The Messenger - The Art of Affirmations

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Tuesday, 14 October 2008

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The Art of Affirmations

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Written by Rev. Tom Hagman

To affirm anything
is to assert positively
that a thing is true
despite appearances
to the contrary.

Somewhere within our minds exists the natural urge to bring to ourselves what we desire and what would satisfy us in the best of ways. This natural urge is really the Divine within that urges to fill us. We must come to understand this is true before we can experience success from affirmations.

In Mark 11:24 it is said, “All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” The supply is always equal to the demand, but there must first be a demand.

In Emily Cady’s book, Lessons In Truth, she explains the time will come when we realize “…Spirit is the fulfillment of all of our desires.” With this realization comes the knowledge and wisdom that we can cease doing and realize we can simply be “…still and know that all things whatsoever we desire are ours already; and knowing this has the power to bring God, the invisible good, into the visible form of good that we want.” In order to attain this place of power, there are steps we must take even though these steps may appear to be empty and useless, as if by rote.

To affirm anything is to assert positively that a thing is true despite appearances to the contrary. And, by affirming a thing to be true we can bring this thing to pass. In some way, there is a power in our words to bring a thing into our lives. But, there is a twist to the affirmation process that needs to be considered and to assist each of us in developing effective affirmations.

When we speak the words of affirmation, we must come to understand we have nothing to do with the establishing of the word and bringing it to pass. This “rule” is emphasized in Cady’s material.

We are the vessel through which the invisible becomes visible, and our words are the established pattern for the expressing of the invisible. When we affirm a thing with great feeling, and believe our words to be true with great conviction, we then establish the avenue for the visible expression of our words. The study of spiritual law reveals any desired good can be brought into our lives with persistent affirmations, because the “good” already exists. However, it is important we cleanse the mind of any limited beliefs so our affirmations can express to the fullest, and this is the process of denial.

Cady states, “The saying over and over of any denial or affirmation is a necessary training of a mind that has lived so long in error and false belief it needs this constant repetition of Truth to unclothe it and to clothe it anew.”

As with denials, there are 4 affirmations that have a “cluster” effect, that cover a multitude of lesser affirmations.
First: God is life, love, intelligence, substance, omnipotence (all-powerful), omniscience (all-knowing) and omnipresence (present everywhere).

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.

Third: I am Spirit, perfect, holy, and 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.
Fourth: God works with me to will and to do whatsoever He wishes me to do, and He cannot fail.

Commit these affirmations to memory and repeat them anytime in the silence of your mind. There is no rule telling us which of these affirmations works more effectively, but here is a “hint” that may be of some help. Before making an affirmation, start with a denial first. Denials have an erasive and dissolving power.
Affirmations build up and give strength and courage and power. Denials cleanse the mind and serve to remove from memory all seeming limited, negative thoughts and thoughts of unhappiness. Denials should be used by those who tend to be hard and intolerant, and who have become overconfident, thinking they alone are sufficient for all things.

Affirmations should be used by those who tend to be timid, who lack confidence, and who fear the minds of others. People who give in easily or who are subject to anxiety and self-doubt should use affirmation more often than denial, because affirmations tend to “build-up” a thing, while denials tend to dissolve and break something down.

In Mark 11:24, Jesus said, “All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Affirmations are our prayers; they are what we ask for. Denials cleanse the mind and help us to believe in our prayers. As a team, affirmations and denials bring what you pray for into manifestation.
God does not mean for us to suffer or have lack. These are conditions of our minds that must be removed.

Rev. Tom Hagman is Spiritual Leader for the Unity Church of Riverside, 3730 Elizabeth St - 951-686-9247.

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