Using faith to better advantage in our lives.
Firstly we should begin with the idea that we are One with universal Mind and therefore we are united with Its creative action, which does things to us and for us by doing them through our consciousness. This creative action we think of a Law, or the Power that acts.
Next, we should consider that we are also centers of self-conscious awareness, individualisations of this Mind, with the ability to think, to choose, and to know; and that according to the sum total of all our thoughts we are either attracting good to us or repelling it from us.
Finally, we can change our thinking to be affirmative; and, in so doing, cause the Law, the invisible creative Force, to respond to us in an affirmative rather than in a negative way. Faith itself is an affirmation that good is greater than negative, and it becomes an acceptance of that good.
Let us start to develop and use the first idea: We are already One with the universal Mind, and Its creative Power can do anything. This is the basis of dynamic faith and of all effective prayer; and since prayers have been answered, we may accept that this is certain. It is why Jesus told us that when we pray we are to believe we have what we desire. He implied that there is that can, will, and must react to us. It has no choice other than to react to us, in an affirmative manner if that is the way we think.
That is why it is that when we pray or mediate we must do so in the present tense. We must say or think of our desire as taking place now. Up to the time of Jesus, people believed that God might help them; that there we concessions He might make if people pleased Him, or performed certain rites or ceremonies. Jesus brought a new kind of teaching – today we call it “affirmative thinking”. He talked about a Power that operates on our belief the way we believe it; and that we may see definite results or our belief in our experience.
We find that faith must be an affirmative belief. There is a Power that operates upon our thought the way we think it, and we can use our faith consciously and definitely and intelligently and for specific purposes. When we do, we should expect something to happen, and we are not to deny it in the meantime!
The Law can bring us only as much good as we can mentally accept. This accepting g is an act of our own consciousness; it is an act of faith. There must be an acceptance in our mind, a belief within our own consciousness, a belief that does not deny itself. It is a belief that says, “It is so.
Perhaps we ask for something, or accept something, or affirm something, and then it seems as though we are not going to get it. We must continue to know that we are dealing with a Power that causes the invisible to become visible! We are creating a pattern upon which the creative Power is always acting. This is one of the greatest ideas concerning thought, but we seem to overlook its full and complete meaning.
Second proposition
We are thinking, choosing centers of awareness in this Mind; and according to the sum total of all our thoughts, we are either silently attracting good to us or repelling it from us.
Let us consider certain attitudes of thought that ought to be salutary. For instance, the necessity of having an attitude of gratitude. Gratitude is not a virtue but it also is part of a practical philosophy of daily life. There is no wiser way of living than to remember every morning what Life has given us, and to life up thought in thankfulness for every bounty we possess.
We occasionally need to put ourselves on a strict mental regimen, in which we would we would speak no negative word; refrain from faultfinding or condemnation or anyone or anything.
It is the sum total of our thinking that we need to consider; and in doing this one of the first things to learn is that about ninety percent of out thinking is entirely subconscious – we are not aware of it while it goes on. Our success or failure in life is largely a subconscious process, and of course our happiness or misery is almost entirely so.
Scientific investigation verifies that you and I are talking about a reality. Most of our thought processes are subconscious. Here is where the habit patterns are caught and laid down, even from infancy. It should be our purpose to find out what these thought patterns are; and when they are unhappy, or morbid, or filled with fear, change them in order that the natural, normal flow of Life Itself shall be resumed.
Now we have the basic premises developed to where we can use them, because we know what we are doing, and so we come to the third idea:
We can change our thinking, and by so doing enable the Law, the invisible creative Force, to act for us in an affirmative rather than in a negative way.
Jesus gave us a technique that when we pray we should enter the closet of the self, close the door of the senses, and make known our request. We must affirm the good and forget the negative. When we do this, we should be certain that we accept the answer, and know we are going to receive it.
When we pray we must believe that we have, and we shall have. We actually can change our thinking and permit, the Law to give us freedom.
What more could we ask? What more could anyone receive from Life? To learn how to think constructively is to learn how to prove or demonstrate what is good. We can be renewed and transformed by the renewing of our mind. There is One Mind, God –Mind, and this is the mind of man at the level of his understanding. Divine Intelligence stands ready to pour into our consciousness every idea of good, and an infinite Law within this Intelligence acts upon our acceptance or belief, making it visible in our experience.
Firstly we should begin with the idea that we are One with universal Mind and therefore we are united with Its creative action, which does things to us and for us by doing them through our consciousness. This creative action we think of a Law, or the Power that acts.
Next, we should consider that we are also centers of self-conscious awareness, individualisations of this Mind, with the ability to think, to choose, and to know; and that according to the sum total of all our thoughts we are either attracting good to us or repelling it from us.
Finally, we can change our thinking to be affirmative; and, in so doing, cause the Law, the invisible creative Force, to respond to us in an affirmative rather than in a negative way. Faith itself is an affirmation that good is greater than negative, and it becomes an acceptance of that good.
Let us start to develop and use the first idea: We are already One with the universal Mind, and Its creative Power can do anything. This is the basis of dynamic faith and of all effective prayer; and since prayers have been answered, we may accept that this is certain. It is why Jesus told us that when we pray we are to believe we have what we desire. He implied that there is that can, will, and must react to us. It has no choice other than to react to us, in an affirmative manner if that is the way we think.
That is why it is that when we pray or mediate we must do so in the present tense. We must say or think of our desire as taking place now. Up to the time of Jesus, people believed that God might help them; that there we concessions He might make if people pleased Him, or performed certain rites or ceremonies. Jesus brought a new kind of teaching – today we call it “affirmative thinking”. He talked about a Power that operates on our belief the way we believe it; and that we may see definite results or our belief in our experience.
We find that faith must be an affirmative belief. There is a Power that operates upon our thought the way we think it, and we can use our faith consciously and definitely and intelligently and for specific purposes. When we do, we should expect something to happen, and we are not to deny it in the meantime!
The Law can bring us only as much good as we can mentally accept. This accepting g is an act of our own consciousness; it is an act of faith. There must be an acceptance in our mind, a belief within our own consciousness, a belief that does not deny itself. It is a belief that says, “It is so.
Perhaps we ask for something, or accept something, or affirm something, and then it seems as though we are not going to get it. We must continue to know that we are dealing with a Power that causes the invisible to become visible! We are creating a pattern upon which the creative Power is always acting. This is one of the greatest ideas concerning thought, but we seem to overlook its full and complete meaning.
Second proposition
We are thinking, choosing centers of awareness in this Mind; and according to the sum total of all our thoughts, we are either silently attracting good to us or repelling it from us.
Let us consider certain attitudes of thought that ought to be salutary. For instance, the necessity of having an attitude of gratitude. Gratitude is not a virtue but it also is part of a practical philosophy of daily life. There is no wiser way of living than to remember every morning what Life has given us, and to life up thought in thankfulness for every bounty we possess.
We occasionally need to put ourselves on a strict mental regimen, in which we would we would speak no negative word; refrain from faultfinding or condemnation or anyone or anything.
It is the sum total of our thinking that we need to consider; and in doing this one of the first things to learn is that about ninety percent of out thinking is entirely subconscious – we are not aware of it while it goes on. Our success or failure in life is largely a subconscious process, and of course our happiness or misery is almost entirely so.
Scientific investigation verifies that you and I are talking about a reality. Most of our thought processes are subconscious. Here is where the habit patterns are caught and laid down, even from infancy. It should be our purpose to find out what these thought patterns are; and when they are unhappy, or morbid, or filled with fear, change them in order that the natural, normal flow of Life Itself shall be resumed.
Now we have the basic premises developed to where we can use them, because we know what we are doing, and so we come to the third idea:
We can change our thinking, and by so doing enable the Law, the invisible creative Force, to act for us in an affirmative rather than in a negative way.
Jesus gave us a technique that when we pray we should enter the closet of the self, close the door of the senses, and make known our request. We must affirm the good and forget the negative. When we do this, we should be certain that we accept the answer, and know we are going to receive it.
When we pray we must believe that we have, and we shall have. We actually can change our thinking and permit, the Law to give us freedom.
What more could we ask? What more could anyone receive from Life? To learn how to think constructively is to learn how to prove or demonstrate what is good. We can be renewed and transformed by the renewing of our mind. There is One Mind, God –Mind, and this is the mind of man at the level of his understanding. Divine Intelligence stands ready to pour into our consciousness every idea of good, and an infinite Law within this Intelligence acts upon our acceptance or belief, making it visible in our experience.
