And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
(James 4:15)
I was a single man at the time I experienced this paralysis in my face. I had walked a young woman named Imogene to church. As I was walking her back home, several of the young people who were walking with us said, “Kenneth, did the Lord really heal you?”
I said, “He sure did.”
“Well, we noticed when we passed under the street light and you laughed, that one corner of your mouth ran all the way around to your ear. Do you feel any different?”
“Not that I can tell,” I said.
“What makes you think you’re healed?” they asked
I said, “I don’t think it. I know it.”
“We can see you’re not healed, and you admit you don’t feel any better. Aren’t you lying about it?”
I said to them, “No, I’m talking faith. Faith calleth those things that be not as though they were. Jesus said that when you pray, believe that you receive, and you shall have it. The next time you see me, you’ll admit it’s so yourself.” Now why did I say that? Because I knew that I had received it, and that my healing had to manifest.
Well, we got to Imogene’s house. She brought her mother into the living room, put me under a light, and said to her mother, “Look at Kenneth’s face.” I couldn’t keep from laughing, and my face only smiled on one side.
Imogene said, “Mama admits you don’t look any different. You admit you don’t feel any different. What makes you think the Lord healed you?”
I said, “I don’t think He did. I know He did. Faith calls those things that be not as though they were. According to the Word of God, I’m healed. The prayer of faith – the prayer that calls those things that be not as though they were – heals the sick.”
She said, “Well, Pastor didn’t pray the prayer of faith for you. If he had, you’d have it. And I can see you don’t have it.”
“Yes, he did,” I said. “And I’ve got my healing.”
Confession:
According to the Word, I’m healed. I talk about my faith and what the Lord has done for me. I call those things that be not as though they were. And then I see the manifestation.
Source: Health Food Devotions by Kenneth E. Hagin.
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.