I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. — PSALM 118:17

Years ago while I was ministering at a youth camp in the Sierra Mountains near Sonora, California, I received an emergency telephone call. The voice on the other end said, “Brother Hagin, do you remember Gary?” I did. The man was talking about his oldest boy who was nine.

“Well,” he said, “he had a sore throat and we prayed about it. But it got worse. We carried him to the doctor, and the doctor said that the infection went to his kidneys. Now his kidneys have stopped functioning. The doctor said that he will be dead in a matter of minutes. He is in intensive care, and we want you to agree with us. We believe that Gary will live and not die.” I said, “I believe with you that he will live and not die.”

I was at this youth camp for several weeks. Before I left, I received a little reel-to-reel tape recording in the mail. On it, the man said to me, “Brother Hagin, they would only let me in the intensive care unit for five minutes a day. I would say to Gary, ‘You lie there and say, “Himself took my infirmities and bare my sicknesses.” I’ll live and not die.’ That little fellow said that over and over again for two days and two nights. Suddenly, he was all right. We just brought Gary home, and he wants to say something to you.”

Then I heard Gary say, “Brother Hagin, I want to thank you for bringing the truth to me. Dad has already told you, but I must have said those words over ten thousand times each night.”

The doctors couldn’t understand how that little boy had lived, but he did. God’s Word works!

Confession: I repeat the following to myself daily: “Jesus took my infirmities and bare my sicknesses. I shall live and not die, and declare the works of the Lord.”