Biblical Keys to Financial Prosperity PDF

Contents 1 Poverty: A Blessing Or a Curse?. 2 Qualifications for Walking in Prosperity 3 Our Authority in the Area of Finances 4 The Bible Way to Release Your Faith 5 Honor Your Pastor And Receive God's Blessings 6 Sowing and Reaping and The School of Obedience 7 Godliness is Profitable in All Things Introduction One of the most difficult tasks in ministering to folks is getting them to understand the truth that God wants them to prosper and do well in life. In fact, God wants them to prosper more than they want to! Many good Christian people have never entered into the dimension of prosperity that God intended for them, and one reason they haven't is a lack of understanding in this area. If you want to walk in the perfect will of God and experience His richest and best for your life, you've got to do the perfect will of God. That requires honoring and obeying God and His Word. But in order to honor and obey the Word, a person must first find out what the Word has to say. The Word of God has a great deal to say about prosperity for the believer. Many Christians are not prospering today because they are not willing and obedient to the call of God on their lives or to some specific direction God has given them. Others simply need to get their thinking straightened out so they can think, talk, and act in line with God's Word concerning prosperity. Still others give financially with wrong motives—just to get something in return. Or they give motivated by guilt or fear instead of by faith and love. And some Christians dishonor God and His Word, not only by failing to tithe and give offerings, but in the way they conduct their business affairs. But this doesn't have to be the case in your life. God wants you to prosper financially! I remember what my life was like before I learned this truth about prosperity from the Bible. My family and I struggled greatly in this area, just barely making it financially for many years. We weren't scraping the bottom of the barrel; we were underneath the barrel and the barrel was on top of us! But praise God, the Word works! Prosperity came to us as we learned to act on the Word of God in that area. Success in God doesn't come overnight. And if you're not prospering in life right now, your prosperity in God won't appear overnight either. But if you'll continually honor and obey God and His Word, it will come. It is my prayer that the teachings in this book will bring God's blessings to your life so you can be a blessing to the Kingdom of God and the work of God on the earth. Chapter 1 Poverty: A Blessing Or a Curse? CHRIST HATH REDEEMED US from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. —Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us! If we stop reading right there, we'd know Jesus redeemed us. But what did He redeem us from? The rest of the verse says, "...FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Gal. 3:13). GALATIANS 3:14 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. I couldn't do justice to a study on prosperity without explaining the great Bible truth of redemption. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law! The curse of the Law includes spiritual death, sickness, and poverty. The first curse that God said would come upon man for breaking His Law is found in Genesis 2:17. God said to Adam in Genesis 2:17, "... in the day that thou eat-est thereof [of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] thou shalt surely die." Adam and Eve were permitted to eat fruit from all the trees in the Garden of Eden except the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The curse of spiritual death was to come upon them if they disobeyed God. Genesis 3:22-24 tells us that man did disobey God, was driven from the Garden, and could eat no longer of the tree of life. Man became the slave of sin and death. Death has always been a mystery to man. It was not a part of the creation or part of God's original plan. The Bible tells us that physical death is an enemy of God and man. First Corinthians 15:26 tells us that physical death is the last enemy that shall be put underfoot. When you die physically, your spirit and soul leave your body and go to your eternal home (Luke 16:19-24). Although several kinds of death are spoken of in the Bible, there are three kinds we should familiarize ourselves with: 1) spiritual death; 2) physical death; and 3) eternal death or the Second Death, which means being cast into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone (Rev. 21:8). Spiritual death is that which lays hold of one's spirit rather than his body. Physical death is a manifestation of spiritual death. Eternal death or the Second Death is the ultimate finality of death or the home of the spiritually dead. Spiritual death came to earth first and then manifested itself in the physical body by destroying it. Physical death is a manifestation of the law that is at work within. Paul called it "the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2). When God said to Adam, "... in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:17), He was not referring to physical death but to spiritual death. If man never had died spiritually, he would not have died physically. What is spiritual death? Spiritual death means separation from God. The moment Adam sinned, he was separated from God. When God came down in the cool of the day, as was His custom, to walk and talk with Adam, He called, "... Adam... Where art thou?" (Gen. 3:9). Adam answered, "... I hid myself." He was separated from God. When Adam and Eve listened to the devil, it resulted in spiritual death. Spiritual death immediately began to manifest itself in the human family. Eventually, Adam and Eve's firstborn son murdered the second-born son (Gen. 4:8). Man had become an outcast, an outlaw, driven from the Garden with no legal ground to approach God. Man in his fallen state could not respond to the call of God without a sacrifice. Man was hindered in his response to God because he was more than a transgressor; he was more than a lawbreaker and sinner. Jesus said to the Pharisees, 'Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44). The Pharisees were very religious. They did a lot of good things. They went to the synagogue on the Sabbath. They prayed. They paid their tithes. They fasted. They did a lot of other fine things. But they lied about Christ and murdered Him. They had the characteristics of the devil. This explains why man cannot be saved by his conduct or good works; he must be born again. If man were not a child of the devil, he could just act right and he'd be all right. But since he's a child of the devil, even if he tries to act right, he'll still go to hell when he dies—to the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the Second Death. Why? Because man as he is cannot stand in the Presence of God. Man had to be saved by Someone paying the penalty for man's sins and giving man the New Birth. You might take a flop-eared old mule and try to make him into a racehorse, but it won't work. You could dress that mule up by filing his teeth or polishing his hooves. You could feed him the finest food, run him around the track every day, and house him in the finest stable. But on the day of the race when the gun sounds, all he'll do is lope off down the track, because he's a mule. It's just not in him to be a racehorse. In order for the old mule to become a racehorse, he'd have to be reborn as a racehorse, which is impossible. Man, however, through the New Birth can be reborn! Through regeneration, he can be changed! He can become a new creature in Christ Jesus! It doesn't matter how much money a man has, how well-educated or religious he is, mere man cannot stand in the Presence of God, because his nature is wrong. Man is lost today not because of what he does, but because of what he is. (What he does is the result of what he is.) An unregenerate man needs life from God because he is spiritually dead. But thanks be to God, Christ has redeemed us from spiritual death! JOHN 5:26 26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. Jesus Christ had no death in Him. He was not born as we are born. He didn't have spiritual death in Him (John 14:30). Yet Hebrews 2:9 says he tasted death for every man. He took upon Himself our condition of spiritual death. Notice Hebrews 9:26 says He "... put away SIN [not sins] by the sacrifice of himself." How did He do that? Well, I don't know, but because the Bible says He did it, I believe it. Now why did Jesus take death that we might have life? I was born and raised Southern Baptist. Afterward, I was filled with the Holy Spirit and came over among the Pentecostals. I heard for years among the Baptists that Jesus became what we were that we might become what He was. Now that doesn't mean He became a sinner (that's what we were—sinners!). It simply means He took our place as our Substitute when our sin was laid on Him. That doesn't mean He had in His spirit the personal nature of the devil. It just means that our sin was laid on Him. Remember what Jesus said along this line in John's Gospel. JOHN 10:10 10 The thief [He's talking about the devil, not about God; God is not a thief.] cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. JOHN 5:24 24 Verily, verily, I [Jesus] say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life [or eternal life], and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from DEATH unto LIFE. Now in John 5:24, Jesus is not talking about physical death. He is talking again about spiritual death. In other words, Jesus came to redeem us from spiritual death and its consequence of eternal separation from God. EPHESIANS 2:1 1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins [spiritual death]. Verses 8 and 9 of Ephesians chapter 2 tell us how that redemption came about in our own lives. EPHESIANS 2:8,9 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. It is not by works that a person is saved. Now certainly, we believe in good works, because the Bible said we are "... created in Christ Jesus UNTO GOOD WORKS..." (Eph. 2:10). Yet right on the other hand, we couldn't save ourselves through good works. No, our good works are a result of the fact that we've been born again and have become new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17). Our spiritual nature has been changed! In other words, without Jesus, we're just simply helpless and hopeless. And without Him, we're nothing. But thanks be unto God, He comes into our lives, if we accept Him, and makes us new creatures—sons—in Him! ROMANS 8:14-16 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the SONS of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself [or a better translation would be Himself] beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. Have you passed from spiritual death unto spiritual life? If you have, then God is your Father. Can you look up to Him and say, "Father God"? That's what "Abba, Father" means. Is God's Spirit within your spirit, bearing witness with your spirit that you are a child of God? Do you have the Holy Spirit in your spirit crying, "Abba, Father?" If you do, you're born again! If you don't, thank God, you can accept Christ this moment. And when you do, then the Holy Spirit comes in to dwell in you. In Christ, we have passed from death unto life. How do we know it? We've got the witness in our spirits that Romans 8:14-16 talks about. Our spirit bears witness that we are the children of God. And John said something else about it. 1 JOHN 3:14 14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we LOVE the brethren.... And Galatians also has something to say about love and the recreated human spirit. GALATIANS 5:22 22 But the [first] fruit of the Spirit [that is, the fruit of the recreated human spirit] is LOVE.... If you've been born again, then you've been made a new creature in Christ. The Bible says you've been translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of light (Col. 1:13). You've been redeemed from spiritual death. Our text says you've been redeemed from the curse of the Law (Gal. 3:13). The Curse of the Law Also Includes Sickness and Poverty The curse of the Law, which is the penalty for breaking God's Law, includes spiritual death, sickness and disease, and poverty. A lot of folks understand that in Christ, they've been redeemed from spiritual death and sickness and disease. But they don't realize that they've been redeemed from poverty. Notice our text again. GALATIANS 3:13,14,29 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the BLESSING OF ABRAHAM might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.... 29 And if ye be Christ's [are you His?], then ARE YE ABRAHAM'S SEED, and HEIRS ACCORDING TO THE PROMISE. Again, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law." But what exactly is the curse of the Law? There is one way to find out, and that's to go back to the Law. The Law refers to the first five Books of the Bible called the Pentateuch. And the first curse that God mentioned was in Genesis: "... in the day that thou eat-est thereof [of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] thou shalt surely DIE" (Gen. 2:17). Well, Adam didn't die that day physically when he and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was more than 900 years before he died physically. But Adam did die spiritually. So when we say Adam "died," we do not mean that he ceased to exist. We just simply mean that he became separated from God. In other words, Adam was once alive unto God, but then Adam became spiritually dead. He broke that relationship and fellowship with God through his sin. So then as we go back to these five Books of the Bible, first we find in Genesis that spiritual death is a curse of the Law. And we find in Galatians that we're redeemed from spiritual death right now in Christ (v. 13). We've passed from death unto life if we're in Him. We also learn that physical death will be put underfoot, too, when Jesus comes again (1 Cor. 15:26). We also find in Deuteronomy 28 that sickness and poverty are curses of the Law. Now in connection with sickness, we read that sickness is a curse for breaking God's Law. DEUTERONOMY 28:58-61 58 IF THOU WILT NOT OBSERVE TO DO ALL THE WORDS OF THIS LAW that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; 59 Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. 60 Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. 61 Also EVERY SICKNESS, and EVERY PLAGUE, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. And we can also read in Deuteronomy 28 that poverty is a curse of the Law. DEUTERONOMY 28:15 15 But it shall come to pass, IF THOU WILT NOT HEARKEN UNTO THE VOICE OF THE LORD THY GOD, TO OBSERVE TO DO ALL HIS COMMANDMENTS AND HIS STATUTES which I command thee this day; that ALL THESE CURSES SHALT COME UPON THEE, and overtake thee. Well, what are the curses that are referred to in that verse of Scripture? DEUTERONOMY 28:16-19,38-40 16 CURSED shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. 17 CURSED shall be thy basket and thy store. 18 CURSED shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 19 CURSED shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.... 38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it. 39 Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. 40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit. Poverty Is a Curse; Prosperity Is a Blessing Now those verses are certainly talking about poverty. But notice what it says in the first part of Deuteronomy 28 about the blessings for keeping God's Law. DEUTERONOMY 28:1-14 1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these BLESSINGS shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. 3 BLESSED shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 4 BLESSED shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 5 BLESSED shall be thy basket and thy store. 6 BLESSED shalt thou be when thou comest in, and BLESSED shalt thou be when thou goest out. 7 The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. 8 The Lord shall command the BLESSING upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall BLESS thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 9 The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways. 10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee. 11 And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12 The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. 13 And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: 14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. Those are the blessings for keeping God's Law! The Blessings Are for Us Today A lot of people argue, "Well, the Lord just said that to Israel. The blessings for obeying God's laws and commandments don't apply to us." But while we're on the subject of the Law, turn to Romans and Galatians. Remember God said, "O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and KEEP ALL MY COMMANDMENTS always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!" (Deut. 5:29). Yes, that was written to Israel under the Old Covenant. But notice what the New Covenant says about fulfilling or obeying God's laws and commandments. ROMANS 13:8 8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath FULFILLED THE LAW. GALATIANS 5:14 14 For all THE LAW IS FULFILLED in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Mark that down and don't let it get away from you. Israel had to keep God's commandments in order to prosper, and under the New Covenant we have a commandment to keep, too, in order to prosper. It's the commandment or law of love. Notice Paul was writing that to Gentile Christians, not to Hebrew Christians, so we know he's not talking just to the Israelites. So if we're walking in love, we've fulfilled the Law. Let's continue reading in Romans 13. ROMANS 13:9,10 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other COMMANDMENT, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore LOVE IS THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW. Now go back to Galatians 3:13 and 14 again and you'll see why we're not under the curse of the Law. GALATIANS 3:13,14,29 13 CHRIST HATH REDEEMED US FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the BLESSING OF ABRAHAM might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.... 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the PROMISE. Well, what is Abraham's promise? What was it that God promised him? Abraham's promise was threefold in nature. It was first a spiritual blessing. Second, it was a physical blessing. And third, it was a financial and material blessing. So if the Israelites under the Old Covenant could receive God's blessings by keeping the Law, then if we under the New Covenant would walk in love, we would fulfill all the Law too. And the blessings should come on us also. Notice Paul said, "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ..." (Gal. 3:14). Now when I first got hold of this, not only was I scraping the bottom of the barrel, I was under the barrel, and the barrel was on top of me! But I believed the Word, praise God, and I kept believing it and preaching it, and I eventually got out from under the barrel, where I could at least start on the bottom! And I've been rising to the top ever since! Don't think that it is just going to happen overnight, because it isn't. I ran up and down the hills and hollows of east Texas preaching prosperity when I didn't have a dime in my pocket. I had a car that was worn out with four bald tires and no spare at all. I looked like everything in the world except prosperous. But I just kept preaching prosperity because I knew it was so. I mean, if the Bible said it, it's so whether I've got it or not! But, you see, God doesn't always settle up every Saturday night. For example, on the negative side, a lot of people think they're getting by with wrongdoing, because God doesn't always settle up every Saturday night. And God doesn't always settle up the first of every month either. And He doesn't even always settle up the first of every year. But sooner or later, payday is coming. And, boy, you'd sure like to be around when payday comes if you've sown the right seed! Now if you're sowing the wrong seed, you don't want to be around when payday comes. When you can see that you have sown the wrong seed, you'd better repent of it quickly and get it all under the blood. Then God will forgive you and forget it, and you can pick up and go on. As I said, some people argue, "That prosperity business is all Old Testament though." But we've got ample Scripture that proves that the blessing of Abraham—including prosperity—is ours, too, under the New Testament. In the Old Testament, according to Deuteronomy, poverty was to come upon God's people if they disobeyed Him. It was the curse that was to come upon them because they'd failed to do all of God's commandments and His statutes. The Word of God teaches us that we've all sinned; we've all come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Therefore, the curse of the Law should also fall on us. But, thank God, Galatians 3:13 said, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us...." Notice it said, "Christ... [was] made a CURSE for US...." It didn't say, "Christ was made a curse for Himself." No! He was made a curse for us! He became our Substitute. The curse fell on Him instead of upon us, and He bore it for us so that we could be free. 2 CORINTHIANS 8:9 9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. Jesus Christ was rich. Yet for our sakes, He became poor, that we through His poverty, might be rich. "Well," some people said, "that just means spiritually rich." But, no. The only way Christ became poor was from the material standpoint. He didn't become poor spiritually, because the spiritually poor couldn't raise the dead! If they could, everybody would be doing that. The spiritually poor could not turn water into wine. No, Jesus certainly wasn't poor spiritually. Also, the spiritually poor couldn't have fed five thousand people with a little boy's lunch. But Jesus did. The spiritually poor could not have wrought the healings and the miracles that Jesus did. God Wants His People To Have Abundant Provision Jesus became poor materially for us. He was our Substitute. And the Scripture says God will meet our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19). Paul said that writing to the Church at Philippi, but it applies to believers everywhere. PHILIPPIANS 4:19 19 But my God shall supply ALL YOUR NEED according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. You see, this is talking about supplying all your need, including your financial and material needs as well as other needs. In fact, in this particular chapter in Philippians, Paul is talking about financial and material things, because in the previous verses, it says that these people had given of their material substance. Let me say this. In Second Corinthians 8:9, it says, "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that YE through his poverty might be RICH." People misinterpret that word "rich." Someone said, "You mean God is going to make all of us millionaires?" I didn't say that. The word "rich" according to the dictionary means a full supply. In other words, it means abundant provision. Well, isn't that what Philippians 4:19 says, "But my God shall supply ALL your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus"? It didn't say, "But my God shall supply half of your need...." No, it says all of them. It promises a full supply. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Again, this verse didn't say, "... and all these things shall be subtracted from you." No! These things shall be added unto you. Now what are "these things"? They are material things—something to eat, something to wear, and so on. In other words, "these things" is talking about the material things of life. So many people think it is a mark of spirituality to go through life with the top of your hat out, the soles of your shoes worn out, the seat of your pants worn out, and just barely getting along. But that isn't what Jesus said. He said, "... all these things shall be ADDED unto you," not taken away from you. Understanding the Law of Giving In Luke 6:38 when Jesus said, "Give and it shall be given unto you," He was talking about more than one area. He was also talking from a financial standpoint. The rest of that verse says, "... good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." I believe Jesus spoke the truth. Notice Jesus said, "... shall MEN give into your bosom.... " Now God is behind it, of course, but men will give unto your bosom. I remember one time I was holding a meeting in Dallas, Texas. A friend of mine lived there. He came to my meeting, and I took him to his house after one of the services. He handed me a $100 bill. You've got to realize, back then a $100 bill looked like $2,000 today. This man taught the older men's Bible class in quite a large church in that town. He said, "Brother Hagin, you know I pay my tithes and give offerings at my church. This money that I'm giving you is beyond tithes and offerings. I want you to know that." My friend continued, "We had a fellow in our church—an evangelist—who preached a meeting for us. The very first night he preached on Luke 6:38. Then he didn't preach on that, but he read the same text every night for two weeks before he preached. "When we came to the close of the meeting, he said, 'Now the pastor does not know that I'm going to do this, but I want to take up an offering for this church to purchase a new air-conditioning system.'" This was many years ago when money was money. I mean, it was more than forty years ago. The church's air-conditioning system had gone out, and they needed to buy a new one. The previous system was so old and outdated, they were also going to have to put in some more air ducts. It was going to cost them about $10,000. My friend continued, "This evangelist just said, 'I'm going to lay my Bible right here on the altar. I'm going to open it to Luke 6:38. I don't want anybody to give anything that he can afford to give. I want you to give what you can't afford to give and come and lay it on that verse. Believe it. Then say, "Lord, I'm acting on that verse. With what measure I mete, it shall be measured to me again.'"" Well, giving something you can't afford to give is a bigger measure than giving something you can afford to give. You remember in Mark 12:42 and Luke 21:2, Jesus stood where the people were casting in their money, and that poor widow woman came by and put in two mites. Jesus said, "She gave more than all of them" (Mark 12:43; Luke 21:3). Why? Because she gave everything she had. So my friend who taught the men's Sunday school class said, "Three businessmen had talked to me and asked me to pray. They talked to me at the close of Sunday school as we were going into the main auditorium for morning worship. "Their businesses were just in disarray. In fact, bankers and financial advisors told two of them to take bankruptcy. The other man's business was not quite that far gone." My friend said, "I knew if those men gave anything, it would be something they couldn't afford to give because they didn't have anything to give! "But one of the businessmen told me afterward that he marched down there to that altar and put his last three hundred dollars on the Bible. Another one of the businessmen who was in trouble financially gave five hundred dollars. And the other man who was just on the verge of bankruptcy gave two hundred dollars." The Sunday school teacher said, "I am a witness to the fact that in thirty days' time, every one of them was out of the red and in the black in their businesses." They honored God, and God honored them! Now they didn't give just to get. That would be selfish. They wanted to see the work of God go forward. Keep things in the right perspective. In other words, keep your attitudes and motives right. Yet, on the other hand, when you give, you still have a right to believe God for a return on your giving. Honor God With Your Faith, Your Giving, And Right Motives For instance, in one church I pastored, one of my deacons said to me, "You know, Brother Hagin, I've been saved thirteen years. I have paid my tithes all these years, but if anything has ever happened to me extraordinarily in the way of finances, I don't know it." This deacon had a good job in the oil field with one of the oil companies, and he made good money. Of course, he still had his good job, so that was a blessing. And when the company gave raises, he got one. But nothing extraordinary in the way of finances had ever happened to him. He told me, "I'll be honest with you, Brother Hagin. I never have heard anybody really teach on the subject of tithing and giving offerings. They just said you're supposed to do so, so I just did it." Well, again, his motive was all wrong. This man just did something because somebody else told him to do it. It wasn't that he even believed it! In fact, he told me, "Really, I was afraid not to tithe and give offerings." You see, he was giving out of fear and not out of faith, so naturally it didn't work. I said to him, "First of all, if you'll repent, the Lord will forgive you for not having the right motive. "And, second, from now on when you put in your tithes on Sunday morning, you thank the Lord, first of all for your salvation—that you are a child of God. "Keep your motive right. Say, 'Lord, I'm giving because I love You, not because I'm afraid of You. And I'm not paying my tithes just because somebody told me to do it or just because somebody preached it. I may not understand it, but I see that it is in the Word. "'So I'm paying my tithes because I love You. And I love the church, and I want to see it go forward and succeed. That's why I'm paying tithes and giving offerings. And I expect You to honor Your Word, and I thank You for doing it. You said, "Them that honor Me, I'll honor."'" When God said that in the Old Testament, He was talking about bringing in the firstfruits. Proverbs 3:9 says, "Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase." He said, "Them that honor Me, I'll honor" (1 Sam. 2:30). Then I told the deacon to say, "Lord, You said, 'Give and it shall be given unto you.' So I'm putting this in the offering by faith." Then I told the man to come back and tell me what happened. It wasn't thirty days before he came back, just grinning. "It's working!" he said. For years his paying tithes and giving offerings had not worked. Now why? Because he didn't do it in faith. His motives and his attitude were all wrong. But when he got his motives and attitude right, he got blessed. Don't Be Robbed of Your New Testament Blessing! The Bible said in Hebrews 7:8, "And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth." Now almost any time you get something good from the Scriptures, people will say, "Well, that's just for the Jews. That's not for us nowadays." But the Book of Hebrews is in the New Testament, and the writer of Hebrews was writing to Hebrews under the New Covenant. And he said, "... here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth." That's talking about Jesus! From the natural standpoint, it looks like "men that die" receive tithes, but actually "... he [Jesus] receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that HE LIVETH." Well, Jesus said, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore... " (Rev. 1:18)! So you see, Abraham's blessing—the blessing for keeping God's commands, His Word—is ours because of Jesus Christ! He is the One who lives and is alive forevermore! Abraham's blessing includes financial prosperity, and it's for us today. GALATIANS 3:14,29 14 That the blessing of Abraham MIGHT COME ON THE GENTILES THROUGH JESUS CHRIST; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.... 29 And if ye be Christ's, then ARE YE ABRAHAM'S SEED, AND HEIRS according to the promise. Abraham's blessing is ours! But we need to understand exactly what was Abraham's blessing. Well, we know it was a threefold blessing. First, God promised Abraham that He was going to make him rich (Gen. 12:2,3; 13:2). Someone said, "You mean, God said He is going to make all of us rich?" Yes, that's what I mean. "Well, do you mean He's going to make all of us millionaires?" No. Again, that word "rich" according to the dictionary means a full supply. I believe there is a full supply spiritually, physically, and in every way in Christ Jesus. Thank God for abundant provision through Christ Jesus! I held a meeting in 1954 for Brother A. A. Swift in New Jersey, just across the river from New York. He was an Assemblies of God minister and an executive presbyter of the Assemblies of God denomination. I stayed in the home of Brother Swift. He was about seventy at the time, and I was thirty-six. He had received the baptism of the Holy Ghost in 1908 and had gone out as a missionary to China in 1911 with his wife and two children. There was no missionary organization in Pentecostal circles at that time, so Brother Swift had no support from those circles. There was a mission in London, England, that supported him, however. The only problem was, that organization didn't believe in speaking in tongues. Brother Swift told me that as he would go to his place of prayer, God kept dealing with him that really he was receiving money under false pretenses. He couldn't preach the baptism in the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues to the people because the organization supporting him didn't believe in it. Privately, however, he got several people in that country filled with the Spirit. He said, "Lord, what am I going to do?" The Lord said, "Just send in your resignation to the organization." That organization paid him $103 a month. That meant $1,236 for the year. He said, "Lord, what am I going to do? Nobody else is going to support me and my wife and two children here in China!" The Lord said, "Turn the church over to one of the organization's other missionaries. Go over to another city and start a new work." Just think about it! He was supposed to start a new work in China in 1912! It was tough enough to start a new work in America in 1912. It's still tough enough today. You've got to do it by faith. So Brother Swift said, "I did what the Lord said, but I still questioned the Lord, What are we going to do? We don't have any support.' "The Lord spoke to my heart and said, 'Didn't you know I promised to make you rich?'" I'd received revelation along this line myself, but Brother Swift just confirmed it. I hadn't preached it yet. I wanted to prove it out first. I'd seen that truth in 1950 when the Lord showed it to me. And it was working fine for me personally. As I just began to suggest some things to Brother Swift about it, he said, "I see God has been talking to you. Now let me tell you what God said to me in 1911 when I resigned from that missionary organization. "God said, 'Didn't I promise to make you rich?'" (Really, there were some areas I didn't see until Brother Swift filled me in on them.) Brother Swift answered the Lord, "No, I didn't know You promised to make me rich. If You did, I'd sure be glad to know it. Where is that found?" The Spirit of God showed him where it was written in the Bible. GALATIANS 3:13,14 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. So Brother Swift told me, "I turned in my resignation and went over and started this other church. And for the first six months of 1912, it looked like my wife and I and our two children were going to starve to death in China. It looked like it wasn't going to work." You see, you can't always go by what it looks like. There always comes a test to your faith. The trial of your faith, the Bible said, is more precious than gold. Like I said, God doesn't settle up the first of the year or the first of the month or even every six months. But Brother Swift said to me, "Before 1912 was out, I checked up on it, and God had given me $3,750 in American dollars." Now $3,750 in 1912 was a lot of money! Brother Swift had been getting $1,236, so the amount the Lord gave him was three times as much as he had received from the mission that had supported him. You know, dear friends, Brother Swift was glad to find out that God promised to make him rich. Did God make him a millionaire? No, but Brother Swift and his family were abundantly provided for. They had a full supply. Some folks have thought it was a sin to have money. But, you know, most people are not poor because they've honored God. Rather, they're poor because they've dishonored Him. Some folks have said to me, "Brother Hagin, I'm afraid of money, because don't you know the Bible said, 'Money is the root of all evil'?" No, the Bible didn't say that. The Bible said, "For the LOVE of money is the root of all evil..." (1 Tim. 6:10). The love of money is the root of all evil. It is not wrong to have money; it is wrong for money to have you. It is wrong for money to be your master. God wants His people to have their needs met and to have a full supply. So believe His Word that says we are redeemed from the curse of poverty. Exercise your faith and keep your motives and attitudes right in your giving. As you do, you'll get blessed because Abraham's blessing belongs to you! Chapter 2 Qualifications for Walking in Prosperity God wants to prosper His children. He is concerned about us and wants us to have good things in life. He said in His Word, "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land" (Isa. 1:19). But God doesn't want us to put "eating the good of the land" first. Moses was an example of someone who didn't put those things first. For example, Moses, who was raised by an Egyptian, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter when he grew up. HEBREWS 11:24-26 24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. Think about what Moses refused! He was the son of Pharaoh's daughter—and he was in line for the throne! Moses had prestige, honor, and wealth. He had all the things the world had to offer. Yet Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ as greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. Moses saw a difference between the people of God and the people of the world. Some people are more interested in making a dollar than they are in serving God. But spiritual things must come first if you are going to be spiritual. You must esteem the things of God—spiritual things—more than earthly things. One qualification for prospering is to esteem earthly things lightly. You cannot put earthly things above spiritual things and expect to prosper as God desires you to. No, it's not wrong to have money. It's wrong for money to have you. It's wrong for money to be your ruler or master or for you to consume finances on your own lusts. God wants you to prosper financially! But your prosperity depends on your putting first things first. There are qualifications involved. In the Old Testament, God told the Israelites to keep His statutes and walk in His commandments (Deuteronomy 28). Well, that's spiritual prosperity to put God's Word first and to walk in the truth. God desires the same today. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John writes, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth" (3 John 2). In the next two verses, John goes on to say that he had no greater joy than to hear that God's people are indeed walking in the truth of God's Word. God told the Israelites, "Walk in My statutes and keep My commandments. Do that which is right in My sight, and I'll take sickness away from the midst of you, and the number of your days I will fulfill" (Exod. 15:26; 23:26). That's physical prosperity or divine healing and health. The Lord also talked to the Israelites about their "basket and store" being blessed, their barns being filled, and about them being the head and not the tail (Deut. 28:1-14; Prov. 3:10). That's material prosperity. But notice their physical and material prosperity depended upon their spiritual prosperity. 3 JOHN 2 2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest PROSPER and BE IN HEALTH, EVEN AS thy SOUL PROSPERETH. John is talking about financial or material prosperity, physical prosperity, and spiritual prosperity. Notice that material and physical prosperity are dependent upon spiritual prosperity. Put First Things First The first Psalm is so beautiful and further confirms that God wants His people to prosper. PSALM 1:1-3 1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall PROSPER. So you see, God wants us to prosper. However, our need is to evaluate things as they should be evaluated—to esteem earthly things lightly and to put first things first. Everyone thinks the preacher ought to be that way. For example, if a pastor happened to take the pastorate of a church where he makes more money, many people would think, He just took that church so he'd be better paid. Yet they themselves would think nothing in the world about taking a better job! They would probably even think nothing about moving off to another location where there wasn't a good church—only one in which they'd all backslide! Years ago back in the Depression days, I was in a particular town on business and ran into a certain fellow on the street. He had a good job making good money, but he'd been offered a job in another town making $50 more a month. That was a lot of money back then. I knew many men with families who didn't even make $50 a month. But this gentleman was already making a good salary and had the chance to make an even better one. He told me, "Did you know I was moving?" He was a member of a Full Gospel church, and I happened to know that there wasn't a Full Gospel church in the town where he was moving. I said to him, "What kind of church is there in that town?" "What do you mean?" he asked. "Is there a Full Gospel church there?" I asked him. He answered, "I don't know; I never thought about it." I said, "No, you were only interested in the extra fifty dollars a month. But wait a minute. "I knew you before you came into Pentecost. I happen to know that you'd spent all of your money on medical bills for your wife. Doctors thought she had cancer of the stomach. "But when she received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, without anybody even praying for her, she was healed. "I also happen to know that you had spent thousands of dollars on one of your sons who had a physical ailment. But since you began attending a church where divine healing is taught, your boy has been in good health." "Yes," the man said. "Well," I said, "I also happen to know that there's not a Full Gospel church in that town." (It would have been different if he had been to going to that town to start a Full Gospel church, but he wasn't. He wasn't capable of starting a church.) The man said, "You know, I never thought about that." I said, "You'd be taking your family out of a good Full Gospel church, where the Gospel is being preached and where you've been blessed immeasurably, all for fifty dollars more a month. I won't tell you not to do it, but I will tell you to pray about it." The next time I saw this fellow, he said to me, "I'm not going; I don't believe it's worth it." Another man and his wife came to a meeting I was holding in Dallas. The woman's mother, who had gone to be with the Lord, was a member of a church I'd pastored years before. She had been a wonderful Christian and a great blessing to my wife and me. I knew that this wife hadn't always been a Christian. Years before when she would visit her mother, her mother told me she wasn't saved. But she had later gotten saved, received the Holy Spirit, and attended a fine Full Gospel church. But when I saw this woman with her husband at my meeting and asked, "Where do you attend church now?" the woman said, "Oh, we don't go anywhere." "What do you mean? I thought you were a member at such-and-such church." "Oh, there's not even a church there anymore," she answered. "It was closed down for a while until another pastor came and took over it. Then the pastor backslid and quit preaching. We just go here and there to church every so often. While you're in town, we're coming to your meetings." I asked: "Well, where do you pay your tithes?" "We don't pay our tithes," she answered. "We used to pay them, but we quit. We used to pay our tithes to the pastor, but he backslid." "Well," I said, "you don't have to backslide just because he did." I didn't know whether they appreciated me telling them that or not, but I continued: "You need to get in a church somewhere and work for God and worship the Lord. You need to get hooked up instead of going from church to church. A rolling stone never gathers any moss. "Besides that, we need each other. We need the fellowship of one another." Someone said, "I can stay home and be as good a Christian as anybody." You can't do it. The Bible says, "Not forsaking the assembling o f ourselves together, as the manner o f some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching" (Heb. 10:25). We see that day approaching—the coming of the Lord. We need one another. No, we don't go to church because we're in love with the pastor or the pastor's wife or the Sunday school teacher. We should go to church because we love God and want to worship Him. Some people lose their children to the devil because the parents don't put first things first. The children grow up physically and get away from God because the wrong example was set for them. But you can't just tell children what to do. The Bible says, "TRAIN up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Prov. 22:6). You have to set the right example. You have to be a person of faith yourself. To do that, you have to put first things first. F. F. Bosworth said, "Some people wonder why they can't have faith for healing. They feed their body three hot meals a day, and their spirit one cold snack a week." Folks could have faith for healing or for anything the Word of God promises —prosperity, a healthy, happy family, long life—if they would just put first things first. Determine in your heart to put spiritual things first and to esteem earthly things lightly. Put God first, even before your own self. You'll be blessed spiritually, physically, and in every way—you and your family as well. ISAIAH 1:19 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. I left my last church in 1949 and went out into what we call field ministry. I went from church to church holding revival meetings. I'd been out there for a year, and I got hold of the verse that said, "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land" (Isa. 1:19). But, boy, I sure wasn't eating the good of the land! I had worn my car out. I had to sell it for junk. I had three notes at three different banks, and I got just enough from the sale of the car to pay the interest on the notes, renew them, and buy the kids a few clothes. I had all of this written down, and I went to the Lord in prayer about my financial situation. I was away from home holding a meeting. I was fasting, and every day I talked to the Lord about my situation. I said, "Lord, You see that I obeyed You when You told me to leave that church I was pastoring and to go out on the field. I did what You said to do. And You said, 'If you'll be willing and obedient, you'll eat the good of the land.' "Now, Lord, here's what my church paid me, plus they furnished the parsonage—the best parsonage we'd ever lived in. All the utilities were paid, and probably half of what we ate was paid for because people just constantly brought food to the parsonage for us." And then I said to the Lord, "They also sent us to every convention we needed to attend. The church paid our way there and back, and a lot of times, they'd buy me a new suit and my wife a new dress." They wanted us to go to those conventions looking good because we were representing them. I showed the Lord the figures I had written down. "But now, Lord," I continued, "here is my gross income for this year. This is every penny I received this year." It was $1,200 less in actual cash than what I received the previous year. Besides that, now I had to pay traveling expenses, my own rent, and utilities just from the money I received holding meetings in the field. Besides that, I had to pay my own way to the conventions that were necessary for me to attend. So, you see, all that took a big chunk out of my salary—about half of it. I added, "Lord, see how much better off I would have been if I'd stayed where I was? And they wanted me to stay. The church board said, 'Brother Hagin, if you'll stay with us, we'll just vote you in as pastor indefinitely. Just stay here till Jesus comes.'" Actually, I would have liked to have done that because we were the most comfortable we'd ever been in all of our years of pastoral work. We were living in the best parsonage. We were getting the most salary we'd ever received. The church was doing well. But the Lord said, "Go," so I went. I said, "Now, Lord, I obeyed You. If You hadn't spoken to me, I was perfectly satisfied from the natural standpoint to stay where I was." (I said from a natural standpoint, not from a spiritual standpoint, because when we're spiritual, we want to obey God. But the flesh is not always willing.) I told the Lord, "I obeyed You. But now we're living in a three-room apartment. My children are not adequately housed. They're not adequately clothed. They're not adequately fed. We're sure not eating the good of the land." You Must Be Willing and Obedient I was telling this to the Lord and quoting Isaiah 1:19. And about the third day, the Lord said to me in just the same way He talks to other believers—we call it the still, small voice. He said, "The reason you're not eating the good of the land is that you don't qualify." I said, "What do You mean, I don't qualify? I obeyed You. That scripture said if you would be willing and obedient..." "That's what it says," the Lord answered. "You qualify on the obedient side, but you don't qualify on the willing side. So you don't qualify." I don't mind telling you ahead of time, God's Word is always true! The Bible said, ".. yea, let God be true, but every man a liar... " (Rom. 3:4). And if you're not eating the good of the land, it may be because you don't qualify. So the Lord told me, "Yes, you obeyed Me, all right, in leaving that church, but you weren't willing." Now don't tell me it takes a long time to get willing. I know better! When the Lord said that to me, I got willing in ten seconds! I just made a little adjustment in my spirit. Then I said, "Lord, now I'm ready. I'm ready to eat the good of the land. I'm willing. I know I'm willing. You know I'm willing. And the devil knows I'm willing." Of course, a part of being willing and obedient is keeping your motives pure. God sees the heart of man, and He knows what attitudes are motivating him (1 Sam. 16:7). If a person's motive is not right, he needs to repent and make the necessary adjustments. God is not going to bless someone whose motives are impure. No, that person has to be willing and obedient and have the right motives. I got the willing and obedient part settled. And I knew I had the right motive. But on the other hand, if I was going to eat the good of the land, the Lord still had to change my thinking. My thinking had to get straightened out and come in line with what the Word says on the subject of prosperity. These are some of the reasons why people are not eating the good of the land. And it could simply be because they're not abiding in the Book that tells them how to do it! Learn To Think in Line With God's Word You see, a lot of times, our thinking is wrong. It's not in line with the Bible. And if our thinking is wrong, then our believing is going to be wrong. And if our believing is wrong, then our talking is going to be wrong. You've got to get all three of them—your thinking, your believing, and your speaking—synchronized with the Word of God. God has given us His Word to get our thinking straightened out. In my case, God knew my thinking was wrong because, you see, in the denomination I'd been brought up in, we were taught that it was wrong to have anything. I began my ministry in this particular denomination, and they were great about praying for the pastor: "Lord, You keep him humble, and we'll keep him poor." And they thought they were doing God a favor! Then in 1937 I was baptized in the Holy Ghost and spoke with other tongues. I got the left foot of fellowship from my denomination and came over among the Pentecostals. They were doubly that way about praying for the pastor. In other words, they doubled up on their praying: "Lord, You keep him humble, and we'll keep him poor!" And you always heard preachers say, "I don't want any of this world's goods," because they thought there was something wrong with this world's goods. But turn to Psalm 50, and I'll show you why it's not wrong to have this world's goods. PSALM 50:10,12 10 For every beast of the forest IS MINE, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.... 12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for THE WORLD IS MINE, and the fulness thereof [that means that everything that's in the world is God's]. Mark those verses in your Bible. Meditate on those verses and confess them. The Lord showed me these verses because He had to get my thinking straightened out. I thought it was wrong to have anything. I thought a person ought to go through life with the seat of his britches worn out, the top of his hat worn out, the soles of his shoes worn out, and live on Barely-Get-Along Street way down at the end of the block right next to Grumble Alley! That's the kind of thinking many people in the church world have today. But they're not thinking in line with God's Word. Chapter 3 Our Authority in the Area of Finances As I continued to wait before the Lord about my finances, spending time in the Word with prayer and fasting, He said to me, "Go back to the Book of beginnings." Now that I was willing and obedient, He was showing me how to get my thinking straightened out. I knew what He was talking about when He said the Book of beginnings—He meant the Book of Genesis. The Lord went on to tell me that He made the world and the fullness thereof. He created it. He said to me, "Then I created My man, Adam." And the Lord saw that it was not good for man to be alone, so He created Eve. The Lord said to them, "I give you dominion over all the works of My hands" (Gen. 1:26, 28). Over how much? Over all the works of His hands! GENESIS 1:1,26-30 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.... 26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them HAVE DOMINION over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and OVER EVERY CREEPING THING THAT CREEPETH UPON THE EARTH. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and HAVE DOMINION over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and OVER EVERY LIVING THING THAT MOVETH UPON THE EARTH. 29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. After the Lord showed me these scriptures in Psalm 50:10-12 and Genesis chapter 1, He said, "There's another scripture that says, 'The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts'" (Haggai 2:8). He then said, "They're all Mine, not because they're in My possession, but because I created them. "But who do you think I created the cattle upon a thousand hills for? Who do you think I created the silver and the gold for? "Who do you think I created the world and the fullness thereof for? For the devil and his crowd? No. I made them for My man Adam. "But," the Lord continued, "My people have wrong thinking." You see, the devil can run a night club, and he and his crowd don't mind spending thousands of dollars to put up an electric sign to let everyone know what it is. But if somebody puts up a nice sign for the church, there are people who will object to that. The devil's got them hoodwinked. How come the devil and his crowd have most of the silver and gold since the Lord made it for Adam? Did you ever wonder about that? The Lord said, "The silver and gold are not all here for the devil and his crowd. I made it all for My man Adam, but then he committed high treason against Me." Adam sold out! Adam committed treason. He surrendered it all to Satan. LUKE 4:5-8 5 And the devil, taking him [Jesus] up into an high mountain, shewed unto him ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said unto him, All this power [authority] will I give thee, and the glory of them: FOR THAT IS DELIVERED UNTO ME; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. When the Lord created Adam, Adam was in one sense the god of this world because God created the world and the fullness thereof and turned it over to him (Gen. 1:26,28). But we read in Second Corinthians 4:4 that Satan is the god of this world. Well, Satan wasn't the god of this world to begin with. So how did he become the god of this world? Because Adam committed treason and sold out to him. Now Adam didn't have a moral right to disobey God and sell out to Satan, but he had a legal right to do it. Notice Luke 4:6 and 7. We know Adam turned his dominion over to Satan because Satan said to Jesus, "... All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: FOR THAT IS DELIVERED UNTO ME; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine." Some folks said, "Well, that wasn't even Satan's to give." But if it wasn't Satan's to give, then it wouldn't have been any temptation to Jesus. And if it wasn't a temptation, then why does the Bible say He was tempted (Luke 4:2)? It's ridiculous to think Jesus wasn't actually tempted by the devil. Although we know that Jesus is deity, we must also realize that in His humanity, He was tempted (Heb. 4:15). Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and said to Him, "All this authority will I give Thee and the glory of it, for it is delivered unto me." Who delivered it to him? Adam did! The Lord told me all this and related it to faith for finances. As I was praying and waiting before Him, He said to me by the Holy Spirit: "The money you need is down there. It isn't up here in Heaven. I don't have any American dollars up here. I'm not going to rain any money down from Heaven because if I did, it would be counterfeit. And I'm not a counterfeiter." Afterward, I remembered what Jesus said in Luke 6. LUKE 6:38 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall MEN give into your bosom.... You see, when men give unto you, God's behind it, all right, but that verse says, "... shall MEN give into your bosom.... " That's why the Lord said, "The money you need is down there. I'm not going to rain any money down from Heaven. I don't have any money up here. If I did rain money out of Heaven, it would be counterfeit. And I'm not a counterfeiter." After the Lord showed me this, He said, "Whatever you need, you just claim it." We Have Been Given Authority in Christ The reason we have a right to claim our needs met is, Jesus came to the earth and defeated Satan. We're in the world but we're not of the world (John 15:19), yet we still have to live in this world. So we must use our God-given authority to enforce Satan's defeat and enjoy the blessings of God that we have in Christ, including financial prosperity. COLOSSIANS 1:12 12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet [or able] TO BE PARTAKERS OF THE INHERITANCE OF THE SAINTS IN LIGHT. That's something that belongs to us in this life! Now notice the next verse. Here is the inheritance of the saints in light that the Father gives as a result of Jesus' defeating Satan. COLOSSIANS 1:13 13 Who [the Father] HATH DELIVERED US FROM THE POWER OF DARKNESS, and HATH TRANSLATED US INTO THE KINGDOM OF HIS DEAR SON. Notice this scripture says, "... HATH delivered us.... " In other words, Jesus is not going to deliver us; He already has delivered us. The rest of that verse says, "... from the POWER of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." Notice that word "power" again. There are several different Greek words that are translated "power" in the New Testament. This one in Colossians 1:13 means authority. In other words, God hath delivered us from the authority or dominion of darkness. Well, what's the authority or dominion of darkness? That's Satan's kingdom. Remember what Jesus said through the apostle John in First John 5:19: "... the whole world lieth in wickedness." He's talking about spiritual darkness and spiritual death. We're in the world, all right. But we're not of the world. The whole world lieth in darkness, but God hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son (Col. 1:13)! That's our inheritance! Now turn to Colossians chapter 2. COLOSSIANS 2:13-15 13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened [or made alive] together with him [Christ], having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15 And having spoiled [put to nought or reduced to nothing] principalities and powers [the evil forces of the enemy], he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Hallelujah! We are the triumphant ones because of what Jesus did. He didn't do it for Himself; He didn't need it. What Jesus did, He did for me. He did it for you. He did it for us! He became our Substitute. He took our place. And when He defeated the enemy, praise God, it was written down to our credit that we defeated the enemy in Him. Therefore, we have the authority to tell Satan to take his hands off what belongs to us—including our finances. Yet some folk are going around talking about the "warring" Church. They don't know that Jesus has already whipped Satan! "Yes," someone said, "but don't you know Paul told Timothy to be a good soldier [2 Tim. 2:3]. Therefore, we're soldiers, and we're in the army." Yes, but it's an occupation army! In other words, we just come in "mopping up" behind what Jesus has already won! Hallelujah! It's a triumphant Church, not a warring Church! You see, Jesus made a show of principalities and powers openly. That is, He made a show of them before three worlds—Heaven, earth, and hell— triumphing over these powers through the Cross (Col. 2:15)! I wish I could get that over to Charismatics. Too many Charismatics are like young mockingbirds that have just been hatched. They don't even have their eyes open yet, but their mouths are wide open. Anybody can just poke anything in the world down them! And like little birds, those Christians will believe almost everything they hear and swallow it. But, no. Close your mouths and open your eyes, and measure what you hear by the Word of God! The Word declares we are more than conquerors and that we have overcome the world through Jesus Christ. The Word declares that we are redeemed from the curse of the Law—from poverty, sickness, and spiritual death. The Word also says we have been given authority over the devil in Jesus' Name and that we can use that authority and claim our financial needs met. So learn to think and speak in line with what the Word says. You can have what the Word says you can have, and you are who the Word says you are. You are born of God! 1 JOHN 4:4 4 YE ARE OF GOD, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. Now in the Old Testament, there are long pages of genealogy—and it was necessary for the Israelites to have their genealogy recorded. There were pages and pages of "So-and-so begat So-and-so" (all those names you can hardly pronounce!). After a while, you can get tired of reading all those names, and you just want to skip over them and start reading something else! But in the New Testament, we can write our genealogy in four little words: "I-am-of-God." Hallelujah! If you have been born again, say this out loud: "I am of God!" (1 John 4:4). I was watching a so-called Christian television program some time ago. It was one of those talk shows, and there was a woman on the show as a guest. She sang, and then the host talked to her. She said that she had to leave her husband and divorce him because she had to find out who she was. I thought, She ought to get saved so she'd know who she is! "I don't know who I am" or "I've got to find out who I am." Unsaved people talk like that, because we who are saved know who we are! We are of God! We have been born again. We are new creatures in Christ Jesus! Look in First John again in the third chapter. 1 JOHN 3:1 1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the SONS OF GOD: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. That's who we are! We know exactly who we are. According to the Word, we are "of God"! We are sons of God. We are new creatures in Christ Jesus. His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God (Rom. 8:16). When I heard that woman say, "I've got to find out who I am," I turned that program off to see if I could find a good western to watch. I mean, I thought a good western would be more edifying! Praise God, "Ye are of God, little children... " (1 John 4:4). That's our genealogy! Those Born of God Are Overcomers! Now look at that next statement in First John 4:4: "... and have overcome them.... " Overcome who? All those demons and evil spirits that John talked about in verses 1 through 3. He said, "You've overcome them." "Well," someone asked, "if I've overcome them, how come I'm having so many problems with them?" Because you don't know it! You don't know you overcame them! And because you don't know it, you don't act on it! Notice it didn't say you were going to overcome them. This verse clearly says, that we have overcome them. That's past tense: "... [ye] HAVE overcome them... " (1 John 4:4). How can that be? Because of the rest of that verse: You've overcome them because greater is He that's in you than he that's in the world! 1 JOHN 4:4 4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: BECAUSE GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN YOU, THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD. Paul wrote to the Church at Colossae and said it's "...Christ in you, the hope o f glory" (Col. 1:27). COLOSSIANS 1:27 27 To whom God would make known what is the RICHES OF THE GLORY OF THIS MYSTERY among the Gentiles; which is Christ IN you, the hope of glory. This is the mystery: Through the Holy Ghost, Christ indwells us, and we are the Body of Christ. He is the Head, and we are the Body. Now, can your head have one experience and your body another experience? No, it's impossible. In the same way, the Lord Jesus' victory is our victory. When He overcame demons and evil spirits and put them to nought, that's all marked down to our credit. Notice it says, " YE... have overcome them..." (1 John 4:4). Why do folks have so much trouble with evil spirits then? Because of folks' wrong thinking! They don't know that in Christ, they've overcome demons and evil spirits. And because they don't know it, they don't act on it. But believers do have authority over Satan. They just need to believe and exercise that authority in every area of their lives, including the area of finances. Jesus Defeated the Works of the Devil—Including Poverty and Lack There's another passage of Scripture that would help us in our thinking along this line. 1 CORINTHIANS 2:4-6 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect [mature]: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, THAT COME TO NOUGHT. Remember what we read in Colossians 2:15: "And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." Jesus spoiled principalities and powers! If you look in the margin of a good reference Bible, it will tell you, "He put to nought principalities and powers." He reduced them to nothing. In other words, He reduced them to nothing as far as their being able to dominate us. Therefore, they can't dominate us financially either. Since these principalities and powers are dethroned, why then are they still ruling in the world? Because the world doesn't know that they're dethroned. They don't know about it, and, therefore, they can't act upon it! That's the reason Jesus said He was anointed by the Spirit (and so are we) to preach deliverance! Someone asked, "What do you mean, preach deliverance?" Preach to the captives, "You're delivered! Jesus delivered you! These powers have come to nought! They're dethroned powers!" 1 JOHN 4:4 4 Ye are of God, little children, and HAVE OVERCOME THEM: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. "Well, I'm trying to overcome them," someone said. No, you don't try. You just accept by faith what Jesus did. What He did, He did for you! Christ's victory is your victory. Glory to God! Exercising Our Authority That's why when the Lord told me to claim the money I needed, I understood what He meant. He was telling me to believe and exercise my spiritual authority in the area of finances. The Lord had said to me, "The money that you need is not up here in Heaven. I don't have any money up here. The money that you need is down there. It's Satan who's keeping it from coming, not Me. "Satan is going to stay there till Adam's lease runs out." (Then, thank God, Satan is going to be put in the bottomless pit for a little while, and finally cast into the lake of fire.) The Lord said to me, "Don't pray about money like you have been. Whatever you need, claim it in Jesus' Name. And then you say, 'Satan, take your hands off my money.' And then say, 'Go, ministering spirits, and cause the money to come.'" This was way back in 1950. And from that day to this, I've not prayed about money. I'm talking about for me individually— personally. Now when it comes to RHEMA Bible Training Center, that's a different thing. We present the needs of the training center to people to help us, because that's not just my responsibility. It's the same way with the local church. It's not just one person's responsibility. We all should believe God, not just the pastor. And yet, right on the other hand, the pastor has a responsibility, too, because he's in authority. He has to do certain things and make certain decisions in the church. And that's a great responsibility. Angels Are Ministering Spirits In 1950 when I began to see how faith worked in the area of finances, it was all new to me. In fact, I said to the Lord, "What do You mean? I can understand the part about how we can exercise authority over the enemy, claim the finances we need, and tell Satan, 'Take your hands off my money' But, what do You mean about the part, 'Go, ministering spirits, and cause the money to come'?" The Lord said, "Didn't you ever read in My Word where it says that angels are ministering spirits sent to minister for those who are heirs of salvation?" (Heb. 1:14). Because I thought it said "minister to us," I had to get my Bible and read it. Isn't it strange how we can read Scripture for years and years, and read right over things and not get what the Word said? HEBREWS 1:13,14 13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister FOR them who shall be heirs of salvation? Notice verse 13 says, "But to which o f the ANGELS...." So He's talking about angels. Now look at verse 14: "Are they not all ministering spirits... ?" Now notice what it said. "Are they not ALL [How many of them? All of them.] ministering spirits... ?" They are spirit beings. They are "... ministering spirits, sent forth to minister FOR them who shall be HEIRS OF SALVATION" (Heb. 1:14). Well, that's us! These angels are ministering spirits that are sent forth to minister for us. "For" us means they were sent to do something for us! Now over in Satan's kingdom, we could say that Satan is the chief. And, you see, all these demons and other spirits are doing his work. You hear folks say sometimes, "Satan influenced me to do that." Well, he might not have been there present at the time, but one of his ambassadors were. These demons and evil spirits influence people. They'll even influence Christians, if Christians will let them. Well, just as demon spirits influence people, good spirits or ministering spirits can influence people too. I Put Into Practice What I Received After the Lord showed me this, I went to the church where I was holding the meeting and stood there on the platform. I'll be honest with you, since this was a new revelation to me, my knees were shaking. I was trembling, not because I was afraid like someone would be afraid of a rattlesnake or a bad storm. I'm talking about a holy, reverential fear. Remember the Apostle Paul said, "And I was with you in... fear, and in much trembling" (1 Cor. 2:3). What I experienced was a different thing entirely from tormenting fear. It was a holy fear. You see, what the Lord had shown me was new to me, and my head was telling me, "That's not going to work." I just stood on the platform, and I said privately, "Well, now, let's see. It takes one hundred and fifty dollars a week to meet my budget." (That doesn't sound big now, but that was big then.) I was supposed to be at that church one week. So I said, "In Jesus' Name, I claim one hundred and fifty dollars this week." And then I said, "Satan, take your hands off my money in Jesus' Name." Then I also said, "Go, ministering spirits, and cause the money to come." That's it —that's all I did. Then I said to the pastor, "Now, Brother, don't make any special pull for money. When you get ready to take up my offering, just say as little about it as you can. Don't say a lot about it." "Well," the pastor said to me, "you know our custom. We take up an offering on Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday nights for the evangelist. We're accustomed to taking up pledge offerings. If I just say, 'This is Brother Hagin's offering' and pass the plate, you won't get over a dime." I said, "If I just get a dime, you won't hear me say a word." I had preached in that same church a year before. This was a different pastor this time, and the only other difference in the church was they had two more church members this year than the year before. The church was about the same size. They hadn't gotten anybody saved. The last year when I preached at this church, they paid me $57.15 a week for two weeks. That's $114.30 total. And when they gave me that offering, they thought they'd hung the moon! The pastor who was there then had taken up to thirty or forty minutes for that offering, saying, "Who'll give another dollar?..." (Don't misunderstand me. That's all right to do if the Lord leads you to do that. In fact, I have been anointed at times to take up such an offering.) But now that I'd seen how faith worked for finances, I said to this pastor, "Don't take up any pledge offering." "Well, uh... If that's the way you want it," the pastor said. "That's the way I want it." The meeting started and was going well, and the pastor asked me: "Could you stay longer?" I said, "I've got another meeting coming up, but I was going to take a little time off between meetings to go home." But in the process of time, he persuaded me to stay on through Wednesday night of the following week, which gave us about a ten-day meeting. So I changed the amount I had claimed—the amount I needed to meet my budget. Instead of $150, now I was claiming $200. I didn't pray about it. I claimed what I needed in Jesus' Name, and said, "Satan, take your hands off of my finances." Then I said, "Go, ministering spirits; cause the money to come." When the ten-day meeting ended, I had the $200 plus $40-odd dollars over that amount! The pastor said, "That beats anything I've ever seen in my life!" You remember, this church thought $50 a week was big. They would have thought $75 a week was wonderful, and $100 a week— they would have thought that was a miracle! The Word Works! I left for home that Wednesday night after the service. I was down in east Texas, and we lived up in north Texas. I left home the following Saturday and drove down to Alabama for my next meeting. I had been behind on my house rent for four months, so I paid up as far as I could, left money for my wife, and had just enough money to buy gas to get down to Alabama. When I arrived in Alabama, I was tired. I would have stopped overnight along the way, but I didn't have any money to rent a motel room. I didn't have a dime in my pocket. It was after midnight when I got there, so I went to the parsonage to see the pastor. He took me to the home of one of the deacons. The pastor wanted me to preach the next morning, but I said, "Oh, no. No, I've driven for about fifteen to sixteen hours on little two-lane roads, going through just about every little ole town. I'm too tired to preach." We got up the next morning and went to church, and he introduced me to the congregation. They had seventy-two in Sunday school and seventy in the congregation for the morning service. I mean, they counted anything that moved! I was sitting there on the platform, and I don't know to this day what that pastor preached—I was having such a battle between my head and my heart. My head said, "Boy, you played whaley." Do you know what that means? It just means that you've played the fool, so to speak, just like Jonah did who found himself in the whale's belly! My head was telling me, "You came down here, and you won't even get enough money to get back home. Why, look at that little bunch of people sitting out there. You shouldn't have come down here. You won't get enough money to get back home." It took me awhile to get my head quiet. You see, you can get quiet physically, but it's more difficult to get quiet mentally than it is to get quiet physically. Have you found that out yet? I was quiet physically—I was sitting there not moving a muscle. But I finally got my head quiet, and I sat there and very quietly said, "I claim one hundred and fifty dollars a week in Jesus' Name. Satan, take your hands off my money. Go, ministering spirits, and cause the money to come." I didn't even say it out loud. I sort of whispered it because the preacher was preaching. After the service, I said the same thing to this pastor: "Don't make any pull for money. Just pass the plate and say, 'This is Brother Hagin's offering.'" "Brother Hagin, you won't get a quarter," this pastor said. "Well," I said, "if I don't, I won't say anything about it. You'll never hear me gripe or say a word about it." The meeting got to running real well, and we ran it three weeks. Three weeks times $150 a week would be $450. But I wound up with $965. Hallelujah! I also received a new set of tires on top of that! The car I had recently bought was used, and the tires were already bald. But I got a new set of tires. I was putting into practice the revelation the Lord had given me. Anytime you get a revelation from God, don't just run out and preach it. Even though the Lord showed me that revelation in 1950, I didn't start preaching it till four years later in 1954. Prove All Things If you get any revelation from God, friends, check it in line with the Word, and then put it into practice for yourself before you start preaching it. If it won't work for you, it won't work for anybody else. Then not only that, but share your revelation with those who are over you and who are older than you in the ministry. Like I said, I got that revelation and practiced it, but I never said a word about it—I never Preached it to anybody. I'd just talk about it a little bit to some fellow pastors. But as I already mentioned, I shared this revelation with Brother A. A. Swift, who was about seventy at the time. I was only thirty-six when I held a meeting for him. This man was a pioneer of the Pentecostal Movement and was recognized as a leading Bible teacher. He got out his notes and gave them to me. And that's where I got most of my material for the book Redeemed From the Curse of Poverty, Sickness, and Spiritual Death. He told me, "You go ahead and use these notes. Just go ahead and preach it everywhere you go." So that's when I started preaching what the Lord had shown me four years before. And I've been preaching it ever since. But I had a leading teacher in the Pentecostal Movement—a man twice as old as I was—to judge it. Also, I proved it out over a four-year period before I taught it to others. Some people think if they've got a revelation, they have to "run off" with it. They want to tell it. They also want everybody to agree with them. If folks don't agree with them, they get mad and get in the flesh. And they think that's the Spirit of God. Oh, bless their darling hearts. The Lord had given me the same revelation this Pentecostal preacher had received years before. The Bible says, "Are they not all ministering spirits?" (Heb. 1:14). Say out loud: "Thank God for the ministering spirits." After I received the revelation from the Lord about faith for finances, I would purposely go to small churches—to country churches and out-of-the-way places—to prove it out. And I'd say the same thing to the pastor: "Don't make any pulls for money." Did you ever notice that our ministry never makes any great pulls for money? For example, did you ever notice that in The Word of Faith magazine, we never say anything about money or ask you to contribute anything to The Word o f Faith? We do send out a letter about four times a year letting folks know the ministry's needs. We just let you know what we're doing and give you an opportunity to get in on it if you want to. But we don't put any pressure on people. Put Pressure on the Word, Not on People Some folks have told us that the way we do things won't work. It's sort of like the science that says the bumblebee can't fly. According to science, bumblebees can't fly. But the bee doesn't know that, so it just goes ahead and flies! Our ministry is not in trouble financially. We're not bragging on ourselves; we're bragging on the Lord. Our ministry has never been in trouble financially. We may have had some lean periods, but we were never really in trouble. There's a difference. The RHEMA Bible Training Center campus sits on more than ninety-five acres of property. We've been building ever since we moved to our present location. We have twelve buildings on campus, a multi-building storage facility, plus a complex of ninety-six apartments that we've turned into student housing. In recent years, a fellow from up north visited us. Although my wife and I had known him for some time, he'd never been to Broken Arrow. We took him and his wife around the RHEMA campus on a golf cart. As we were riding around, suddenly, he got to laughing. He got to laughing so hard, he nearly fell out of the golf cart! Finally, he regained his composure. I said, "What's the matter with you?" I thought he was laughing at me! He said, "Folks up in my part of the country have said, 'Faith doesn't work.' I just got to thinking, Brother Hagin, that if you could ever get it to work, there's no telling what you could do!" Bless their hearts. I feel so sorry for people who say faith doesn't work. I could weep about it, really. Faith in God and His Word that is acted upon will bring results every time. I could tell you story after story of how the Word worked for me even in the midst of dire circumstances. Yet there is a man-ward side and a God-ward side to receiving the blessings of God. You remember we read Isaiah 1:19: "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land." Before you can effectively exercise your faith for finances or any of God's blessings, you must be willing and obedient. Then you must think and believe in line with His Word and walk in the light of it. When you do, your faith will bring into manifestation what God has provided for you in His great plan of redemption. Chapter 4 The Bible Way to Release Your Faith For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.—Mark 11:23 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.—Proverbs 6:2 The Bible says that it is God's will that His children Prosper (3 John 2). And God has made provision for every one of us to have our needs met and to walk in prosperity. But there are keys to appropriating the divine promises. In 1949, after I left the last church I pastored to go into field ministry, the Lord gave me the revelation of faith for finances. I had been seeking Him because our needs weren't being met. Isaiah 1:19 says, "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land." But we sure weren't eating the good of the land! I argued with the Lord that I had been obedient to do what He had told me to do. He said, "You qualify on the obedient side, but you don't qualify on the willing side. So you don't qualify." I made the necessary adjustment in my spirit immediately. Then I knew I was willing and obedient. You Must Renew Your Mind With God's Word After I became willing, the Lord still had to get my thinking straightened out. You see, in my denomination, we had always believed it was God's will that we be poor and not have anything. So I had to get my mind renewed to think in line with what God's Word said about prosperity. Then the Lord told me not to pray about finances the way I had been praying. Before, when a need arose, we'd always get by somehow. But we struggled financially. The Lord said I was to claim whatever it was I needed in Jesus' name, to command Satan to take his hands off my money, and to send out ministering spirits to cause the money to come. This was the revelation I received from the Lord about faith for finances. You see, faith operates the same way in every area. I had used faith to get saved. And I was raised up from the deathbed by believing and acting upon Mark 11:23 and 24. But until I received the revelation of faith for finances and learned how to release my faith in that area, I didn't know how to appropriate getting my needs met. The 'Saying' Part of Faith Mark 11:23 says, "... whosoever shall SAY... and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he SAITH shall come to pass; he shall HAVE whatsoever he SAITH." What shall he have? Whatsoever he saith! Now notice Proverbs 6:2. In the margin of my Bible, that verse reads, "Thou art taken captive with the words of thy mouth." In other words, you said the wrong thing, and as a result, you were taken captive. What you say will either set you free or keep you bound. It's important what you say. Years ago God showed me something from the Word about the saying part of faith. In 1951, I was holding a four-week meeting in a little town called Graham, Texas. One day after a morning session, I just stayed in church and prayed. I decided I would read the Book of Mark on my knees at the altar, so I did. I'd been on my knees quite a bit praying, too, as I was reading, so I got tired. Finally, I just sat down between the altar bench and the platform and finished reading the Book of Mark. As I was sitting there meditating on the Great Commission in Mark 16, I began to really feel tired, so I just lay down on my back. As I was lying there with my hands under my head, just sort of staring at the ceiling, my mind got quiet. Suddenly, on the inside of me—in my spirit—I heard these words: "Did you notice in Mark 11:23 that the word 'say' in relation to the believer is in that verse in some form three times, and the word 'believe' is in there only once?" I rose up to a seated position and said, "No. No, I didn't notice that." And I had preached from that verse and had quoted it many, many times. So I just turned the pages of my Bible back to Mark chapter 11 and read Mark 11:23. MARK 11:23 23 For verily I say [you don't count the first "say" because that's Jesus talking]... That whosoever shall SAY unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he SAITH shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he SAITH. I counted them off on my fingers, and I counted "believe" one time and "say" in some form three times—"say," "saith," and "saith." I said out loud to the Lord, "That's right! I never noticed that before." Then on the inside of me, in my spirit, I heard these words: "My people primarily are not missing it in their believing. They have been taught to believe and have faith. Where they're missing it is in what they are saying. And you'll have to do three times as much preaching and teaching about the saying part of faith as you do about the believing part in order to get people to see it." And I've found that to be the case. The Word of God has a lot to say about what you say. ROMANS 10:8 8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even IN THY MOUTH, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach. Believing and Confessing Get the Job Done You see, for the Word to work for you, it's got to be both in your mouth and in your heart. It can't just be in your mouth. Folks can say things, but if they don't really mean them—if their heart doesn't agree with what they're saying—it won't work. Or they can believe something in their heart, but if they don't vocalize it—if they don't say it—it won't come to pass. Faith that receives the promises of God only work by believing and saying. The Scripture also said, "We HAVING the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I BELIEVED, and therefore have I SPOKEN; we also BELIEVE, and therefore SPEAK" (2 Cor. 4:13). Notice it says, "We HAVING...," not, "We're trying to get it." And it's not, "We're praying for it." No, we already have faith. If you're saved, you already have that spirit of faith. Since we have that spirit of faith, we ought to speak the things we believe. Never talk failure. I don't know about you, but I don't believe in failure. Never talk defeat. I don't know about you, but I don't believe in defeat. I believe in victory, praise God. You talk about your trials, you talk about your difficulties, you talk about your lack of faith, you talk about your lack of money, and your faith will just absolutely shrivel. But if you'll talk about your wonderful Heavenly Father—if you'll talk about the Word of God, then your faith will grow in leaps and bounds. Praise God forevermore! If you talk about sickness, it will develop sickness in your system. If you talk about your doubts, your doubts will become stronger, and they will destroy your faith. If you talk about your lack of finances, it will stop the money from coming in. Folks need to learn that. But if they'll believe in their heart what the Word of God said and confess it with their mouth, they'll get results. As I said, in the early days of my ministry, I hadn't been getting any results in the area of finances. I understood faith for healing, but at that time, I didn't understand that faith worked the same way for finances too. But, thank God, He showed me how to appropriate what belongs to me in Christ. He gave me the understanding of how faith for finances works and told me to claim what I needed. We're talking about claiming what the Word says is yours. We're not talking about claiming something that's off the wall. Somebody may say, "Well, I'm going to claim ten million oil wells!" God didn't promise you ten million oil wells. You can only believe and confess in line with God's Word. Don't get off in left field. We're talking about claiming what the Word says is yours. Is it wrong to claim the New Birth? Is it wrong to claim the baptism in the Holy Spirit? Is it wrong to claim an answer to prayer if God promised to answer you? No, because the Word says, "my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19). When we believe and confess in line with God's Word, we can appropriate what belongs to us in Christ. I was holding another meeting in west Texas about a year after I received this revelation on faith for finances. The meeting was just before Christmas. After Christmas, I was scheduled to go to Vernon, Texas, to minister. I was staying in the parsonage in west Texas, and I was traveling alone. Oretha was at home because the kids were in school. Ordinarily, the minute my head hit the pillow at night, I was asleep. But I couldn't sleep that night. The Lord was dealing with me about going somewhere else—about not going to Vernon to minister. I put off obeying the Lord. I said, "Lord, I couldn't cancel with that pastor at this late date. I'm already scheduled to go there. The meeting here is over, and I'm going to take off one week for Christmas and start with the church in Vernon the next Sunday." The next night I had the same problem falling asleep. And the same thing happe

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