The Laying on of Hands is a method via which spiritual impartation and blessings are conferred. It is most definitely practiced during ordination services. The person being ordained then receives the necessary spiritual impartation to perform in the office into which they are entering.

I Timothy 4:14

14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

The Laying on of Hands can also involve the use of anointing oil, which is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. This is to be incorporated when praying for the sick that may be among you.

James 5:14-15

14 Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church: and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

Additionally, it is seen that by the Laying on of hands persons can be Baptized with the Holy Spirit [Acts 8:17-18].

There is a spiritual order that should be followed in the laying on of hands. When you are praying for one person, use your right hand, or both hands. If you are praying for a husband and a wife, the right hand should be placed on the husband and the left hand on the wife. If you are praying for two brothers, or two sisters, the normal order is that the right hand is placed on the elder, and the left is placed on the younger. The right hand is normally placed on the person of the senior status. However, this order can be reversed by the Holy Spirit, where by a prophetic unction, it is determined that the younger will eventually be greater than the elder. Such a case is seen in the following scripture:

Genesis 48:11-19

11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed. 12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him. 14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,

16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. 17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head. 18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. 19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.