The Dangers of Demonic Impartation & Spiritual Transfer

Impartations can be godly or demonic.

Impartation is both a scriptural concept and a spiritual reality. Impartation is a divine transfer that releases an ability you didn’t have before. Through impartation, the Holy Spirit gives or grants you a spiritual gift, revelation, or power that you need to fulfill your purpose. Paul told the church in Rome:

For I am yearning to see you, that I may impart and share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen and establish you; that is, that we may be mutually strengthened and encouraged and comforted by each other’s faith, both yours and mine (Romans 1:11-12 AMPC).

Impart in this context simply means “impart” or “give.” It means to grant as from a store. God has a great storehouse of gifts and He wants to impart what will strengthen you in your calling. Young’s Literal Bible translates this “to give a share of.” We can receive impartation from God Himself or from anointed men and women through the laying on of hands, through applying oil, by sitting under a teaching anointing (which is why it’s so dangerous to sit under erroneous teaching), or directly from God.

Genesis 28:1-4 reveals we can receive blessings through impartation:

Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. Then he charged him and said to him, “You must not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Paddan Aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a multitude of people. May He give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land where you are a stranger, which God gave to Abraham” (MEV).

If you can receive a blessing through impartation of laying on of hands, doesn’t it make sense you can receive a curse? The enemy is looking for a point of contact. I have known on-fire Christians who came in contact with witches who took a strand of their hair and they wound up with bald spots and blemishes all over their body. Be careful who you allow to lay hands on you.

Acts 8:14-17 shows how we can receive an impartation of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands:

Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they came down, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for still He had come on none of them. They were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit (MEV).

If we can receive the Holy Spirit through laying on of hands, don’t you think we can receive some other spirit—a demonic spirit—through the laying on of hands? Be careful who you allow to lay hands on you.

First Timothy 4:14 shows how we can receive spiritual gifts by the laying on of hands: “Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the elders” (MEV). If we can receive Holy Spirit gifts through prophecy and the laying on of hands, don’t you think we can receive divination and false anointings through the laying on of hands? Be careful who you allow to lay hands on you.

Luke 4:40 demonstrates how we can receive healing through the laying on of hands: “Now when the sun was setting, all those who had anyone sick with various diseases brought them to Him. And He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.” If we can receive healing through a point of contact, don’t you think we can receive the spirit of infirmity through a point of contact? Be careful who you allow to lay hands on you.

Can Spirits Really Transfer?

Yes, demon spirits really can transfer from one person to another. You can’t catch a demon the way you would catch a cold or flu, but you can walk into a meeting completely free and walk out demonized and not even know it. Although we have authority over demons, when we enter into situations where the Holy Spirit did not lead and allow a demonized person to lay hands on us or spray miracle water into our eyes, we have given permission for demons to enter.

And, again, willfully sitting under someone who is teaching by the influence of the spirit of error can open you up to a spirit of error. I have been warned not to sit under the teaching of certain leaders in the Body of Christ because they are walking in heresy and a spirit of error marks their ministry. Although much of their teaching is good, that spirit of error is still lurking. The Bible actually speaks of the spirit of error in First John 4:6: “We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

I have also been warned not to associate or align with certain leaders for the same reason. We are not to be unequally yoked (see 2 Cor. 6:14). While this Scripture is generally spoken over people who want to marry or start business partnerships with unbelievers, you can also be unequally yoked with believers. You can receive demonic impartations through error you read in books, amulets people give you, and other ways. The reality is clear: Demons can transfer from one person to another in many ways. Be careful who you let lay hands on you.