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Lessons In Truth
Lesson 5
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[Lessons In Truth]
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Affirmations
Lesson Five
Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he will hear thee;
And thou shalt pay thy vows, Thou shalt also decree a
thing, and it shall be established unto thee; and light
shall shine upon thy ways--Job 22:27,28.
1. Most persons, when they first consciously set out to
gain a fuller, higher knowledge of spiritual things, do so
because of dissatisfaction--or perhaps unsatisfaction would
be the better word--with their present conditions of life.
Inherent in the human mind is the thought that somewhere,
somehow, it ought to be able to bring to itself that which
it desires and which would satisfy. This thought is but the
foreshadowing of that which really is.
2. Our wishes, it is said, do measure just
Our capabilities, Who with his might
Aspires unto the mountain's upper height,
Holds in that aspiration a great trust
To be filled, a warrant that he must
Not disregard, a strength to reach the height
To which his hopes have taken flight.
--Author Unknown
3. The hunger that we feel is but the prompting
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of the Divine within us, which longs with an infinite
longing to fill us. It is but one side of the law of demand
and supply, the other side of which is unchangeable,
unfailing, the promise: "All things whatsoever ye pray and
ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have
them" (Mk. 11:24). The supply is always equal to the
demand, but there must first be a demand before supply is
of use.
4. There is, attainable by us, a place where we can see
that our doing can cease, because we realize that Spirit is
the fulfillment of all our desires. We simply get still and
know that all things whatsoever we desire are ours already;
and this knowing it, or recognizing it, has power to bring
the invisible God (or good)--the innermost substance of all
things--forth into just the visible form of good that we
want.
5. But in order to attain this place of power, we must take
the preliminary steps, faithfully, earnestly, trustingly,
though these steps at first glance seem to us useless and
as empty as do the ceremonial forms and religious
observance of the ritualistic churchman.
6. To affirm anything is to assert positively that it is
so, even in the face of all contrary evidence. We may not
be able to see how, by our simply affirming a thing to be
true, a thing that to all human reasoning or sight does not
seem to be true at all, we can bring this thing to pass;
but we can compel ourselves to cease all futile quibbling
and go to work to prove the rule, each one in his own life.
7. The beautiful Presence all about us and within
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us is the substance of every good that we can possibly
desire--aye, infinitely more than we are capable of
desiring; for "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
have entered into the heart of man, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Cor. 2:9 A.V.).
8. In some way, which is not easy to put into words--for
spiritual words cannot always be compassed in words, and
yet they are none the less infallible, immutable laws that
work with precision and certainty--there is power in our
word of faith to bring all things right into our everyday
life.
9. We speak the word, we confidently affirm, but we have
nothing to do with the "establishing" of the word, or
bringing it to pass. "Thou shalt also decree a thing, and
it shall be established unto thee" (Job 22:28). So if we
decree or affirm unwaveringly, steadfastly, we hold God by
His own unalterable laws to do the establishing or
fulfilling.
10. They who have carefully studied spiritual laws find
that, besides denying the reality and power of apparent
evil, which denying frees them from it, they also can bring
any desired good into their lives by persistently affirming
it is there already. In the first instructions given to
students, the denials and affirmations take a large place.
Later on, their own personal experiences and inward
guidance lead them to an understanding of divine law that
makes it easy for them to follow simple rules which at
first seemed difficult.
11. The saying over and over of any denial or
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affirmation is a necessary training of the mind that has
lived so long in error and false belief that it needs this
constant repetition of Truth to unclothe it and to clothe
it anew.
12. As it is with the denials, so with the affirmations.
There are four or five sweeping affirmations of Truth that
cover a multitude of lesser ones, and which do marvelous
work in bringing good to ourselves and to others.
13. First: God is life, love, intelligence, substance,
omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence.
14. These ideas you learned in the second
lesson--"Statement of Being." As you repeat the
affirmation, please remember that every particle of life,
love, intelligence, power, or of real substance in the
universe, is simply a certain degree, or, so to speak, a
quantity of God made manifest or visible through a form.
Try to think what it means when you say that God is
omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient.
15. God is omnipresence (everywhere present), and God is
good. Then why fear evil? He is omnipotent (all powerful).
Then what other power can prevail?
16. Since God is omnipotence and omnipresence, put aside
forever your traditional teaching of an adverse power, evil
(Devil), that may at any moment thwart the plans of God and
bring harm to you.
17. Do not disturb yourself about appearance of evil all
about you; but in the very presence of what seems evil
stand true and unwavering in affirming that God, the good
is omnipresent. By so doing, you will
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see the seeming evil melt away as the darkness before the
light or as the dew before the morning sun, and good come
to take its place.
18. Second: I am a child or manifestation of God, and every
moment His life, love, wisdom, power flow into and through
me. I am one with God, and am governed by His law.
19. Remember while repeating this affirmation that
nothing--no circumstance, no person or set of persons--can
by any possibility interpose between you and the Source of
your life, wisdom, or power. It is all "hid with Christ
[the innermost Christ or Spirit of your being] in God"
(Col. 3:3). Nothing but your own ignorance of how to
receive, or your willfulness, can hinder your having
unlimited supply.
20. No matter how sick or weak or inefficient you seem to
be, take your eyes and thoughts right off the seeming, and
turn them within to the central fountain there, and say
calmly, quietly, but with steadfast assurance: "This
appearance of weakness is false; God, manifest as life,
wisdom, and power is now flowing into my entire being and
out through me to the external." You will see a marvelous
change wrought in yourself by the realization that this
spoken word will bring to you.
21. You do not change God's attitude toward you one iota by
either importuning or affirming. You only change your
attitude toward Him. By thus affirming, you put yourself in
harmony with divine law, which is always working toward
your good and never toward your harm or punishment.
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22. Third: I am Spirit, perfect, holy, harmonious. Nothing
can hurt me or make me sick or afraid, for Spirit is God,
and God cannot be sick or hurt or afraid. I manifest my
real self through this body now.
23. Fourth: God works in me to will and to do whatsoever He
wishes me to do, and He cannot fail.
24. Our affirming His mind working both to will and to do,
makes us will only the good; and He, the very Father in us,
does the works, hence there can be no failure. Whatsoever
we fully commit to the Father to do, and affirm it is done,
we shall see accomplished. These, then, are the four
comprehensive affirmations.
25. First: God is life, love, intelligence, substance,
omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence.
26. Second: I am a child or manifestation of God, and every
moment His life, love, wisdom, power flow into and through
me. I am one with God, and am governed by His law.
27. Third: I am Spirit, perfect, holy, harmonious. Nothing
can hurt me or make me sick or afraid, for Spirit is God,
and God cannot be sick or hurt or afraid. I manifest my
real self through this body now.
28. Fourth: God works with me to will and to do whatsoever
He wishes me to do, and He cannot fail.
29. Commit these affirmations to memory, so that you can
repeat them in the silence of your own mind in any place
and at any time. Strangely, they will act to deliver you
out of the greatest external distresses, places where no
human help avails. It is as though the moment you assert
emphatically your oneness with
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God the Father, there is instantly set into motion all the
power of omnipotent love to rush to your rescue. And when
it has undertaken to work for you, you can cease from
external ways and means, and boldly claim: "It is done; I
have the desires of my heart."
"Thou openest thy hand,
And satisfiest the desire of every living thing"
(Ps. 145:16).
30. In reality God is forever in process of movement within
us, that He may manifest Himself (all-Good) more fully
through us. Our affirming, backed by faith, is the link
that connects our conscious human need with His power and
supply.
31. They who have claimed their birthright by thus calmly
affirming their oneness with God know how free they can be
from human planning and effort, after they have called into
operation this marvelous power of affirmation. This power
has healed the sick, brought joy in place of mourning,
literally opened prison doors and bidden the prisoner go
free, without the claimants calling for human assistance.
32. Understand, it is not necessarily the using of just
this form of words that has availed in each individual
case. It is the denying of apparent evil, and, in spite of
all contrary evidence, the affirming of good to be all
there is, affirming oneness with God's omnipotent power to
accomplish, even when there is no visible sign of His being
present, that has wrought the deliverance. In one case
within my knowledge, just
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simply claiming, "God is your defense and deliverance," for
a man who had for five years been an exile from home and
country (through a series of deceptions and machinations
that for depth and subtlety were unparalled) opened all the
doors wide and restored the man to his family within a
month, without any further human effort on the part of
himself or his friends, and this after five years of the
most strenuous human efforts of lawyers had failed utterly
to bring the truth to light or to release the prisoner.
33. Some minds are so constituted that they get better
results from repeated use of denials; others, from using
denials less and affirmations more.
34. No definite rules can be laid down as to which will
work most effectually in each individual case to eradicate
apparent evil and bring the good into manifestation, but
some little hint that may be helpful can be given.
35. Denials have an erasive or dissolving tendency.
Affirmations build up, and give strength and courage and
power. Persons who remember vividly, and are inclined to
dwell in their thoughts on the pains, sorrows, and troubles
of the past or present, need to deny a great deal; for
denials cleanse the mind and blot out the memory of all
seeming evil and unhappiness, so they become a far away
dream. Again, denials are particularly useful to those who
are hard and intolerant, or aggressively sinful; to those
who, as a result of success have become overconfident,
thinking the human is sufficient in itself for all things;
to the selfish,
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and to any who do not scruple to harm others.
36. Affirmations should be used by the timid and by those
who have a feeling of their own inefficiency; those who
stand in fear of other minds; those who "give in" easily;
those who are subject to anxiety or doubt, and those who
are in positions of responsibility. Persons who are in any
way negative or passive need to use affirmations more; the
ones who are self-confident or unforgiving, need denials
more.
37. Deny the appearance of evil; affirm good. Deny
weakness; affirm strength. Deny undesirable conditions, and
affirm the good you desire. This is what Jesus meant when
He said, "All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for,
believe [or claim and affirm] that ye have received them,
and ye shall have them" (Mk. 11:24). This is what is meant
by the promise: "Every place that the sole of your foot
shall tread upon [or that you stand squarely or firmly
upon], to you have I given it" (Josh. 1:3).
38. Practice these denials and affirmations silently in the
street, in the car, when you are wakeful during the night,
anywhere, everywhere, and they will give you a new, and, to
you, a strange, mastery over external things and over
yourself. If there comes a moment when you are in doubt as
to what to do, stand still and affirm, "God in me is
infinite wisdom; I know just what to do." "For I will give
you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall
not be able to withstand or to gainsay" (Lk. 21:15). Do not
get flustered or anxious, but depend fully and trustingly
on your principle,
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and you will be surprised at the sudden inspiration that
will come to you as the mode of procedure.
39. So always this principle will work in the solution of
all life's problems--I care not what the form of detail
is--to free us, God's children, from all undesirable
conditions, and to bring good into our lives, if we will
take up the simple rules and use them faithfully, until
they lead us into such realization of our Godhood that we
need no longer consciously depend on them.
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