry the same creative power within out to co-create new realities through the partnership with the Holy Spirit.
We should ask how we can shift the culture or atmosphere of our workplaces, families, and communities. I want to suggest we can bring Kingdom change and influence through the power of impartation. What is an impartation, you may ask? In Romans 1:12, Paul says, I long to come to visit you, so that I may impart some spiritual gifts that you may be established. The word impart in greek is metadídōmi, which means to give or to share something that we carry or have obtained. The beauty of impartation is that you receive something through inheritance rather than creating something of your own from ground zero. As believers of Jesus, we were made to cultivate a lifestyle of impartation where our breakthroughs become the breakthroughs for others. Impartation and inheritance are a greater spiritual reality than sowing and reaping. Because freely we have received, freely we ought to give. In the church world, impartation often looks like some speaker comes to speak at a conference, and at the end of his preaching, he goes and lays hands on people to impart what he carries. For example, if a prophet comes to minister, then, during impartation time, he enables others to prophesy. This can be true for any aspect of the 1 Corinthians 12 gifts of the Spirit, Ephesians 4 office graces, and Isaiah 61 anointings.
The reality of impartation isn't only created to be contained within the church walls, but impartation can happen anywhere. When we impart, we pave the way for people to experience more of God. So how do we do this in the secular world, like in our workplaces, schools, and homes? There are a few practical ways we see in scripture that impartation can happen. Throughout scripture, we see five different types of impartation displayed: laying on of hands, taken by force, physical objects, atmosphere, and relational.
Laying on of Hands
The first one is impartation through the laying on of hands. In the Gospels and the book of Acts, we see that through the laying on of hands, people were receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, receiving the gift of tongues, the gift of prophecy, and healing, to name a few (Luke 4:40, Acts 6:6, Acts 8:17, Acts 19:17, Acts 28:8). I remember a time when I was sharing the gospel with someone at the IFC mall in Hong Kong. And I shared about the importance of being baptized in water and the Holy Spirit. Right then and there, I laid hands on the person, and he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the impartation of the gift of tongues.
Taken by Force
The second type of impartation is when it is taken by force through faith. We see this reality when the woman with the issue of blood had an infirmity for 12 years, and by forceful faith, she touched the hem of Jesus' garment. And the moment she touched Jesus, healing power was released from Him to her (Matthew 9:20–22, Mark 5:25–34, Luke 8:43–48). I remember being in church meetings that created space for ministry time where the guest speaker would lay hands and pray for people to receive impartation. This one time, they were releasing miracles and signs and wonders to someone, and the person was not receiving them. So I moved close to where the guest speaker was releasing the impartation, and I started to receive by faith what the recipient wasn't receiving.
Physical Objects
The third type of impartation is through physical objects. We see this in both the old testament and the new testament of scripture. In the old testament, we see Elijah handing his servant Gehazi a staff to lay on a dead child. And we know when the soldier who died fell onto the dead bones of Elijah, he was instantly resurrected from the dead. In the new testament, we see Paul's apron brought healing and deliverance to those the physical apron touched. Years back, when I read about Paul's apron healing people, I started to pray over napkins to hand to people. I remember a time in Hawaii when an auntie I knew was sick in the hospital with cancer. I couldn't go in to lay hands and pray for her, so I prayed over a napkin and handed it to my friend, who could go in to see her. He placed the napkin on her, and after a few weeks, we received news that she was cancer free!
Atmosphere
The fourth type of impartation we find in scripture is through the atmosphere. We see this in the book of Acts when the apostle Peter was preaching; those listening would receive the impartation of the Holy Spirit without him even laying hands or praying for them (Acts 10:44-48). There was an atmosphere of impartation cultivated as Peter preached the gospel. Someone I have been coaching for the last six months shared with me that they began to have prophetic dreams when they started coaching sessions. The dream life has been something I have been cultivating within my own life and family, and without even needing to pray for that person to receive dreams, they, through the atmosphere, supernaturally received the impartation of dreams.
Relationship
The fifth type of impartation occurs through covenant relationships, just like Elisha and Elijah or Joshua and Moses. Both Elisha and Joshua spent time serving Elijah and Moses. And they both ended up walking away with a double portion anointing from the person they served. We see that Elisha did double the number of miracles compared to Elijah. When I connected to my spiritual father, the prophetic anointing grew as I served and ministered alongside him. My spiritual father walks in a powerful prophetic anointing; therefore, as I spent time with him in different ministry settings, his anointing started to become imparted into my life as a by-product of the relationship.
As we continue to cultivate the gifts of the Spirit, the anointing of God, and graces in our lives, we can multiply them to others. The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19:10). As we share and release the testimony of our breakthrough in Jesus; we are prophesying it to happen again for those around us. Let's not withhold the things that have been freely given to us; instead, let us freely give them away so that God can entrust us with more (Luke 16:10). Let's create a lifestyle of impartation until we see the fullness of Christ's expression through His body on earth.
Summary:
We are called to thrive and shine as royal sons and daughters of God.
Impartation is to supernaturally give to others what we have freely received.
Practical ways of impartation are found in the scriptures: by the laying on hands, when it's taken by force, through physical objects, through the atmosphere, and relationships.
Let's continue cultivating the gifts of the Spirit, Christ's office graces, and God's anointing in our lives so we can give them away through impartation.