I’ve been talking with people a lot lately about manifestation, effective affirmations, and prayer. Manifestation is most often used to create an outward change in one’s circumstances. Affirmations are most often used to create a change in one’s inner circumstances. Prayer can be used for either. Each, when done effectively, has a component of making sure all of your different aspects are in alignment; if you’re afraid of success, praying for success isn’t going to get you very far. Each is a request for change. And each has action attached to it, although we may not think so.
Action
Action is how we let the Universe know we mean it. Action is how we maintain our agency. Action is our part of the contract.
This is a Free Will Universe. We get to make choices. We are expected to make choices. Our agency is paramount. Sometimes the Divine may look at our choices and say “well, that wouldn’t have been what I would have chosen for you. Let’s see how that goes. Love you.” Our choices are ours to make. We demonstrate our choices through our actions.
When we act on a choice, we send the information about our choice out into the Universe. Until we act on it, that choice is just a mental construct, a figment of our imagination, a fantasy. Deciding to step forward looks like standing there. Stepping forward is what makes that decision real.
Working in partnership with the Divine means that, as long as we take up the opportunities presented to us, assistance will be there. I still have to take action, though. I can sit at the bottom of my closet and pray for a ham sandwich all I want, but unless I go into the kitchen, I won’t even know if there’s any ham. Also, how many parables do you know of where the Divine made someone a sandwich? Prayer only goes so far. Do what you can, and let the Universe fill in the blanks.
Alignment
Self awareness is very helpful when enlisting help from the Universe. Self awareness helps us bring all our aspects of self into alignment.
When you make an affirmation, there’s going to be a part of you that says “yeah, but…” We always seem to think we can just ignore that, but that’s a bad idea. Write down your affirmation. Write down the argument. Now write down something about that affirmation to counter the argument. Then write down the new argument. Continue that discussion until the argument stops. Now you can go back to your original affirmation.
When you ask the Universe for something, whether through manifestation, affirmation, or prayer, take a moment to investigate if you have any fears attached to that request. Imagine the request fulfilled. Can you see it? Can you feel the physical sensations of the associated emotions in your body? Now work backward from the realized goal, and look at the steps you need to take, the resources you need to have (resources are time, money, people, materials, etc). Does any of that bring up fear? Shine a light on that fear. What is the fear really about? Is there a fear under that fear? Where is the root of the fear? Assessing the fears helps bring all your aspects of self into alignment.
If you’re not in alignment, you are literally fighting yourself.
When you are in alignment, and you are taking action, you may not even need to make a prayer. Your actions themselves become the prayer.
This post is part of a series called Monday Message, based on that day’s reflection from 365 Days to Enlightenment (authorized versions are currently out of print, working on a new edition). Check back next Monday for another one! You can also sign up for the Daily Message on my mailing list if you’d like to receive a new reflection every day. I also often post them to Instagram, if that’s a medium you enjoy.