So two things happen - the first thing is that God has spoken to him, to go to find Saul. Now you've got to understand, that's a scary thing to do. Saul has just been murdering all the Christians; and God speaks to an ordinary believer, and said: this man, in spite of what you've heard, in spite of what you've seen, in spite of the stories, in spite of their bad reputation, I see something in him that others can't see.
He said: I want you to go to his house, find where he is; and then lay hands on him, and speak over him. Often we can only see people through the eyes of their history. We know them in a community for what they are, and what they've been like, but we need to see as God sees.
He sees your destiny. He sees within this murderer, a man who could change a generation. He sees within people who others say are failures, He sees someone who could make a generational difference - and how did it happen?
He listened to the voice of God; he came and laid hands on him. As he laid hands and spoke, the Holy Ghost came on him. Paul was filled with the spirit, and also he was healed. So the Laying on of Hands is used for imparting the Holy Ghost. There is transference; an activation of something can happen, when there is faith for this to happen.
Here's a third use of Laying on of Hands – Romans 1:11. Paul has spoken, and he said: “I really long to come to you, that I might impart to you some spiritual gift”. So impartation of spiritual gifts can happen through the laying on of hands.
Look at these verses very clearly - 1 Timothy 4:14. Paul is writing to Timothy; notice what he says: “Do not neglect the gift that is in you”. So Timothy has a gift, and it's in him. It's a charisma. It's a supernatural operation of God (doesn't tell us what it is).
He says: “don't neglect it”. It was given to you by prophecy, with the laying on of hands of the elder-ship. So notice how he received the gift....
1) He's got a gift. 2) The gift is in him. 3) It was given to him; and it was given to him by a prophetic word spoken, accompanied with the laying on of hands, and something entered his life. He was gifted; and could do things he'd not done before.
Notice what it says in 2 Timothy 1:6. It says: “Here I remind you stir up the gift of God which is in you, through the laying on of my hands. Now notice how it came - by impartation.
So Timothy was clearly known to Paul. He was known to the elders. That meant he was connected into a local church. This is not something that sort of happened by a wayside. He was a part of a community of believers; and there came a time when they laid hands on him, to impart to him, and activate him in the call of God in his life.
This was a young man, and he became a Bishop over thousands and thousands and thousands of people. How did it happen? He had a wonderful gift operating in his life. How did he receive the gift? Someone spoke prophetically the mind of God; and when they laid hands on him, it was imparted into him. Notice Paul says: “It was imparted by the laying on of my hands, accompanied with the words of prophecy”.
Later on Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1:18, he says: “now war a good warfare, according to the prophecies that came over you” - so with the impartation of the spiritual gift came an area of conflict. You see, when hands were laid on him, it's because God had a mission for him. To get the mission done, he needed to have spiritual activation, he needed spiritual empowerment.