All through the Bible we are told not to be anxious, not to be fearful, not to hoard or save, because an invincible, invisible power is at man's command to supply every need. But we were told that it would not work unless we believed in it. "If thou canst believe in this God Power, all things are then possible." It is difficult for man to believe in this power, because he has had a right training in unbelief. "I'll believe only what I can see," was supposed to be the height of wisdom. We lived in a world of externals, where we thought everything "just happened." We did not know that back of every happening was a cause, that we, ourselves, started in motion the machinery which produced good or evil in our pathway.
We did not know that words and thoughts are a form of dynamite, and should be handled carefully, with wisdom and understanding. We hurled out into the ethers, words of anger, resentment or self-pity, then wondered why life was so hard.
Why not experiment with faith; trust this invisible God-Power and "In nothing be anxious," but "In everything by prayer and thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." Could anything be more simple or direct? Anxiety and habit have become habits. The old thought- forms you have built up in the subconscious, hang on like barnacles on an ocean liner. But the ocean liner is put in drydock once in a while to have the barnacles scraped off, so, your mental barnacles will have to go through the same process. The drydock is a big situation.
I know of a woman who had been a coward all her life, particulary about finances. She worried all the time about money. She came into this Truth, realized how she had limited herself, and suddenly made the giant swing into faith. She commenced to trust God and not the external for her supply. She followed her intuitive leads about spending. If any of her clothes made her feel poor, she would discard them at once, getting something new to make her feel rich. She had very little money, but gave one-tenth (a tithe) to good works. She was winding herself up into a new vibration. Very soon, things commenced to change on the external. A woman, on whom she had no claim, who was merely an old friend of her family, left her a thousand dollars. A few months later, another thousand came in. Then a big door opened for her supply and many thousands came in. She had tapped her invisible supply from the Bank of the Universal. She had looked to God only for her supply, then the channels opened. The point I am bringing out is, that she had lost all anxiety about money matters. She had established in her subconscious, the firm conviction, that her supply came from God, and it never failed.
Man is an instrument for Infinite Intelligence to work through. It will express through him as success, happiness, abundance, health and perfect self-expression, unless fear and anxiety make a short circuit.
If we want examples of fearless faith, go to the circus! The circus people perform seemingly impossible feats because they think they can, and see themselves doing it. Faith means that you can see yourself receiving all these things that you desire. "I will give to thee the land that thou seest."
You can never do a thing you cannot see yourself doing, or fill a place you cannot see yourself filling—not visualizing, making a mental picture (this is a mental process and often brings wrong and limited results); it must be a spiritual realization, a feeling that you are already there; be in its vibration.
I was very much impressed with the story of a great football player who was the greatest all- round athlete in the world, who trained in a hammock. One day he was lying there drowsing in the sun and the trainer came up to him with tears streaming down his face and said; "Jim, for the love of Mike and your country, won't you get up and out of that hammock and do something?" Jim opened one eye and said; "I was just thinking about that. I was going to send for you." "Good," said the trainer. "What do you want me to do?" "First," said Jim, "I want you to mark off twenty- five feet there on the ground." The trainer did so. "Then what?" said the trainer. "That's all," said Jim, and he closed his eyes and swung happily. After at least five minutes he opened them and looked at the marks for a few seconds and then closed his eyes again. "What's the idea?" yelled the trainer. "What are you doing?" Jim looked at him reproachfully and replied: "I'm practicing the broad jump." He did all his training in a hammock: seeing himself doing the broad jump.
Without the vision my people perish, in lack and limitation. You may work very hard on the external and accomplish nothing, if you are without vision. Vision means to see clearly where you are going. To keep your eye on the goal. All men who have accomplished big things have done this.
James J. Hill, who built the Great Northern Railroad, said before a rail was laid, he heard with his inner ear the rumble of the trains and whistle of the engines. He had many obstacles to overcome, but his vision was so clear, it possessed him. One thing in his favor was that his wife believed in him. It is said that it takes two to make a dream come true.
Henry Ford, speaking of his mother-in-law said she was a fine woman, "She believed in me."
"When two of you agree, it shall be done." If you believe in yourself, others will believe in you. As you believe in yourself and the God-power within, fear and anxiety drop away. You establish the vibration of assurance. This is true of an intuitive person. Every move is made under Divine guidance and he never violates a "hunch," therefore, he is always in his right place at the right time. However, it often takes great courage to follow intuition. It takes a Viking, who is unafraid, to sail in unknown seas. Claude Bragdon says: "To live intuitively is to live fourth-dimensionally." The magic path leads you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. It is invaluable in business.
Never submit a hunch to someone on the reasoning plane. Those who have ears to hear, let them hear their intuitive leads, and give instant obedience.
"Whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee." This is true of each one. But if we have not received all the blessings of life, we have neglected to ask, or have not "asked aright." The Bible is teaching spiritual law and we must study and use it from every angle in order to set the great machinery of asking and receiving in motion. Every machine must be greased and oiled to be kept in good working order. Active faith and expectancy keep the machine of asking and receiving in perfect order. The following are some of the lubricants which keep it working. "When ye pray, believe ye have it." "In nothing be anxious." "Stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord." "Do not limit the Holy One of Israel." Realization is manifestation.
Pray with praise and thanksgiving. Some people pray filled with anger and resentment. A woman wrote to me the other day saying: "I have just had a good talk with God and I told Him just what He ought to do about it." She was in the habit of ordering people around and looked upon God as someone she could bully into doing something for her. God is the Supreme Intelligence within each one of us and we are the channels for It to express Itself. We must be non-resistant, poised and peaceful, expecting our good to come to pass. We are the receivers, God is the Giver, and He must create His own channels. We find there is quite an art in praying aright. God must have right of way, His way, not your way. The moment you make your demand Infinite Intelligence knows the way of fulfillment. If you decide how your prayer shall be answered, you have blocked the divinely designed channel. Then you are apt to say: "I never have my prayers answered." We must acquire a technique and send out a sincere desire, which is a prayer. We are free from all clutch or anxiety when we say: "If this is according to the divine plan, we will receive it, if not, give us its equivalent." Be careful not to force anything not divinely planned.
We must know, that linked with God-power, nothing can defeat us. "God's ways are ingenious, His methods are sure."
Two of the most beautiful Psalms are the twenty-third and the one hundred and twenty-first. Both give one a feeling of absolute security and were written by a man who had experienced the working of spiritual law.
The God within protects, guides and provides when fully trusted. Most people lose what they love most through fear of loss; they take every precaution on the external, not trusting the protection to the "Eye which watches over Israel." Put whatever you love under the law of divine protection.
The most important part of demonstrating is showing fearless faith. "I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight! I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of iron." The Bible is talking about states of consciousness. "The gates of brass" and "bars of iron," are your doubts, fears, resentments and anxieties. The gates of brass and bars of iron are of our own making and come from our own vain imaginings, a belief in evil. There is a story of a herd of wild elephants: they were corralled in an enclosure but the men had no way of keeping them in, so they dug stakes and put a rope all around the enclosure. The elephants thought they could not get out. They could have just walked over the rope and stepped out but they had the illusion that the rope kept them in. This is the way with people: doubt and fear is a rope stretched around their consciousness. It makes it impossible for them to walk out into clear thinking.
Clear vision is like a man with a compass; he knows where he is going. Let intuition be your compass and it will always get you out of the woods. Even a man without a compass, led by intuition, would find his way out of the jungle, or be able to steer a ship at sea. Intuition will tell you to walk over the rope. It is amazing how people have overlooked their most important faculty—intuition. Always on man's pathway is his message or lead. Often our leads seem trivial and silly. A person purely on the intellectual plane would dismiss them at once but the Truth student always has his spiritual ear to the spiritual ground, knowing he is receiving orders from the Infinite. The Bible speaks often of "the still small voice." It is a voice which is not an actual voice, though sometimes actual words are registered on the inner ear.
When we ask for guidance and lay aside the reasoning mind we are tapping the Universal supply of all knowledge; anything necessary for you to know will be revealed to you. Some people are naturally intuitive and are always in contact with Universal Intelligence, but by taking an affirmation we make a conscious contact. Prayer is telephoning to God, and intuition is God telephoning to you. Many people have a "busy wire" when God telephones and they don't get the message. Your wire is "busy" when you are discouraged, angry or resentful. You've heard the expression "I was so mad I couldn't see straight." We might add, "I was so mad I couldn't hear straight." Your negative emotions drown out the voice of intuition.
When you are discouraged, angry, or resentful, is the time to make a statement of Truth, in order to get out of the woods of despair and limitation, for "Whosoever calleth on the name of the Lord shall be delivered!" There is a way out — "Reveal to me the way."
We must stop planning, plotting and scheming and let Infinite Intelligence solve the problem in Its own way. God-power is subtle, silent and irresistible. It levels mountains and fills in valleys and knows no defeat! Our part is to prepare for our blessings and follow our intuitive leads.
We now give Infinite Intelligence right-of-way.
