“My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19)
There is a law of sowing and reaping in both the natural and the spiritual realms. And it’s a law that works! Yet from my experience, more people fail when it comes to faith for finances than for anything else. The reason is that they’re trying to exercise faith for finances, but they haven’t planted any seed! They want God to bless their finances even though they haven’t sown anything.
The Bible plainly states, “GIVE, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete [measure] withal it shall be measured to you again.” (Luke 6:38)
The Bible also plainly says, “He which SOWETH sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully” (2 Cor. 9:6). If you want a bountiful crop, you’ve got to sow bountifully.
You can’t reap a crop without sowing seed. You can’t go out into your backyard and say, “I’m going to pick some tomatoes,” if the ground hasn’t been prepared and the seed sown.
The first step, then, toward getting your financial needs met is to obey the Bible.
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” (Mal.3:10)
God said we are to bring our tithes—10 percent of our income—into the storehouse, and in return He will open up the windows of Heaven. “Prove me now herewith,” He said.
So just go ahead and obey the Bible in the area of finances. Pay your tithes and give offerings. Act on God’s Word in faith, and God will bless you because He’s faithful and true to His Word.
Then beyond cooperating with God’s laws concerning tithing and giving offerings, be open to receive further light from His Word concerning giving to others. Also, be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, Who will very often direct you specifically to give.
Now don’t do something just because somebody else did. Don’t operate on someone else’s experience. Operate on what you know the Bible says, and operate on what the Holy Spirit is saying to you.
You don’t have to have any “leading” to pay tithes and give offerings. You don’t need to be led to give and sow. The Bible tells you to do those things, so just do them. But when you get out beyond that, it’s when you obey the Spirit of God that things happen.
Start where you are. Be faithful to obey the Word by paying your tithes and giving offerings. And be obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit when He directs you specifically to give. You can’t out-give God. If you sow seeds bountifully in faith and obedience, you will reap an abundant harvest of blessings!
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.