David Diga Hernandez - Symbols of the Holy Spirit: Oil

I want to talk to you about the oil which represents the presence of the Holy Spirit. When I first began to serve the Lord, many people had a profound impact on my life. I would seek out various mentors who taught me different aspects of the nature of the Holy Spirit. One person I am especially thankful for is my Aunt Esther. Every Tuesday night, she would drive to my house. I didn’t drive then; I was about 15 years old. She would pick me up in her little red car and take me to her prayer class that she taught every Tuesday night. This was one of the first times I had seen the oil emphasized in prayer. I recall attending this service, and one of the members created his own bottles of oil to pass out for the prayer group to use. I still remember the smell of the oil I was given; it had a very distinct, sweet fragrance. That beautiful scent lingers in my memory to this day, and every time I encounter something similar, I’m transported back to those moments when I was first learning to pray. They taught me about spiritual warfare, how to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, intercessory prayer, and many different spiritual dynamics. I am immensely thankful for those memories and experiences that helped shape me at a very young age. I will never forget when they taught me the power of praying with oil.

Oil is a symbol, and I’ll discuss what it symbolizes in just a moment. Although oil is symbolic, it is powerful because it serves as a connection point where we demonstrate our faith. There is nothing inherently powerful about the oil itself; it is the faith that accompanies our prayers with that oil that activates a certain power. I remember when they laid hands on me and prayed that God would raise me up, protect me, grant me favor, and launch my ministry to different levels. They all gathered around, smeared their hands with oil, and began to lay hands on me while praying in tongues. I can tell you that very few experiences I’ve had can match what I experienced in those prayer meetings—sincere prayer warriors, people of God who loved to pray, all laying hands on me and praying in the Holy Spirit. They took turns prophesying, and I sensed a heavy weight come upon me; it was a weighty glory manifested in the room as they prayed.

The use of oil stuck in my mind. It was the first time I had seen it emphasized. I had seen people use oil on many occasions for prayer, but this was the first time it was taught and had an emphasis on hand. I remember all the ladies there had little bottles of oil in their purses, ready to pray at any moment. After these experiences, I began to look into Scripture and asked the Lord to reveal the meaning of this oil. Oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit; it represents the essence of God being smeared on our lives. It signifies the nature of God being rubbed into us so that we might be empowered by the Holy Spirit. The scripture says in Acts chapter 19, verse 12, «When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled.» Here we see a tangible touch of the power of the Holy Spirit; the anointing is tangible. In fact, I’ve taught on this before—the tangible anointing—but here we see an example of what it’s like to use oil in a New Testament setting.

So why does oil carry such power? Well, as I said, it symbolizes the nature of the Holy Spirit. There is faith released when we pray with oil, but deeper than that, we uncover truths about the nature of the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, there was a ceremony in which men would anoint others with oil; they would anoint men who were empowered to certain positions. They were marked and set apart when that oil touched them. This ceremony symbolized that the person was set apart for the purposes of God. You will see in the Old Testament that kings were anointed. In 1 Samuel chapter 16, verses 1 and 13, the Bible says, «Now the Lord said to Samuel, 'You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel. Fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.'» So, as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned.