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How To Change Your Hope To Faith by sidespin: 3:17pm On Apr 06, 2013 |
HOW TO CHANGE HOPE TO FAITH I remember I was conducting a tent meeting in Waco, Texas, years ago. We started the revival on Sunday night. I preached an evangelistic-type message, and the next night I preached on faith. The next night we had our first healing service. I always put folks in the same line to receive healing or to receive the Holy Ghost. I preached on the laying on of hands, and then after giving the invitation for the lost, I laid hands on the sick to be healed and laid hands on believers to receive the Holy Ghost. The very first man in the line came to receive the Holy Ghost. I said to him, "Will you be filled with the Holy Ghost now as I lay my hands on you and pray?" "Brother Hagin," he said, "I sure hope I will." I said, "Well, then, you won't be." That sort of made him angry. I meant that to help him, not to anger him, so I immediately said to him, "You don't receive anything from God through hope. It's by faith that you receive." He said, "But I don't know whether I'm going to receive or not, so I'm not going to say I am." I said, "If I offered you a dollar bill, would you say, `I don't know whether I can receive that or not'?" "No, certainly not," he said. "Well," I said, "God offers you a gift that is just as easy to receive as it is to receive a dollar bill offered to you." He said, "Yes, but I've been seeking a mighty long time. In fact, I've been seeking about thirteen years, and I haven't received yet. So I don't know whether I'm going to receive now or not." He became quite upset about it, so I just reached out and put my arms around him and hugged his neck. I said, "Now, Brother, I'm here to help you. But under the circumstances, I could lay my hands on your head until I wore every hair off the top of your head, and you wouldn't get anything. So I just suggest that you go sit down on the front row and listen and watch, and see what's going on. Then you'll see the difference between believing and doubting, and between faith and hope." So we prayed for several people for healing, and then we came to a young woman who wanted to receive the Holy Ghost. I said, "Are you a Christian?" "Well," she said, "I'm a member of a church." I said, "You understand that you could be a member of any church and not be a Christian. Salvation is not a matter of being a member of a church, it's a matter of being born again." "Yes," she said, "I know that, and I've been born again." "I accept your testimony," I said. "Don't let the devil talk you out of it." Then I asked her, "Now then, do you believe in the Holy Ghost?" (Having come out of the same denomination myself, I knew everyone in that denomination didn't believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit.) "Do you believe in the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with tongues?" "I certainly do," she answered. "It is in the Bible. It's in the Word." Then I asked, "Will you receive the Holy Ghost now when I lay my hands on your head and pray?" She said, "I certainly will." She had her Bible in her hand, and she said, "You know, I sat there tonight and followed every scripture you gave as you preached, and it's all in the Word. And I certainly will receive." I saw she was ready because I saw her faith in operation. So I just reached my hand out to lay on her forehead, and before I even touched her - I just barely brushed my fingers on her forehead - she threw up both hands and started speaking in tongues instantly. I said to this older gentleman who was sitting on the front row, "Do you see the difference between just hoping you'll receive the Holy Ghost and really believing you'll receive?" "Yes," he said, "I do." On Friday night he came back, and he was the very first person in the line. "Well," I said to him, "I see you're back." "Yes," he said, "I'm back, and I'll tell you some-thing else. I've changed my hope to faith. Just put your hands on me, and I'll be filled with the Holy Ghost right now." I reached out to lay hands on him, and I had barely touched him, when he lifted both hands and began speaking with other tongues! Oh, it makes such a difference when you really believe God instead of just hoping you'll receive your petition from Him - whether it's receiving the Holy Ghost, healing, or any answer to prayer. That man said he'd been seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit for thirteen years, but really he had just simply been hoping that he would get the Holy Ghost. And you just don't receive anything from God by hope. You receive from God by faith. (Kenneth E. Hagin) |
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