HOW TO CHANGE HOPE TO FAITH

I remember I was conducting a tent meeting in Waco, Texas, years ago. We started the
revival on Sunday night. I preached an evangelistic-type message, and the next night I
preached on faith. The next night we had our first healing service. I always put folks in
the same line to receive healing or to receive the Holy Ghost. I preached on the laying
on of hands, and then after giving the invitation for the lost, I laid hands on the sick to be
healed and laid hands on believers to receive the Holy Ghost.
The very first man in the line came to receive the Holy Ghost. I said to him, "Will you be
filled with the Holy Ghost now as I lay my hands on you and pray?" "Brother Hagin," he
said, "I sure hope I will." I said, "Well, then, you won't be." That sort of made him angry.
I meant that to help him, not to anger him, so I immediately said to him, "You don't
receive anything from God through hope. It's by faith that you receive."
He said, "But I don't know whether I'm going to receive or not, so I'm not going to say I
am." I said, "If I offered you a dollar bill, would you say, `I don't know whether I can
receive that or not'?" "No, certainly not," he said. "Well," I said, "God offers you a gift
that is just as easy to receive as it is to receive a dollar bill offered to you." He said,
"Yes, but I've been seeking a mighty long time. In fact, I've been seeking about thirteen
years, and I haven't received yet. So I don't know whether I'm going to receive now or
not."
He became quite upset about it, so I just reached out and put my arms around him and
hugged his neck. I said, "Now, Brother, I'm here to help you. But under the
circumstances, I could lay my hands on your head until I wore every hair off the top of
your head, and you wouldn't get anything. So I just suggest that you go sit down on the
front row and listen and watch, and see what's going on. Then you'll see the difference
between believing and doubting, and between faith and hope."
So we prayed for several people for healing, and then we came to a young woman who
wanted to receive the Holy Ghost. I said, "Are you a Christian?" "Well," she said, "I'm a
member of a church." I said, "You understand that you could be a member of any
church and not be a Christian. Salvation is not a matter of being a member of a church,
it's a matter of being born again." "Yes," she said, "I know that, and I've been born
again."
"I accept your testimony," I said. "Don't let the devil talk you out of it." Then I asked her,
"Now then, do you believe in the Holy Ghost?" (Having come out of the same
denomination myself, I knew everyone in that denomination didn't believe in the baptism
of the Holy Spirit.) "Do you believe in the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of
speaking with tongues?" "I certainly do," she answered. "It is in the Bible. It's in the
Word." Then I asked, "Will you receive the Holy Ghost now when I lay my hands on
your head and pray?" She said, "I certainly will."
She had her Bible in her hand, and she said, "You know, I sat there tonight and followed
every scripture you gave as you preached, and it's all in the Word. And I certainly will
receive." I saw she was ready because I saw her faith in operation. So I just reached my
hand out to lay on her forehead, and before I even touched her - I just barely brushed
my fingers on her forehead - she threw up both hands and started speaking in tongues
instantly. I said to this older gentleman who was sitting on the front row, "Do you see the
difference between just hoping you'll receive the Holy Ghost and really believing you'll
receive?"


"Yes," he said, "I do." On Friday night he came back, and he was the very first person in
the line. "Well," I said to him, "I see you're back." "Yes," he said, "I'm back, and I'll tell
you some-thing else. I've changed my hope to faith. Just put your hands on me, and I'll
be filled with the Holy Ghost right now." I reached out to lay hands on him, and I had
barely touched him, when he lifted both hands and began speaking with other tongues!
Oh, it makes such a difference when you really believe God instead of just hoping you'll
receive your petition from Him - whether it's receiving the Holy Ghost, healing, or any
answer to prayer. That man said he'd been seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit for
thirteen years, but really he had just simply been hoping that he would get the Holy
Ghost. And you just don't receive anything from God by hope. You receive from God by
faith. (Kenneth E. Hagin)