Listen/Download Audio of Affirmations
See: Hannah More Kohaus, The Prayer of Faith
Remember that an affirmation of Truth is more than a request to God to give you something or to do something for you. It is a statement of your faith in God’s perfect though perhaps unmanifest gifts that have already been given you. It is a formal acceptance of His gifts.
An affirmation acknowledges God’s supreme, omnipresent love and power as already in operation for your good. It is a statement of what is true in the kingdom of God and implies, if it does not express it in words, thankfulness for God’s rich blessings received. It proves faith because it acknowledges that the substance of God’s kingdom is abundantly manifesting itself in your world. It acknowledges God’s gifts as being already abundantly received. It fulfills the admonition of Jesus: “All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” And: “Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.”
Take the following example of a Truth affirmation: “God is my health, I can’t be sick.” This affirmation is a definite statement of what is true of God’s creation. God made man and pronounced him good. That is the only man idea that God entertains, and it is the true self of every one of us. When I say, “God is my health, I can’t be sick,” I am calling my attention to the fact that God created only perfect things, a healthy body being included. As I affirm I accept that body from Him. As I repeat such an affirmation I should do so in the spirit of thanksgiving.
The perfect-man idea that God created is the foundation of every man’s being. This perfect idea is present with everyone trying to keep each man’s mind and body in perfect repair, but men have not fully co-operated with their Maker in maintaining this perfect idea. Like the prodigal son, they have gone into a far country, where want and trouble are experienced. By returning to God a man finds the Father waiting to meet him and give him all the good things that were intended for him.
Affirmation helps us to arise and return to our Father’s house. Even though an affirmation does contradict material conditions as they appear to be, it is nevertheless a true statement of conditions as they are in God’s plan. It helps us to bring the true condition into our body. An affirmation helps us to correct the erroneous mental cause back of the unhealthy condition. If an affirmation is spoken without conviction it is like a wish instead of a prayer and lacks vitality.
There are two possible outlooks on life. One is based upon things as they appear to be; the other is based upon what things should be and what they really are when considered in the light of pure, spiritual truth. Our faith provides the substance that makes our spiritual affirmation become tangible. Therefore if we hold steadfastly to the principle of the good that we know as existing in God and in all of His creations, and have faith in the good, we shall build it into our manifest world.
If I repeat the affirmation “God is my health” while at the same time I am thinking how wonderful it would be if God would really become my health, I am making a very weak affirmation. I am expressing a wish instead of sending forth a dynamic prayer. I must put something substantial into my affirmation to make it alive. When I say: “God is my health,” I must know absolutely that I have spoken an eternal truth. I must feel that I have cast the die, that I cannot turn back but must accept my words as final. I then set the divine law into motion, and it will establish health for me. I press the button that starts the machinery of God’s health moving in my body. I must know that there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it; God is my health, and I do not have to figure out how He is going to accomplish His healing work in me. Joyousness then springs up in my heart, because I know that what I have affirmed is indeed true. I have jumped into the ocean of God’s love and I must let it bear me up. I am fearless; I have no other plans but to let God be my health. I make no provisions for failure. I have placed myself in His everlasting arms, and I know that He will care for me.
When I make an affirmation I must stand fast in it. I must not be swayed between faith in God’s power and fear of appearances. Like the Children of Israel caught between Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea I must “stand still, and see the salvation of Jehovah.”
SUGGESTIONS FOR DAILY MEDITATION
SUNDAY: I accept with gratitude the promise that God knows what I need and has given it to me before I ask for it.
MONDAY: I know that God answers prayer, because He has already given me life, intelligence, air, water, and the rich resources of nature in abundant measure.
TUESDAY: “God is my health, I can’t be sick.” Therefore I rejoice and give thanks for a healthy body.
WEDNESDAY: God has created only good things; therefore I am safe in affirming that only the good is true.
THURSDAY: My body is formed according to the divine pattern of perfect man. I insist upon manifesting this true spiritual body that God has given to me.
FRIDAY: I speak the truth with confidence and lo, God blesses me according to my faith.
SATURDAY: I stand confidently still and firm as I see the salvation of my loving, living God always with me.
