FEBRUARY 2001 PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY KENNETH HAGIN MINISTRIES

• Every Believer Can Speak in Tongues

• Keep On Talking!

Wherefore take unto you thewhole armour of God, that ye maybe able to withstand in the evilday, and having done all, tostand.

STAND therefore . . . .— Ephesians 6:13,14

Many people begin to believeGod for something, but just beforetheir answer comes, they quitbelieving! However, success comesby standing firm on God’s Word.

If you quit standing on theWord and give up, what are yougoing to gain? But if you keepgoing, what have you got to lose?

That’s the way I look at things. Idon’t believe in quitting. And,friend, if other people have stood onGod’s Word and become a successin life for God, you can do it too.But what you achieve both natu-rally and spiritually is up to you.

People may try to tell you thatit’s too late for you to succeed inlife. But it’s never too late withGod. Some of your plans anddreams may be buried amidstmistakes you’ve made, but Jesusis the Restorer. Jesus is the One

who takes what you’ve messed upand turns it into something good.

Everyone makes mistakes. Youdon’t have to hang your headbecause of something you did inthe past. Instead, thank God forJesus the Restorer. When youfall, He will pick you up andbrush you off, so to speak. He willforgive you and say, “It’s going tobe all right, My child. Now go onand live for Me. I do not condemnyou; go and sin no more.”

Thank God for Jesus and Hisrestoration power. He can take allthat God has given you — thatwhich you’ve let lie dormant —and resurrect it into a flame burn-ing bright. And that flame will bewhat you need to accomplish greatthings in your community, on yourjob, in your church, in your home,and wherever you go.

No matter what you’ve beenthrough or what you’re facingtoday, don’t quit! When you’re infaith, you are on the brink of yourmiracle!

There are many examples inthe Bible of men and women whowouldn’t quit in the face of obsta-cles. They stood their ground infaith and received their miracle.

In Matthew 15, we find thestory of the Caananite womanwho came to Jesus asking him toheal her demon-possessed daugh-ter. Jesus told her, “It’s not rightto take the children’s bread andgive it to the dogs.”

Right then, the woman couldhave given up and walked away.But if she had done that, she

would have been quittingon the brink of her

miracle. Instead,she persisted

and said,

“Even the dogs eat the crumbsthat fall from the Master’s table.”Jesus marveled at her faith, andher daughter was healed at thathour (Matt. 15:22-28).

In Mark 2, we read the story ofthe paralytic who was brought toJesus by his four friends. The fourfriends couldn’t get in the housewhere Jesus was because of thecrowd, but they didn’t quit on thebrink of their miracle. They wenton the top of the house, tore ahole in the roof, and let the para-lytic down in front of Jesus! AndJesus healed him (Mark 2:3-12)!

Friend, Jesus Christ is thesame yesterday, today, and for-ever (Heb. 13:8). He said, “I amthe Lord and I change not” (Mal.3:6). Whatever your need, Jesusis the Answer!

I want to encourage you today.You may have been standing andstanding for something, and youthink it’s never going to happen.Friend, don’t quit on the brink ofyour miracle. Payday may not betomorrow, and it may not be thenext day, but payday is coming.Keep standing — your miracle ison its way.

If blind Bartimaeus had sat onthe ground and listened to thecrowd telling him to be quiet, hewould have been blind the rest ofhis life. But he defied the crowdand persisted in his faith. Hestood up and cried, “Jesus, Son ofDavid, have mercy on me!” And hewas healed! (See Mark 10:46-52.)

Friend, there is no god as big asyour God! When the devil raiseshis head and tries to tell you whathe’s going to do to you, look him inthe face, so to speak, and put himin his place. Tell him, “There’s nogod as big as mine!”

Through Christ, you are a suc-cess in God. And your miracle ison its way. So keep standing yourground in faith. Now is not thetime to quit!

— Rev. Kenneth Hagin Jr.

Now Is Not the Time To Quit!

2 February 2 0 0 1

About the CoverThis wintry view of the KennethHagin Ministries’ Administra-tion Building reminds us that“while the earth remaineth,seedtime and harvest, and coldand heat, and summer and win-ter, and day and night shall notcease’’ (Gen. 8:22).

C O N T E N T S

T h e W o r d o f F a i t h 3

FEBRUARY 2001 PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY KENNETH HAGIN MINISTRIES

THE WORD OF FAITH is published monthlyby RHEMA Bible Church, AKA KennethHagin Ministries, a non-profit corporation.Editorial offices: 1025 W. Kenosha, BrokenArrow, Oklahoma. © 2001 RHEMA BibleChurch, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproductionin whole or part without written permission isprohibited. THE WORD OF FAITH and logoon the cover are registered trademarks ofRHEMA Bible Church, Inc. in the UnitedStates and in the foreign countries whereTHE WORD OF FAITH circulates. Printed inthe U.S.A. Send all U.S. mail to: THEWORD OF FAITH, P.O. Box 50126, Tulsa,Oklahoma 74150-0126. In Canada, Box 335,Station D, Etobicoke, Ontario, M9A 4X3,and in Australia, P.O. Box 70, Bond Univer-sity, Gold Coast, Queensland, 4229 Aus-tralia. Or use the web site address:http://www.rhema.org.

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Postmaster: Please send address changesto Kenneth Hagin Ministries, P.O. Box50126, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74150-0126. THEWORD OF FAITH has no subscription ornewsstand price and is supported throughcontributions from readers worldwide. All giftsto this ministry are tax deductible.PUBLICATIONS MAIL SALES AGREEMENT NO. 14666666

VOLUME XXXIV.............................Number 2

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18

contents10

Tongues: Helping Others To Receive the Holy Spirit

By Kenneth E. HaginAll believers can receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit with theevidence of speaking in other tongues once they understand a

few scriptural principles.

Keep Speaking God’s Word

By Kenneth Hagin Jr.Continue to declare God’s Word no matter what the circumstance.

As you speak the Word of God, your victory will no longer be around the corner, but within your grasp!

There is an experi-ence subsequent tosalvation called thebaptism in the Holy

Spirit. It is an endue-ment of power fromon high available toall believers. And

the initial evidenceof the Holy Spirit’s

infilling a believer isthat he speaks with

other tongues.

In the New Testament, differentterms are used to refer to the bap-tism in the Holy Spirit. Believers

“received the Holy Ghost” (Acts8:15,19), were “filled with the HolyGhost” (Acts 2:4; 9:17), and were “bap-tized with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 1:5).These expressions all refer to the sameexperience.

There are some facts we need toknow to be able to help others receivethe baptism in the Holy Ghost. First, weneed to realize three things: 1) the HolyGhost is a gift; 2) God has already givenHim; and 3) it’s up to us to receive Him.

In Acts chapter 1, Jesus Himselftalked about this gift of the Holy Spirit.

ACTS 1:88 But ye shall receive power, after thatthe Holy Ghost is come upon you: and yeshall be witnesses unto me both inJerusalem, and in all Judaea, and inSamaria, and unto the uttermost part ofthe earth.

Then we see a fulfillment of whatJesus said, beginning in Acts chapter 2.

ACTS 2:1-41 And when the day of Pentecost wasfully come, they were all with one accordin one place.2 And suddenly there came a soundfrom heaven as of a rushing mighty wind,and it filled all the house where theywere sitting.3 And there appeared unto them cloventongues like as of fire, and it sat uponeach of them.4 AND THEY WERE ALL FILLED WITHTHE HOLY GHOST, and began to speakwith other tongues, as the Spirit gavethem utterance.

In the early days of my ministry, asI held meetings in Full Gospel Pente-costal churches, I discovered that, inthose churches, more than half of thepeople were not filled with the HolyGhost. Some of them had been savedfor years. Thank God, I never left a

6 F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 1

meeting without a number of thesedear folks having been baptized in theHoly Spirit. They had not receivedbefore because they weren’t accuratelytaught. They had been taught aboutthe Holy Ghost, and they believed inHim. But they weren’t scripturallytaught how to receive Him to experi-ence the fullness of life in the Spirit.

Sometimes folks took Luke 24:49 asa formula to receive the Holy Ghost.There Jesus said to His disciples, “ . . .tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, untilye be endued with power from on high.”Well, if we need to tarry to receive theHoly Spirit, then people ought to tarryfor Him in Jerusalem! To tarry meansto wait. No, in Luke 24:49, the discipleshad to wait in Jerusalem until the Dayof Pentecost came. After that day, youdon’t see anyone waiting to be filledwith the Spirit. They all received rightaway.

I can understand those who believebeing baptized in the Holy Spirit withthe evidence of speaking in othertongues is not for us today. I used tobelieve that too. I was a Christian andeven pastored for several years before Isaw what the Word of God says on thissubject. I was walking down the streetmeditating on God’s Word and talkingto the Lord when I saw the truth thatthe baptism in the Holy Ghost wasactually for me today. I sensed a lack ofpower in my own life, and I knew Ineeded the infilling of the Holy Ghost.

I saw in Scripture that the HolyGhost is a gift for all believers. On theDay of Pentecost, during his first ser-mon, Peter made the following state-ment:

ACTS 2:38,3938 . . . Repent, and be baptized every oneof you in the name of Jesus Christ for theremission of sins, AND YE SHALL

RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLYGHOST.39 For THE PROMISE IS UNTO YOU, andto YOUR CHILDREN, and to ALL THATARE AFAR OFF, EVEN AS MANY AS THELORD OUR GOD SHALL CALL.

The baptism of the Holy Ghost is agift just as salvation, or the New Birth,is a gift. And it’s up to us to receive thegift!

I saw, too, that when I received thebaptism in the Holy Spirit, I wouldspeak in tongues just as the early disci-ples did. Scripture says, “And they wereall filled with the Holy Ghost, ANDBEGAN TO SPEAK WITH OTHERTONGUES, as the Spirit gave themutterance” (Acts 2:4).

As soon as I saw that this experiencewas a gift for me, and that I didn’t haveto wait for it, I went right down to aFull Gospel preacher’s house to receive

T h e W o r d o f F a i t h 7

(continued on page 10)

it. When I got to his house, the firstthing he told me to do was wait! Hischurch had an evangelist in to holdrevival meetings, so he said, “Waituntil the service tonight. When it’sover, come to the altar and tarry.”

“It won’t take me very long toreceive!” I said.

The pastor saw that I was eager andready to receive. I was standing at thedoor, so he invited me into the livingroom. The evangelist was there too. Idon’t remember whether either mangave me any instructions. I just kneltby a large chair in the living room,closed my eyes, shut out everythingaround me, and lifted my hands to God.

I came to the Lord according to HisWord and simply told Him what it said.I said, “Lord, we preach the samewater baptism and the same Lord’sSupper that these folks experience.Why not have the same Holy Ghostbaptism?” Then I said, “I receive theHoly Ghost.”

You see, the Word of God says in Acts8:15 that Peter and John prayed for theSamaritan believers “ . . . that theymight RECEIVE the Holy Ghost.” Andin Acts 19:2, the Apostle Paul asked thedisciples at Ephesus, “ . . . Have yeRECEIVED the Holy Ghost . . . ?” It’snot a matter of God giving the HolySpirit; it’s a matter of our receiving Him.

So I told the Lord, “I receive theHoly Ghost. And the Scripture says,‘And they were all filled with the HolyGhost, AND BEGAN TO SPEAK WITHOTHER TONGUES, as the Spirit gavethem utterance’ [Acts 2:4]. So I thankYou because I’m filled with the HolyGhost. And Father, now I expect tospeak with tongues. Thank You for giv-ing me utterance. Hallelujah.”

I had never felt so “dry and dead” inmy life. But I knew the baptism in theHoly Ghost was a gift. So I said, “Hal-lelujah” about seven or eight times, and

about then it felt to me like someonehad built a bonfire down in my spirit. Itjust seemed like it sort of blazed up.Strange words started blazing up, and Ijust started speaking them out.

I opened my eyes and saw that it waseight minutes past 6:00 p.m. When I’dknocked at the door, it was 6:00 p.m. Iwas baptized in the Holy Spirit andtalking in tongues in just eight minutes!

Some ministers have had great suc-cess in getting believers filled with theHoly Ghost. But any believer can getany other believer filled with the HolySpirit. And he can do it quickly if he’llremember the following facts.

First, as I said, you have to teachbelievers according to the Word of Godthat the Holy Ghost — the Spirit ofGod — is a gift; God has already givenHim; and it’s up to the individualbeliever to receive that gift.

Second, you must teach believersthat anyone who is saved is ready toimmediately receive this experience. Wesee that in Acts chapter 2.

ACTS 2:37,3837 Now when they heard this, they werepricked in their heart, and said untoPeter and to the rest of the apostles, Menand brethren, what shall we do?38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent,and be baptized every one of you in thename of Jesus Christ for the remission ofsins, AND YE SHALL RECEIVE THE GIFTOF THE HOLY GHOST.

Those who heard Peter on the Day ofPentecost and repented according tohis words were immediately ready toreceive the baptism in the Holy Spirit.It is true that unconfessed sin can hin-der people from receiving the blessingsof God. However, if you’re saved andwalking in fellowship with God, thenyou’re ready to be filled with the Spiritright now. People often try to earn thisgift of the Holy Spirit. But what canwash us clean? Nothing but the bloodof Jesus. Could anything else make usany better?

Third, we need to tell people what toexpect as they receive the Holy Spirit.Too many times folks are seeking Godand praying in the dark, so to speak.The Bible says, “The entrance of thywords giveth light . . .” (Ps. 119:130).

Tell people to expect the Holy Ghostto move upon their vocal organs andput supernatural words in their hearts,which they themselves will have tospeak out in cooperation with Him.Acts 2:4 says, “And THEY were allfilled with the Holy Ghost, and [they]began to speak with other tongues, asthe Spirit gave them utterance.” In thisverse, “they” is the subject. They wereall filled, and they began to speak asthe spirit gave them utterance.

The Holy Ghost doesn’t take youover, so to speak, and force you to doanything. But you can respond to Himand follow His promptings. In otherwords, He will give you the utterance,but you do the talking.

Fourth, for those who are prayed forand do not receive, there are only twoareas to work on: faith and yieldedness.

One day during a series of meetingsI was holding in a Full Gospel churchin east Texas, I was riding down thestreet with the pastor when he pointedout a certain man. “He’s the choirdirector of the largest Full Gospelchurch in the city,” he said, “and he’salso their music and Sunday schooldirector. He’s been there for twenty-three years and has never been filledwith the Holy Ghost.”

I thought no more about it. Thenthat very night he was in the service,sitting nearly in front of the pulpit andnext to a woman I assumed was hiswife. When I invited people to come tobe filled with the Spirit, she tried to gethim to come, and, finally, he did. Icould tell by the look on his face that hewas thinking, I’m not going to get any-thing, but I’ll go up there anyway justto please you.

As I went down the line layinghands on people, each one started talk-ing in tongues right away. This manhad shut his eyes and lifted his hands.When I reached him and laid hands onhim, immediately, I received a word ofknowledge concerning him. I knew thedevil had lied to him and convincedhim that he must have some secret sinthat he didn’t know about. This manbelieved that if it weren’t for that, hewould have received the baptism in theHoly Ghost.

10 F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 1

. . . If you’re saved and walking in fel-lowship with God, then you’re readyto be filled with the Spirit right now.

(continued from page 7)

There isn’t any secret sin in anyone’slife that he or she doesn’t know about!That’s just a trick of the devil to robpeople of God’s blessings. No, receivingis a matter of faith and yieldedness.

I said to this man, “Put your handsdown and open your eyes.” He did, and Isaid to him, “There is not anything inyour life — no secret sin, nothing — thatwould keep you from receiving or beingfilled or baptized with the Holy Ghost.”

He let out a sigh. “Do you think so?”he asked.

“No, I don’t think so; I know so,” Isaid. “I’d stake my life on it!”

“Boy,” he said, “what a relief!”“Let me tell you something else,” I

said. (You see, I had to work on hisfaith.) “I will not have laid hands onyou more than three times before youare filled with the Holy Ghost.”

“Do you think so?” He asked.“No, I don’t think so; I know so!” I

replied.The next night he was back, and he

was the first one down to the altar.When I got to him, he said, “This isnumber two.”

“That’s right,” I said.“You said you wouldn’t lay hands on

me more than three times,” he added.“That’s right!” I said.“The next time is number three,” he

reminded me.“That’s right,” I said.Now each morning, instead of holding

a regular service, we held a prayer meet-ing for anyone who wanted to come.That next morning I was kneeling by achair on the platform praying when, sud-denly, someone tapped me on the shoul-der. I looked up, and there stood thisman. He asked, “Hey, do you still thinkI’m going to get the Holy Ghost?”

“No, I don’t think you’re going to getthe Holy Ghost,” I answered. “I knowyou will!”

“Well,” he said, “I told them over atmy church, ‘Brother Hagin said hewouldn’t lay hands on me more thanthree times without me being filled.There’s no use waiting until tonight; I’llgo over there this morning.’ ”

“Well, kneel down here,” I said, andhe knelt down beside me. I laid my

hand on his head and said, “Receivethe Holy Ghost!”

Sometimes people starting to speak intongues will stammer. Isaiah said, “Forwith stammering lips and anothertongue will he speak to this people” (Isa.28:11). This man began to stammer a lit-tle bit and speak a few words in tongues.

“That’s it! That’s it! That’s the HolyGhost!” I said. Now we were in eastTexas, and I used a colloquial expres-sion that he understood. I said, “Grab itlike a dog does a bone and run off withit!” In other words, I told him, “You liftyour voice and talk a blue streak!”

That fine gentleman lifted his voiceand started talking in tongues. He gotso thrilled that he danced on his kneesall over the platform, still talking intongues!

Later this man told me what hadhelped him. He said, “First of all, I seenow that I had believed the devil’s liesabout having some secret sin. When Iwas released from that, it was as if aheavy burden lifted from me.”

Then he added, “And you were sopositive. ‘Yes,’ you said, ‘you’re going toreceive.’ You got me to believe that Iwould receive.” It’s a cinch that you’renot going to get anyone to believe if youare negative!

Then he said, “When you laid handson me and the Holy Ghost came on me,I’d been at that same point a thousandtimes before. I might have said a wordor two, or stammered a little bit. Butwhen I’d done that through the years,everyone else would say, ‘That’s it!That’s it! Let the Holy Ghost talk!’ SoI’d stop to let Him talk, and that wouldbe the end of it.”

But that’s unscriptural direction.The Bible says, “And THEY were allfilled with the Holy Ghost, and [they]began to speak with other tongues . . .”(Acts 2:4).

So you may have to work on abeliever’s faith or yieldedness to helphim receive the Holy Ghost. You’llknow by talking with him.

A fifth fact we ought to know aboutreceiving the Holy Ghost is this: Speak-ing with other tongues is not only aninitial evidence of a believer’s being

filled with the Spirit, but also shouldbe a continuing experience.

Howard Carter, a pioneer of thePentecostal movement, was generalchairman of the Assemblies of God inGreat Britain for nineteen years, andfounded the first Pentecostal Bibleschool in the world. He made the fol-lowing statement:

“We must not forget that the speak-ing with other tongues is not only aninitial evidence of the Holy Spirit’sindwelling, it is a continual experiencefor the rest of [one’s] life to assist in theworship of God. It is a flowing streamthat should never dry up, and that willenrich the life spiritually.”1

Paul said in First Corinthians, “Ithank my God, I speak with tonguesmore than ye all” (14:18). Then he wenton to say, “Yet in the church I hadrather speak five words with my under-standing, that by my voice I mightteach others also, than ten thousandwords in an unknown tongue” (v. 19).

If Paul wasn’t speaking with tonguesin church, where did he do it? He did itin his own private prayer life. Now fromScripture, it seems like all theCorinthian church wanted to do was talkin tongues. If Paul spoke in tonguesmore than they did, he must have talkedin tongues when he got up, when hewent to bed, and during the time inbetween. Evidently, that was the mostprominent way Paul prayed at that time.

To summarize, we can help believersbe filled with the Holy Ghost by show-ing them five facts from Scripture:

1. The Holy Spirit is a gift alreadygiven by God, and it’s up to us toreceive Him.

2. Anyone who is saved is immedi-ately ready to be filled with the HolyGhost.

3. Recipients should expect the HolySpirit to move upon their vocal organsand put supernatural words in theirhearts, but they must do the actualspeaking.

4. Faith and yieldedness are theonly areas to work on for believers whodo not receive when prayed for.

5. Once filled, believers should con-tinue to pray regularly in other tongues.

Remembering these things will helpus experience the rich blessings avail-able to us through the indwelling Pres-ence of the Holy Spirit. ___________________

1Howard Carter, Questions andAnswers on Spiritual Gifts (Tulsa,Oklahoma: Harrison House, Inc.,1976), p. 120.

T h e W o r d o f F a i t h 11

The Holy Ghost doesn’t take youover, so to speak, and force you to

do anything.

For verily I say unto you, That who-sever shall say unto this mountain, Bethou removed, and be thou cast intothe sea; and shall not doubt in hisheart, but shall believe that thosethings which he saith shall come topass; he shall have whatsoever hesaith.

— Mark 11:23

Believers must realize how impor-tant it is to continually speak theWord of God. People will simply say,“You can have what you say.” But,really, there’s more to it than that. Youcan have what you say if it’s in linewith God’s Word. If you say somethingridiculous, such as, “I’m believing Godfor ten million oil wells,” you won’t getit. First, you don’t need that many oilwells. And, second, I’m not sure thatbelieving God for ten million oil wellsis in line with His Word. You couldbelieve for prosperity in general, andthat would be in line with God’s Word.But to try to believe for ten million oilwells is not faith; it’s presumption.You must talk and believe in line withthe Word of God.

People want to walk with God andyet disagree with His Word. They

don’t do it willfully, but they’ll say,“Well, now, this is what my churchbelieves about this,” or, “This is whatI believe about that.” But what doesGod’s Word say? How can you walkwith God if you disagree with what Hesays? The Word of God is true regard-less of your opinion about it.Therefore, believe and speak in linewith the Word of God. Say what itsays regarding your situation, andthings will begin to happen for you.You’ll begin to experience the bless-ings of God.

It’s important to realize that youcan never have the blessings and tri-umphs God intends for you to enjoy aslong as you are not speaking in linewith His Word. You have to say whatGod says about your finances, health,strength, and any other blessings.

You also must be willing to keepspeaking His blessings, power, andpromises. When you keep quiet, youget into trouble. There are times tokeep quiet, but when it comes tospeaking in line with God’s Word, youshould never keep quiet.

Remember how the Apostle Pauladmonished Philemon regarding hisfaith as a believer.

Boldly speak God’s Word in theface of your problems. When youdeclare His Word, you’ll discover

His power will work for you!

T h e Wo rd o f F a i t h 15

PHILEMON 1:6 6 That the communication of thy faithmay become effectual by theACKNOWLEDGING of every good thingwhich is in you in Christ Jesus.

When you acknowledge something,you usually say something. Supposeyou were in a theater and someoneannounced, “We have a check for athousand dollars for the person sittingin section one, row five, and seat six.”If you were sitting in that seat, I don’tthink you’d have any trouble acknowl-edging that you were who they werelooking for. You’d probably jump upand shout, “Hey, it’s me! It’s me! It’sme!”

Well, if you’re going to make God’sWord work for you, you need to jumpup, so to speak, and acknowledgewhat God says about you. The worldwill try and tell you that you are noth-ing — that you’re not loved, you don’thave a chance in life, and you’re nevergoing to make it. But you shouldn’tacknowledge what the world saysabout you. Rather, acknowledge whatthe Word of God says about you.

Romans 10:8 says, “. . . The word isnigh thee, even in thy mouth, and inthy heart: that is, the word of faith,

which we preach.” How does the wordof faith work? By speaking what’s inyour heart. The word “heart” in thisverse does not refer to the physicalheart that pumps blood throughoutthe body. It refers to the innermostpart of man, the spirit of man.

When the heart and mouth agreetogether, faith is operative and victory

is present (Rom. 10:9,10). But thatcan’t happen if you’re believing onething and saying something else. Youhave to keep on speaking the Word ofGod.

A lot of people don’t know if theyreally believe something or not. Somewill say the right words just to getother people off their backs, so tospeak. But that won’t do them anygood. They can listen to other peopleand “parrot” the right words, and yetwhat they say is not coming out oftheir heart. Their words may just becoming out of their intellect — out oftheir mind. And since they’re not say-ing what they believe in their heart,faith is not operative.

When faith is operative, you willconfidently say, for example, “There istherefore now no condemnation to mefor I am in Christ” (Rom. 8:1). If theenemy — the devil — can’t get you anyother way, he will try to put you undercondemnation regarding somethingthat’s already been covered by theblood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whenthe enemy comes to you with condem-nation, begin to quote the Word of Godto him. Keep on saying what the Biblesays! The power that’s in God’s Wordwill work in every area of your life.

Did you know that it’s difficult tolisten to someone else’s words while

(continued on page 18)

. . . talk in line withthe Word of Godand say what itsays regarding

your situation andthings will begin to

happen for you.

18 January 2 0 0 1

you’re talking? If the devil is talkingin your ear, condemning and accusingyou, start speaking God’s Word withyour own voice. When you do that, youwon’t allow the enemy to put negativethoughts into your mind. You can alsosing praises and hymns about Jesus,the Word, and the things of God. Asyou continue speaking this way, youwill get in agreement with God.

You can quote Second Corinthians3:17: “. . . where the Spirit of the Lordis, there is liberty.” What do you getwhen you continue to speak andbelieve that verse? You get liberty!Liberty means to be free from cares orany form of bondage. For example,

according to Second Corinthians 4:4,we were once enslaved to the god ofthis world. But we have been releasedfrom that bondage and set freebecause of the blood of the Lord JesusChrist that was shed on Calvary.Therefore, we can speak our liberty inChrist and thank God for it.

Along these same lines, you canalso say, “I’ve cast all of my care uponHim, for He cares for me” (1 Peter 5:7).When you believe and continue tospeak that, you can enjoy a carefreelife. I didn’t say you’ll never have anyproblems, but you can live above thosethings as you trust God to take care ofthem. Most people pray and ask theLord to take their burdens and caresaway. But when they’re through pray-ing, they reach down and pick up their

pack of burdens and cares, put it backon, and walk away with a long face.

When you cast all your cares on theLord, you won’t walk away with a longface. You won’t walk away saying, “Idon’t know what’s going to happen. Idon’t know how things are going toturn out. We’re in such a mess.” Myfriend, if you’re talking like that, youare burdened. You’re still in bondageand you’re not carefree.

Some take being carefree toextremes and get into error. For exam-ple, they take being carefree as alicense not to work or provide for theirfamily. Some people say, “I’m justgoing to live by faith,” and they quittheir jobs, sit down, and do nothing.But the Bible says, “If a man will not

work, he shall not eat” (2 Thess. 3:10).What we need to do is take the truthof God’s Word, stay in the middle ofthe road with it, and let it bless us aswe speak it.

The Word will bless you as youspeak it and let your heart agree withit. You will have what you say!

The same applies to your healing.First Peter 2:24 says, “Who his ownself bare our sins in his own body onthe tree, that we, being dead to sins,should live unto righteousness: BYWHOSE STRIPES YE WEREHEALED.” When you talk about heal-ing in line with God’s Word, you don’tget sickness and disease as a result.No, when you believe and speak God’sWord about healing, you get healing!

When you believe and speak God’s

Word about wisdom, what do you get?You get the wisdom to cope with life.Have you ever needed wisdom to copewith life? According to the Word ofGod, wisdom has been made availableto us (1 Cor. 1:30).

Keep speaking God’s Word about allthat He has done for you. SecondCorinthians 2:14 says, “Now thanks beunto God, which always causeth us totriumph in Christ . . . .” When youbelieve and speak that, what do youget? Triumph! Triumph means victoryin all things. God always causes you totriumph. Paul didn’t say, “God causesus to triumph sometimes.” The Bibledoesn’t say, “If God doesn’t answer,you’ve got to figure it out for yourselfand just go through life the best wayyou can.” No, the Word says, “Godalways causes us to triumph.”

Let’s examine another verse thatdeals with God’s ability in us to over-come.

1 JOHN 4:44 Ye are of God, little children, andhave overcome them: because greater ishe that is in you, than he that is in theworld.

When you believe this verse andsay, “God in me is greater than he thatis in the world,” what do you get? Youget the power to make your authorityand dominion over the works of thedevil a reality in your life. You haveGod the Father on the inside of you.You also have Jesus Christ and theHoly Spirit in you. And God is greaterthan the god of this world.

What else can you speak from God’sWord? Psalm 27:1 says, “The Lord ismy light and my salvation; whomshall I fear? the Lord is the strength ofmy life; of whom shall I be afraid?”When you believe that and speak it,you get strength for your everydaytasks. Did you ever notice that whenyou wake up and start talking abouthow bad and weak you feel, it’s harderto get out of bed? But when you get outof bed saying, “This is the day whichthe Lord hath made; we will rejoiceand be glad in it” (Ps. 118:24), you getstronger and stronger with each step!

A lot of people say, “I can’t do this,”or, “I can’t do that.” But if you’re inChrist Jesus and know who you are inHim, you can quote the Word of Godthat says, “I can do all things throughChrist which strengtheneth me” (Phil.

If you’regoing to

make God’sWord work,you need to

jump up, so tospeak, and

acknowledge whatGod says about you.

(continued from page 15)

4:13). That’s you! You can do all thingsthrough Him!

During my school years, a teacherand a coach taught me this saying: “Ifyou say, ‘I can’t,’ you can’t. If you say,‘I can,’ you can.” People have thoughtthis was just an educational principlesomeone came up with. But do youknow where it came from? It camefrom the Word of God.

Many of the laws and principlespeople teach are based on the Bible.Some of the basis for successful sales-manship is from the Word of God.Sales schools teach you to believe inyour product before you sell it. If youbelieve in it, you’ll be able to talkeffectively about it.

That sounds like a principle fromthe Word of God — the principle ofbelieving and saying. The only differ-ence is, the natural world will baseeverything on you as an individual.There is a problem with that, becauseyou as an individual have limitations.You as a person can only go so far. Butwhen you base your faith on God’sWord, there’s a spiritual foundationthat goes beyond human ingenuity —beyond the natural.

Let’s talk about something else Godhas given you. Romans 12:3 says,“. . . God hath dealt to every man themeasure of faith.” You have all thefaith you’ll ever need to live an over-coming, successful life.

Some people say, “If I just had morefaith — if I could just study a littlemore and get more faith — then I’d besuccessful.” The problem with that isyou can’t get any more faith than youalready have. The Bible says that youhave been given the measure of faith(Rom. 12:3)! You strengthen yourmeasure of faith by studying the Wordof God and praying. But somethingelse is involved. You have to work yourfaith. How do you do that? By speak-ing the Word of God!

For example, you can read all abouthealth foods and how to eat properlyfor good health and nutrition. Thenyou can even act on that informationand eat a balanced diet, and your bodywill respond to that. However, ifyou’re going to build your muscles,you have to work out. You can’t rely onnutrition alone. You have to workthose muscles. You have to lift weightsand do some exercises.

The same is true with exercising

your faith. You give your faith a work-out by speaking the Word of God. Yousay, “God has given me the measure offaith.” You don’t go around saying, “Ineed more faith.” Once you recognizeyou’ve been given the measure offaith, then you can do somethingabout building up your own measureof faith by reading, believing, andspeaking God’s Word.

You have faith. Now learn to speakin such a way that your faith will

grow. There’s not a person I know wholooks in the mirror and says, “Man, Idon’t have any muscles!” No, youmight look in the mirror and say, “I’vegot muscles, but they need somework!” Likewise, you need to developthe faith you have by speaking theWord of God.

You can speak God’s Word whendealing with fear. According to SecondTimothy 1:7, you can say, “God has notgiven me the spirit of fear, but He’sgiven me a spirit of power, love, and asound mind.” When you believe andspeak that, what do you get? You getfreedom from fear. Just say, “I don’thave to be fearful about what is goingto happen to the economy.” Or, “I don’thave to be fearful about what’s goingto take place in government.”

Some people are afraid to do any-thing because they don’t know what’sgoing to happen to them. Christianfriend, I’ll tell you what’s going to hap-pen to you. What will happen is exactlywhat you say will happen according toGod’s Word. You can boldly say, “I’m

secure in Christ Jesus. Therefore, Ihave no fear, but I have power, love, anda sound mind.”

Always speak God’s Word in everysituation. The Word of God says, “Butmy God shall supply all your needaccording to his riches in glory byChrist Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). Speak thefact that God has a supply for yourevery need. Someone might ask,“What are you going to do if the foodsupply gets cut off?” Or, “What are you

going to do if there’s no fuel?” I don’tknow, but I do know one thing. I’m notgoing to be fearful about it because Iknow that my God can take care of thesituation and meet all of my needsaccording to his riches in glory byChrist Jesus.

Let the Word of God flow from yourlips continually. The Bible says, “. . .let us offer the sacrifice of praise toGod continually, that is, the fruit ofour lips giving thanks to his name”(Heb. 13:15). As you keep speakingGod’s Word, you’ll build yourself up.In the face of impending adverse cir-cumstances, say what God says aboutyour situation. When things are notgoing the way you think they should,never stop speaking God’s Word.Simply keep speaking the promises ofGod, and your situation will eventual-ly change. As you continue to speakthe Word of God, you’ll release thepower of God to work for you.

T h e Wo rd o f F a i t h 19

Whenyou talk

about strengthaccording to

God’s Word, youget strength for

your everydayuse.