Copyright 1982 RHEMA Bible Church

Kenneth Hagin Ministries, Inc.

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Eleventh Printing 2004

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FAITH TAKES BACK WHAT

THE DEVIL'S STOLEN

By Kenneth Hagin Jr.

Contents
1 Responding to God's Gifts...........................................5
2 Things That Shake Faith............................................11
3 Handling Contradictory Thoughts.............................17
4 Faith Takes................................................................23

A Sinner's Prayer
To Receive Jesus as Savior..................................29

Chapter 1
RESPONDING TO GOD'S GIFTS

The other day I began thinking about the word

"take," and I began to realize that things have to be taken
in the spiritual realm. They don't just fall on you. You
have to reach out and take them.
Salvation is an example. Did any of you get saved
without reaching out and taking what God was offering
you? Did salvation just fall on you? Or did you respond
and reach out and take the gift God was offering you in
salvation?
How many businessmen attain success without
going out and taking it? Do they just sit back in their
offices, put their feet up on their desks, and say, "Well,
I'm a businessman. I know all the business principles"
and have big business deals fall on them? Not often.
They are successful because they go out, take hold of
situations, and make them work.
It seems that man is programmed to be a success.
Do any of you not want to succeed? I've never met
anybody who didn't want to succeed, have you?
Everybody I've ever met has wanted to be a success.
Some people may say they don't want to be a
success, but don't listen to their words. Watch their
actions. Their actions prove they want to be a success,
5

because they're out there striving for it every day.

Success comes when an individual realizes what he
has, who he is, and what abilities he possesses in the
natural. Then he takes those abilities and surrounds
himself with people who have abilities in areas where he
is weak. They make a strong team and go out and take
success.
Usually, if you study business partners closely, you
will find that one has expertise in one area and his
partner has expertise in another area. Put them together,
and they have expertise in all areas of their business. If
they need more expertise, they'll go out and find
department heads or supervisors to handle those jobs.
And they become successful.
I'm talking about natural things here. I like to bring
things down to where you can see the parallel between
success in the natural and success in the spiritual life.
Most people try to divorce the two, putting natural
life in one corner and spiritual life in another. But the
truth is: You are a natural human being. You live in a
natural world. At the same time, however, you are a
spiritual beinga spirit. You live in a spirit world. You
must learn to combine the two with God and become an
explosive force in both areas of your life.
That's where the word "take" comes in. It's a small
word, "take."
When I say the word "take," most people
immediately get a visual impression in their minds.
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Whether you realize it or not, when you hear a word, it

automatically triggers a memory bank in this computer
brain of ours, and that memory bank brings up a certain
definition or image of that word. Different people see
different pictures.
When I hear the word "take," the image it triggers
in my mind is a hand reaching out taking hold of
something. What kind of mental picture do you get?
It doesn't matter which translation of the Bible you
own; it still contains 32,000 promises made by God
Himself. For whom did Jesus purchase these 32,000
promises? For God? For the angels? No, they don't need
them. Jesus purchased them for the Church of the Lord
Jesus Christthe ecclesiathe called-out ones.
God gave us Jesus: all that He is, all that He has,
and all that He has done. That's what has been given to
the Church. Second Peter 1:3 says, "According as his
divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain
unto life and godliness ...." Notice the word "hath" in
that Scripture. Is "hath" past tense, present tense, or
future tense? Past!
If someone "hath" (or has) done something for you,
it's yours. If God "hath" given unto us all things that
pertain to life and godliness, how should we respond?
Suppose I'm away from home holding a service,
and a delivery boy walks through the door of the church
and says, "Telegram for you." I open that telegram and it
announces that the richest man in the world has read one
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of my bookshe likes meand he has put $1 million

into my bank account in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Everybody
would praise God with me, wouldn't they?
But suppose the next day you accompany me to the
airport and I sit in the waiting room whining and
complaining, "I sure would like to go back to Tulsa! I
sure would like to go back home, but I haven't got a
ticket."
You'd say, "Hey, I thought you had $1 million
down there in your bank account! You got that telegram
while you were here. The money's yours."
"Oh, yes. I know that. I sure wish I could get
home."
You'd think something was the matter with me if I
said that. You would know all I had to do was go to the
counter and purchase a ticket, write out a check, or
charge itbecause I had money in the bank to back it.
Well, what is the difference between that and
spiritual things? God hath already given us everything
that pertaineth to life and godliness. What are we sitting
around for, whining, crying, and saying to one another,
"I just don't know what is going to happen. I don't know
if I'm going to be able to make it or not. The devil has
been after me. My life is so torn up!"
That's what a lot of people are doing! I didn't say
they aren't born again. I didn't say they aren't filled with
the Spirit. They have already been given everything that
pertains to life and godliness.
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That's where the word "take" comes in. By faith

reach out and take what belongs to you. Begin to live in
the success, happiness, and liberty of the power of the
Word of God. Faith takes it!
Someone wrote that the word "receive" in Mark
11:24 could be translated "take with force" or "seize
with a grip that cannot be shaken loose."
Receive what God has for you. How? By reaching
up in faith and taking it! The problem is that most people
are waiting for God to hover over them like you do over
your flowers. They're waiting for God to stand over the
top of them with a little watering pot. Then they'll get
excited and say, "God just poured me out a blessing!"
No, God poured out a blessing on the Church some
2,000 years ago when Jesus Christ Himself, suspended
between heaven and earth on that rugged cross, said, "It
is finished."
Jesus died, went into the pits of hell, and fought
with the enemy. Then He rose victorious over death,
hell, and the grave, ascended, and sat down at the right
hand of the Father. He purchased all there is in life and
godlinessand He has given it to the Church.
We don't have to wait for God to come by and pour
us out a blessing! All we have to do is know who we are
in Christ, what we are in Christ, what the Word of God
says, reach up, and take what belongs to us!
The Holy Spirit could say to us, like the angels said
to those who were gazing heavenward after Jesus'
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ascension, "Why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this

same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into
heaven" (Acts 1:11). Then the angels added, "Now go do
what He told you to do."
Too often Christians are sitting here in this world,
gazing off into the far blue yonder, looking for some
kind of "pie in the sky," singing about "the sweet byand-by," or talking about how great it's going to be "on
the other side."
It's going to be goodand I thank God for itbut
what I'm interested in is what can help me in the now.
Now is when I'm living. Now is when I need something
to carry me through the energy crisis, economic
recession, etc.not in the sweet by-and-by. Thank God
for the promise of heavenI need that as inspiration to
keep me goingbut I need something to carry me right
now in the face of the darkness of this world.
The Word of God says "take it!"

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Chapter 2
THINGS THAT SHAKE FAITH

If we go to the story of Peter walking on the water,

we find that once he stepped outside the boat, he really
did begin to walk on the water. But what happened when
he took his attention off of Jesus and the power and faith
of God? What happened when Peter began to look at a
bank of waves on one side of himand then saw
another bank of waves on the other side?
As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he walked
up and over the crest of those wavesbut when the next
wave looked like it was going to break over him, Peter
began to sink.
The same circumstances that caused Peter to sink
are robbing modern Christians of their happiness and joy
and are keeping us from taking what God already has
given us by faith. Like Peter, we have begun to look,
listen, and feel the power of the enemy. We have gotten
our eyes off of God and the things of God. The waves of
depression, sadness, sickness, disease, and short bank
accounts have become a part of our life.
The first thing that is robbing us is the things we
feel. Peter felt the wind blowing on him. You can't see
the wind, but you can feel the effects of it. In that way,
it's like the Holy Spirit. You can't see the Holy Spirit,
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but you certainly can see the effects of the Holy Spirit,
for He is tangible, just like the wind is.
Second, Peter was affected by the things he saw. He
saw the threatening waves. What kinds of things do we
see in the '90s to shake our faith? We see television
newscasts and newspapers and magazines filled with
reports of fear, doubt, unbelief, and depression. We feel
the pinch of inflation every time we go to the grocery
store or pull into a gas station.
But I want you to know that you can reach up by
the hand of faith and take what belongs to you. You can
begin to claim God's promises. You do not have to be
swept under by depression or the crises of this world.
I don't know how God is going to do it, but in His
Word He has promised He shall supply "all your need
according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil.
4:19).
In the summer of 1980, the crusade team and I
traveled from Oklahoma to California, up the West
Coast of Canada, and then all the way across Canada.
Somebody asked me, "Aren't you afraid? They've been
talking about a fuel shortage. What if you get your bus
out there in the middle of the desert and you can't buy
gas?"
I replied, "God took care of the children of Israel.
As long as they believed Him, they walked across the
burning sand, and not one ounce of shoe leather was
burned off of the bottom of those sandals they were
12

wearing. My God is the same God today. He's still the

same Jehovah who carried the children of Israel. He is
still El Shaddaithe God who is more than enough.
"And if He has to, He will manufacture diesel in
that fuel tankand we'll carry the Gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I am scheduling more crusades, as a matter
of fact. I've alerted the crusade team to be ready for
them."
I'm going to take what is rightfully mine. The Word
of God says it's mine. I've read this Book. This Book
tells me that it belongs to me, and I'm not about to let the
devil steal what belongs to me.
Suppose you drove up to your house and found a
moving van backed up to your door and men busy
moving all your belongings out of the house. You would
ask, "What is going on here?"
Suppose a man walked up to you and said, "Here's
the deed. This says the house belongs to me, and I'm
moving in. I've sold all this furniture, and I'm moving it
out. I'm going to be moving my furniture in and living
here."
You wouldn't walk back to your car and say to your
wife, "Well, honey, I thought that this was our house,
but that man has a piece of paper that says it belongs to
him. I don't know how it happened. We paid it off last
year, but I guess it belongs to him, so we might as well
go down to Aunt Mary's and see if they'll let us spend
the night until I can figure out something to do."
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Not one of you would do this. You would go to the

proper authorities and find out what was going on. Yet
what are we, as the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ,
doing when the devil comes by, backs up his moving
van, and steals our joy while moving in his sickness and
disease?
We say, "Well, I thought the Lord was going to
take care of me, but I guess He isn't." That's what is the
matter with us; we are allowing the devil to rob us
needlessly. God already has given us all things that
pertain to godliness and happiness and life.
This verse says that all of us can live in happiness.
It says that all of us can live in prosperity. It says that all
of us can live in health. It says that all of us can live with
spiritual authority. It says that all of us have become
joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. We are the sons of God!
When the devil backs his moving van up to my
property, I look him square in the eye and say, "Hey
didn't you see that NO TRESPASSING sign out there?
Get your moving van out of here. Pack your goods up,
Mr. Devil. You have no right and no authority to come
in and steal my happiness, my health, my joy, my
finances, and my prosperity. I have taken them by faith.
God said they are mine. You have no right and no
authority to them."
That's what you would tell that man if he backed a
moving van up to your house unbidden. You would say,
"This is mine. You have no authorityyou have no right
14

here." And you would run him off the place.

Do the same thing with the Word of God when the
devil comes to steal what belongs to you! Take the Word
of God and begin to say, "It is written, Mr. Devil. It is
written . . . I take it by the Word of God and by faith."
(You will find that the Word of God says in Matthew
11:12 that the violent take the kingdom by force.)
It reminds me of a story I heard Dad tell. He said it
came from Smith Wigglesworth.
A woman left her house one day and started
walking down the street to wait for a bus. Her little old
dog followed her. The woman looked at the dog and
said, "Now, honey, you can't go today. Go back to the
house."
The little old dog didn't pay any attention. It just
wagged its tail more and kept trotting right behind her.
The woman stopped again, looked back, and said,
"Now, honey, you can't go today. Go on back to the
house."
She proceeded on down the street and waited on the
corner for the bus. That little old dog just walked around
her, his tail flopping, licking her on the feet and sitting
there, panting, looking up at her, like little old dogs do.
By this time, the bus was coming down the street.
The woman looked at the dog and said, "GET BACK UP
TO THE HOUSE!" And that dog tucked its tail between
its legs andzoom!it got back on that front porch in a
15

hurry.
Smith Wigglesworth said, "That's the way you have
to deal with the devil. He'll take all that 'honey' business
you want to give him. But if you really mean business,
take the Word of God and say, 'It is written. Get out of
here, devil! I resist you in the Name of Jesus!' And you
will get results."

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Chapter 3
HANDLING CONTRADICTORY
THOUGHTS

We must quickly cast away every thought that is

contrary to the Word of God. No, you can't keep a bird
from flying over your head, but you certainly can keep it
from building a nest in your hair!
When you start this walk of faith and start to take
things by faith, you can't keep the devil from bringing
his
contradictory
thoughts
and
contradictory
circumstances for you to seebut you can refuse to
think on them.
You can combat his devices by quoting, "It is
written. It is written. I take what belongs to me, Mr.
Devil, because the Word says that no weapon formed
against me will prosper (Isa. 54.17). The Word says, Mr.
Devil, that my body is healed by the power of God. It is
written, Mr. Devil, that my every need is met."
We've got nearly 2,000 students in RHEMA Bible
Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Our more than 90acre campus has several million dollars worth of
improvements and buildings on it. They didn't get there
by my sitting around my office saying, "Well, I guess if
the Lord wants us to have it, He will give it to us."
No, those improvements got there by Brother
17

Hagin, myself, and a lot of other people taking the Word

of God and delivering it in the devil's face whenever the
outflow was more than the income.
Once I was caught in a terrible cash flow crunch. If
I had listened to the enemy, who had begun to camp on
my shoulder and talk in my ear, I still would be hiding
under my desk, afraid to stick my head out. I would
listen to that old boy about all I could, and then I would
jump to my feet and say, "Mr. Devil, GET OUT OF
HERE! GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!"
I have actually kicked him out just like that. "GET
OUT OF MY OFFICE! IT IS WRITTEN! IT IS
WRITTEN! IT IS WRITTEN! I TAKE WHAT GOD
HAS PROMISED ME! I TAKE IT BY FAITH!"
And he would reply, "But where is the money
coming from?"
I would answer, "I don't know where it's coming
from. That's not my part of the contract. My part of the
contract is to believe God. It's God's part to make it
come true. And the Word of God says that He never
fails. He never has failed up until now, and He's not
going to fail me now, Mr. Devil. So get out of here!"
He'll take off for a while, but he won't stay gone
long. He soon comes back, battering at the same door. If
you don't keep reinforcing that door with the faith it
takes, he eventually will batter it down.
And if he ever batters it down and gets his foot in
the door, you are in trouble. The best way to combat the
18

devil is not to let him get a foothold in the first place!

For example, how many of you have ever wakened
with a little scratching sensation in your throat? Usually
we tend to ignore it, hoping it will go away. But by the
end of the day, if we haven't dealt with it, the thing will
have hold of you. It is harder to get your healing then,
after it has hold of you, than it is in the morning when
you have that first symptom.
Grab the Word of God and run the enemy away
before he ever gets a good start unpacking. (It's always
easier to move somebody out of a room before they
unpack.)
Take it by faith. Symptoms may lingeryou may
have to clear your throatbut don't pay any attention to
the symptoms.
Remember, the fig tree in the Bible story was dead
when Jesus cursed it, even though its leaves still were
waving green in the breeze. It wasn't until 24 hours later
that those leaves turned brown and the disciples noticed
it had died. The tree actually died when Jesus cursed it.
The minute you first reach out by faith and take
hold of that sickness, disease, or whatever, and
command it to turn loose, it becomes a reality in the
spirit world. Your constant holding fast to your
confession will bring it into reality in the natural,
physical world in which you live.
The thing that stops most people when they reach
out and take hold of what they need by faith is that their
19

grasp is weak. Remember, God already has given you

32,000 promises. He has already given you all that
pertains to life and godliness. What you must do by faith
to receive these promises is reach out and grab them
with a grip that can't be shaken by the least wind, wave,
or any other contradictory circumstance. Hold onto these
promises.
Yes, you may feel like your situation is holding you
rather than you are holding it, but keep confessing God's
Word. Say, "I've taken it by faith. It belongs to me. The
Word says so."
Soon you will have hold of what you are believing
God for. The contradictory circumstances will be gone,
and you'll be walking on to another victory. Then you'll
reach out by faith and grab hold of something else, and
you'll conquer it. Soon you'll reach out and grab
something else and conquer it, too. And you'll keep
walking, confessing, climbing, climbing, climbing.
No, there never is a plateau. You will continue to
climb until the day Jesus Christ splits the clouds of glory
and takes us out of this world. There should be a
continual taking by faith and living with the power of
God in your life.
This happinessthis abundant lifebelongs to
you. Take it by faith. It is yours today. It is up to you
not Godwhether or not it becomes a reality in your
life.
God has said in His Word that He HATH given us
20

all things that pertain to life and godliness. ALL things.

(He healeth ALL our diseases, not part of them.)
Did He say in His Word that He would meet our
immediate needs, but we would have to meet our little
needs ourselves? Or did He say He would meet ALL of
our needs? He said He would meet ALL of our needs.

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Chapter 4
FAITH TAKES

God is reaching His hand down from heaven,

saying, "My child, here's all you ever needed to have
happiness, godliness, and a joyous life on earth. Here it
is! Here it is!"
You can look at that hand and say "Oh, I wish that
were so. Oh, wouldn't that be nice!" Or you can, by
faith, reach up and grab hold of all the provisions of life
God's hand is offering you.
With your other hand, grab hold of the things that
hinder you from enjoying godliness, health, wealth, and
happiness. Your faith will activate God's power, and that
power will flow through you to set you free from those
hindrances.
BUT NEVER RELEASE YOUR HOLD ON GOD
AS HE REACHES DOWN AND OFFERS THE
PROVISIONS OF LIFE TO YOU.
You see, God's not going to come hit you over the
head with a 20-pound sledgehammer and say, "Son, get
in line. Here it is. Take it." He's not going to drop it on
you. He's not going to spoon-feed you and force it down
your mouth. No, all He's going to do is offer it. It's there.
YOU MUST TAKE IT BY FAITH. FAITH
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TAKES.
And after faith takes, FAITH NEVER TURNS
LOOSE. And because faith never turns loose, it leads to
success by the power of God.
Begin to talk to God. Whatever it is you need,
quote the Scriptures to Him.
If it's finances, quote Scriptures about finances to
Him. If it's healing you need, quote Scriptures about
healing to Him. Remind Him that He "hath" given to us
all that pertains to life and godliness.
Tell Him you are taking what belongs to you by
faith, and you will never again relinquish what belongs
to you in the Name of Jesus.
Because He HATH purchased for us ALL that
pertains to life and godliness, we can now reach up by
the power of the Word of God and take what belongs to
us and walk in victory in Christ Jesus.
Faith rejoices nownot when you see it happen or
manifest.
In one of my dad's meetings years ago, a little old
man went down to the altar one Sunday and "claimed"
his wife's salvation. After he claimed it by faith, he had a
great Pentecostal timea hilarious timelike the
joyous time they had on the Day of Pentecost. You see,
by faith he took it then.
A few days later, his wife attended church with
him, went to the altar, and prayed through to salvation.
24

That night, her husband sat in the back of the

church with his arms folded, just looking at her. The
other church members, because they had been praying
for her for a long time, were ecstatic. (She was the
meanest woman in town, according to the story.)
Somebody finally asked her husband, "Aren't you
excited? That's your wife down there."
He replied, "Remember the other night when I got
excited? I accepted it by faith then. I saw it then. It's 'old
news' now. Why should I get excited now? It happened a
week ago."
That's what faith does. Faith rejoices at the moment
of taking. Faith doesn't rejoice when it manifests,
because it's "old news" thenit already has taken place.
Do what you would do if you saw it happen this
very momentif you saw it take place in front of your
eyes at this moment.
As you walk this great walk of faith, never again
say, "I don't know if I'm going to make it or not."
From now on, talk in faith and take it by faith. It
may look bleak, but never relinquish your hold. Once
you start out in faith, hold fast to your confession and
praise God all the way to victory. Keep taking. Keep
conquering the enemy. Keep winning more people to
Jesus.
Take it by faith. Run with it like a dog runs off with
a bone!
25

Rejoice because you have everything that pertains

to life and godliness. It is yours. Live like itrejoice in
itand have a good time on the way to heaven.

26

A Sinner's Prayer
To Receive Jesus as Savior
Dear Heavenly Father ...
I come to You in the Name of Jesus.
Your Word says, "... him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out" (John 6:37), so I know You won't cast me
out, but You take me in and I thank You for it.
You said in Your Word, "Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved" (Rom. 10:13). I am
calling on Your Name, so I know You have saved me
now.
You also said "if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and
with the mouth confession is made unto salvation"
(Rom. 10:9,10). I believe in my heart Jesus Christ is the
Son of God. I believe that He was raised from the dead
for my justification, and I confess Him now as my Lord.
Because Your Word says, "... with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness . . . " and I do believe with
my heart, I have now become the righteousness of God
in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21) ... And I am saved!
Thank You, Lord!
Signed ______________________________________
Date ________________________________________
29