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“If ye have faith…nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Matthew 17:20) He removed that one, shuffled expertly through the cards with one hand as he drove, selected another, and placed it under the clip. This one read, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
But if, on the contrary, you mentally visualize and affirm and reaffirm your assets and keep your thoughts on them, emphasizing them to the fullest extent, you will rise out of any difficulty regardless of what it may be. Your inner powers will reassert themselves and, with the help of God, lift you from defeat to victory.
“Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid.”
“If God be for us, who can be against us?”
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
the factor that won the championship, said the writer, was his staying power and the further fact that “he was never defeated by the discouraging vicissitudes of the game.”
“Always take hold of things by the smooth handle.” That is, go at a job or at your difficulty by the use of a method that will encounter the least resistance. Resistance causes friction in mechanics, therefore it is necessary in mechanics to overcome or reduce friction. The negative attitude is a friction approach. That is why negativism develops such great resistance. The positive approach is the “smooth handle” technique.
The last five minutes before going to sleep are of extraordinary importance, for in that brief period the mind is most receptive to suggestion. It tends to absorb the last ideas that are entertained in waking consciousness.
What you “image” (imagine) may ultimately become a fact if held mentally with sufficient faith.
So the process is—empty the mind and cauterize it with God’s grace, then practice filling your mind with faith and you will break the worry habit.
“’The Lord is the strength of my life…in this will I be confident.’
To change your circumstances, first start thinking differently. Do not passively accept unsatisfactory circumstances, but form a picture in your mind of circumstances as they should be. Hold that picture, develop it firmly in all details, believe in it, pray about it, work at it, and you can actualize it according to that mental image emphasized in your positive thinking.
“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive them.” (Matthew 21:22) That means when you pray for something, at the same time visualize what you pray for. Believe that if it is God’s will and is worthwhile, not selfishly sought after, but for human good, that it is at that moment given you.
“God is now giving me success. He is now giving me attainment.”
How right he is. If your eyes are looking down in the mud and you feel a sense of failure, you will create defeat for yourself. Optimistic visualization combined with prayer and faith will inevitably actualize achievement.
Nothing on earth is greater than the human mind in potential power. The average individual is capable of much greater achievement than he has ever realized.
First, quiet your mind so that inspirations may rise from its depths. Believe that God is now helping you. Visualize achievement. Organize your life on a spiritual basis so that God’s principles work within you. Hold firmly in your mind a picture not of failure but of success.
God will not give you any greater blessing than you can believe in. He wants to give you great things, but even He cannot make you take anything greater than you are equipped by faith to receive. “According to your faith (that is, in proportion to) be it unto you.” (Matthew 9:29)
“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.” (I Corinthians 2:9) Believe (in Christ); believe in His system of thought and practice; believe and you will overcome all fear, hate, inferiority, guilt, and every form and manner of defeat.
One of the simplest methods for reducing tension is to practice the easy-does-it attitude. Do everything more slowly, less hectically, and without pressure.
There is a difference between sittin’ and relaxing, and just sittin’. But if you sit and relax and think about God and get yourself in tune with Him and open yourself to the flow of His power, then sittin’ is not laziness; in fact, it is about the best way to renew power. It produces driving energy, the kind of energy you drive, not the kind that drives you.
The simplest and most effective of all prescriptions for heartache then is to practice the presence of God. This will soothe the ache in your heart and ultimately heal the wound.
For my part, when I gained the unshakable belief that there is no death, that all life is indivisible, that the here and hereafter are one, that time and eternity are inseparable, that this is one unobstructed universe, then I found the most satisfying and convincing philosophy of my entire life.
The incident indicates that if there is deep desire, intensity of longing, and a sincere reaching out after the Power that it will be given.
