I was holding a meeting for a friend of mine a number of years ago when I was awakened at 1:30 in the morning by alarming symptoms in my body.
(I knew something about them because I’d been born with a deformed heart and became bedfast from it. Doctors had said I could die at any minute, but I was healed by the power of God when I was 17.)
These severe symptoms were in the region of my heart and chest.
The devil said to my mind, “Uh-huh, you’re going to die. That’s exactly what’s going to happen to you. You’re lucky you’ve gotten this far. Remember what the doctors said?”
(That sounds like him, doesn’t it?)
“This is one time you’re not going to get your healing,” he kept repeating like a voice speaking to my mind. “Now it’s all come back, and you’re going to die. In fact, you’re dying now.”
Somebody asked me, “What did you do?”
Well, it was in the wintertime, so I pulled the covers up over my head and started laughing. Now, I didn’t feel like laughing. There is such a thing as laughter inspired by the Spirit of God where you just can’t help it, but I put this one on.
I made myself do it. I covered my head (because I didn’t want to wake up the rest of the folks in the house) and laughed out loud. It seems to me I must have laughed about 10 minutes.
Finally the devil said, “What are you laughing about?”
I said, “I’m laughing at you, because you said I’m not going to get healed.”
“That’s right,” he said, “This is one time you’re not going to healed.”
I said, “Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.” (I just made myself do it.) I went on and on and on.
Finally the devil said for the third time, “What are you laughing about?”
I said, “I’ve already told you. I’ll tell you again: I’m laughing at you.”
“What are you laughing at me about?”
“You said I’m not going to get healed.”
“That’s right. This is one time you’re not going to get your healing.”
I said, “Ha, ha Mr. Devil. Sure I’m not going to get it. What do I need to get it for? Jesus already got it for me! I don’t need to get it. All I have to do is accept it.
“Now, in case you can’t read,” I said, “I’ll just quote 1 Peter 2:24 to you. It says, ‘Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live onto righteousness: by whose stripes ye WERE healed.’
“If we were, I was. So I don’t have to get it; Jesus already got it for me, and because He got it for me, I accept it, claim it, and have it. Now you just gather up your little symptoms and get out of here.”
You never saw anybody scurry about, gather up their belongings, and take off as fast in your life.
Resist Your Symptoms
The Bible says to resist the devil and he’ll flee from you (James 4:7). I don’t know what some folks are waiting on before they start resisting. Maybe they’re waiting until something comes along with long horns, a long tail, hooves, and a pitchfork.
Friends, resist anything that is of the devil and you’re resisting the devil.
When doubt comes, just say, “Doubt, I resist you. I refuse to doubt.”
When fear comes, speak to it. Say, “Fear, I resist you. I refuse to fear.”
When sickness comes, speak to it. Say, “Sickness. I refuse to be sick. I refuse sickness. I resist you in Jesus’ Name. You must go.” And it will leave. You’ve got that right.
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications
Rev. Hagin served in Christian ministry for nearly 70 years and was known as the "father of the modern faith movement." His teachings and books are filled with vivid stories that show God's power and truth working in his life and the lives of others.
Rev. Hagin was born on Aug. 20, 1917, in McKinney, Texas, a son of the late Lillie Viola Drake Hagin and Jess Hagin.
Rev. Hagin was sickly as a child, suffering from a deformed heart and an incurable blood disease. He was not expected to live and became bedfast at age 15. In April 1933 during a dramatic conversion experience, he reported dying three times in 10 minutes, each time seeing the horrors of hell and then returning to life.
In August of 1934, Rev. Hagin was miraculously healed, raised off a deathbed by the power of God and the revelation of faith in God's Word. Two years later, he preached his first sermon as pastor of a small community church in Roland, Texas.
In 1937, Rev. Hagin was baptized in the Holy Spirit and began ministering in Pentecostal churches. During the next 12 years he pastored five churches in Texas: in the cities of Tom Bean, Farmersville (twice), Talco, Greggton, and Van. In 1949, he began an itinerant ministry as a Bible teacher and evangelist.
During the next 14 years, Jesus appeared to Rev. Hagin eight times in visions that changed the course of his ministry. In 1966, he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he opened a ministry office. That same year, he taught for the first time on radio—on KSKY in Dallas. In 1967, he began a regular radio broadcast that continues today as Faith Seminar of the Air. Teaching by his son, Rev. Kenneth W. Hagin, is also heard on the program.
In 1968, Rev. Hagin published the first issues of The Word of Faith magazine, which now has a monthly circulation of more than 250,000. The publishing outreach he founded, Faith Library Publications, has circulated more than 65 million copies of books by Rev. Hagin, Rev. Hagin Jr., and several other authors worldwide. Faith Library Publications also has produced more than 9 million audio teaching tapes and CDs.
Other outreaches of Kenneth Hagin Ministries include RHEMA Praise, a weekly television broadcast hosted by Rev. and Mrs. Kenneth W. Hagin; RHEMA Correspondence Bible School; RHEMA Alumni Association; RHEMA Ministerial Association International; RHEMA Supportive Ministries Association; the RHEMA Prayer and Healing Center; and a prison ministry.
In 1974, Rev. Hagin founded RHEMA Bible Training Center USA and in 1976 moved the school and ministry offices to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where they remain. To date, RHEMA Bible Training Center USA has 23,000 alumni, and RHEMA Bible Training Centers have opened in 13 other nations: Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, South Africa, and Thailand. Together, the 14 schools have more than 28,000 graduates worldwide.
RHEMA Bible Church, pastored by Rev. Hagin Jr., began holding services in October of 1985 on the RHEMA campus in Broken Arrow and has since grown to become a thriving congregation with more than 8,000 members.
Rev. Hagin's daughter and son-in-law, Pat Harrison and the late Doyle "Buddy" Harrison, founded Harrison House Publishers in 1975 and Faith Christian Fellowship International Church in 1977. Both organizations are based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Until shortly before his death in September 2003, Rev. Hagin continued to travel and teach throughout the United States and into Canada conducting All Faiths' Crusades and other special meetings.