“你向他祷告，他就听你。你也要还你的愿。你定意要作何事，就必然给你成就。亮光也必照耀你的路。”约伯记22:27,28
Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he will hear thee; And thou shalt pay thy vows, Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee; and light shall shine upon thy ways -- Job 22:27,28.
1. 大多数人起初自觉地寻求更高、更完满的属灵知识之时，都是因为他们对当前的生活状态感到不满，或者更恰当地说，感到不如意。人类心灵天生就认为，到了某个时候，它所渴望的东西总是能够实现和满足。这种想法仅仅是真理的预兆。
1. Most persons, when they first consciously set out to gain a fuller, higher knowledge of spiritual things, do so because of dissatisfaction -- or perhaps unsatisfaction would be the better word -- with their present conditions of life. Inherent in the human mind is the thought that somewhere, somehow, it ought to be able to bring to itself that which it desires and which would satisfy. This thought is but the foreshadowing of that which really is
2. 据说，我们的愿望展现出我们相应的能力。
雄心勃勃地想要登上山顶的人，
表明他相信自己有这种能力。
既然他显示出这种信心，
他就不能忽视自己[登上山顶]的能力。
——无名氏2. Our wishes, it is said, do measure just
Our capabilities, Who with his might
Aspires unto the mountain's upper height,
Holds in that aspiration a great trust
To be filled, a warrant that he must
Not disregard, a strength to reach the height
To which his hopes have taken flight.
-- Author Unknown
3. 我们感到的渴望仅仅是我们心中的上帝在推动我们，他无限地渴望充满我们。这仅仅是需求法则的一个方面，另外一面则是永恒不变的诺言：“凡你们祷告祈求的，无论是甚么，只要信是得着的，就必得着。”（马太福音11:24）。供给始终等于需求，但在供给之前，必须首先有需求。
3. The hunger that we feel is but the prompting of the Divine within us, which longs with an infinite longing to fill us. It is but one side of the law of demand and supply, the other side of which is unchangeable, unfailing, the promise: "All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:24). The supply is always equal to the demand, but there must first be a demand before supply is of use.
4. 我们可以达到下面这种境界：知道自己不再需要做任何事情，因为我们意识到圣灵已经满足了我们所有的愿望。我们只要保持安静，知道我们已经拥有了自己渴望的全部东西。知道或认识到这点以后，我们就有力量让不可见的上帝（或善）——万物最内在的本质——在我们所渴望的可见之善中彰显出来。
4. There is, attainable by us, a place where we can see that our doing can cease, because we realize that Spirit is the fulfillment of all our desires. We simply get still and know that all things whatsoever we desire are ours already; and this knowing it, or recognizing it, has power to bring the invisible God (or good) -- the innermost substance of all things -- forth into just the visible form of good that we want.
5. 但是，为了获得这种力量，我们必须坚定地、真诚地、充满信心地采取若干初步措施，尽管这些步骤乍看上去似乎对我们毫无用处，就像例行公事的教士所奉行的宗教典礼和仪式那样空洞无物。
5. But in order to attain this place of power, we must take the preliminary steps, faithfully, earnestly, trustingly, though these steps at first glance seem to us useless and as empty as do the ceremonial forms and religious observance of the ritualistic churchman.
6. 肯定就是明确地宣称的确如此，即便面对所有相反的证据也毫不动摇。对于所有人类推理或观点都觉得绝不真实的事物，我们可能无法单单通过肯定其真实性而促使这件事物产生。但是，我们每个人都可以在生活中迫使自己放弃所有徒劳无益的诡辩，着手证明真理的法则。
6. To affirm anything is to assert positively that it is so, even in the face of all contrary evidence. We may not be able to see how, by our simply affirming a thing to be true, a thing that to all human reasoning or sight does not seem to be true at all, we can bring this thing to pass; but we can compel ourselves to cease all futile quibbling and go to work to prove the rule, each one in his own life.
7. 我们周围和内心中的美善，就是我们可能会渴望——甚至远远地超越了我们的渴望——的每种美好之物的本质。因为“神为爱他的人所预备的，是眼睛未曾看见，耳朵未曾听见，人心也未曾想到的。”（哥林多前书2:9 ）
7. The beautiful Presence all about us and within us is the substance of every good that we can possibly desire -- aye, infinitely more than we are capable of desiring; for "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 Cor. 2:9 A.V.).
8. 在某种程度上来说，这很难用言语来表达，因为属灵的真理有时是言语无法描述的，但它们仍然是绝对无误的不变法则，准确而可靠。我们的信仰之道有能力确保我们日常生活中的所有事情都能处理得圆满无虞。
8. In some way, which is not easy to put into words -- for spiritual words cannot always be compassed in words, and yet they are none the less infallible, immutable laws that work with precision and certainty -- there is power in our word of faith to bring all things right into our everyday life.
9. 我们会传讲道，满怀信心地确信它，但我们却没有“成就”神的道，或者将它彰显出来。“你定意要作何事，都必然给你成就”（约伯记22:28）。所以，如果我们坚定不移，定意要做某事，我们就能藉着上帝自身确立的不变法则来成就和实现它。
9. We speak the word, we confidently affirm, but we have nothing to do with the "establishing" of the word, or bringing it to pass. "Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee" (Job 22:28). So if we decree or affirm unwaveringly, steadfastly, we hold God by His own unalterable laws to do the establishing or fulfilling.
10. 认真研究过属灵原则的人们发现，他们不仅能够否认表面邪恶的真实性和力量并摆脱它的辖制，也能够坚持不懈地确信可欲之善已然存在，从而在生活中得到它。在起初教导初学者时，否定和肯定都很重要。此后，他们自身的经历和内在导师会带领他们理解上帝的律法，他们因而很容易去遵守那些起初看似难以遵守的简单律法。
10. They who have carefully studied spiritual laws find that, besides denying the reality and power of apparent evil, which denying frees them from it, they also can bring any desired good into their lives by persistently affirming it is there already. In the first instructions given to students, the denials and affirmations take a large place. Later on, their own personal experiences and inward guidance lead them to an understanding of divine law that makes it easy for them to follow simple rules which at first seemed difficult.
11. 我们的心灵需要反复地练习这种否定或肯定，因为它长久地生活在错误和虚假的信念之中。需要不断地重复真理，通过这种方式来给它换上新衣。
11. The saying over and over of any denial or affirmation is a necessary training of the mind that has lived so long in error and false belief that it needs this constant repetition of Truth to unclothe it and to clothe it anew.
12. 我们如何去否定，也应该如何去肯定。真理有4-5个笼统的肯定断言，它们涵盖了许多次要的真理，并能奇妙地做工，给我们自身和他人带来益处。
12. As it is with the denials, so with the affirmations. There are four or five sweeping affirmations of Truth that cover a multitude of lesser ones, and which do marvelous work in bringing good to ourselves and to others.
13. 第一：神是生命、爱、智慧和实体，它无所不能，无所不知，无所不在。
13. First: God is life, love, intelligence, substance, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence.
14. 在第二课“存在的陈述”中，我们学习过这些观念。当你重复这个断言时，请记住，生活、爱、智慧、力量或宇宙中的真实存在，只是通过某种形式将上帝在特定程度——或者说，特定数量——上彰显出来。当你说神无所不在、无所不能、无所不知的时候，要努力思考它的涵义。
14. These ideas you learned in the second lesson -- "Statement of Being." As you repeat the affirmation, please remember that every particle of life, love, intelligence, power, or of real substance in the universe, is simply a certain degree, or, so to speak, a quantity of God made manifest or visible through a form. Try to think what it means when you say that God is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient.
15. 上帝是无处不在的（普遍存在的），是至善的。那么，为什么要害怕邪恶呢？祂是无所不能的（全能的）。那么，有什么其他力量能够胜过祂呢？
15. God is omnipresence (everywhere present), and God is good. Then why fear evil? He is omnipotent (all powerful). Then what other power can prevail?
16. 既然上帝无所不能，无所不在，那就应该永远摒弃有关负面力量和邪恶（魔鬼）的传统教导。它们随时都可能妨碍上帝的计划，并对你造成伤害。
16. Since God is omnipotence and omnipresence, put aside forever your traditional teaching of an adverse power, evil (Devil), that may at any moment thwart the plans of God and bring harm to you.
17. 不要让你周围的表面邪恶搅扰到你；要在面对它们之时，坚定不移地确信上帝与善是无所不在的。这样做时，你会看到邪恶将逐渐消失，就像黑暗在光明面前消失或露珠在朝阳面前消失那样，随后，善会降临。
17. Do not disturb yourself about appearance of evil all about you; but in the very presence of what seems evil stand true and unwavering in affirming that God, the good is omnipresent. By so doing, you will see the seeming evil melt away as the darkness before the light or as the dew before the morning sun, and good come to take its place.
18. 第二：我是上帝的孩子或化身，祂的生命、爱情、智慧和力量每时每刻都流淌到我的心中，并通过我向世界彰显出来。我与神是合一的，并服从祂的律法。
18. 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.
19. 记住，当你重复这个断言的时候，任何东西——任何情况，任何人或人群——都绝不可能妨碍你与生命、智慧或力量的源头合二为一。这就是“与基督（你生命最内在的基督或圣灵）一同藏在神里面”（歌罗西书3:3）。除非你不知道如何接受神的恩赐，或者你不愿接受神的恩赐，否则没有任何东西能阻止你获得无限的恩赐。
19. Remember while repeating this affirmation that nothing -- no circumstance, no person or set of persons -- can by any possibility interpose between you and the Source of your life, wisdom, or power. It is all "hid with Christ [the innermost Christ or Spirit of your being] in God" (Col. 3:3). Nothing but your own ignorance of how to receive, or your willfulness, can hinder your having unlimited supply.
20. 无论你看似多么无力、软弱或无能，你的眼睛和意念都不要关注表象，而要向内关注你生命深处的泉水，平静、从容而坚定地说：“这种表面的软弱是虚假的；神将自身彰显为生命、智慧和力量，现在它正流淌到我的全部生命之中，并通过我流淌给世界。”如果你认识到这番话的力量，你就会看到它给你带来的奇妙变化。
20. No matter how sick or weak or inefficient you seem to be, take your eyes and thoughts right off the seeming, and turn them within to the central fountain there, and say calmly, quietly, but with steadfast assurance: "This appearance of weakness is false; God, manifest as life, wisdom, and power is now flowing into my entire being and out through me to the external." You will see a marvelous change wrought in yourself by the realization that this spoken word will bring to you.
21. 你无法通过强求或肯定来丝毫改变上帝对你的态度。你只能改变自己对祂的态度。通过这种肯定，你让自己顺服于上帝的律法，而这种律法永远对你有益无害，不会伤害或惩罚你。
21. You do not change God's attitude toward you one iota by either importuning or affirming. You only change your attitude toward Him. By thus affirming, you put yourself in harmony with divine law, which is always working toward your good and never toward your harm or punishment.
22. 第三：我是完满的、圣洁的、和谐的圣灵。没有任何东西可以伤害我，或者让我感到不适或害怕，因为圣灵就是上帝，而上帝不可能感到不适或害怕，也不可能受到伤害。现在，我通过这个身体彰显出了真实的自我。
22. Third: I am Spirit, perfect, holy, 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.
23. 第四：上帝引导我乐意按照祂的旨意行事，祂不会失败。
23. Fourth: God works in me to will and to do whatsoever He wishes me to do, and He cannot fail.
24. 我们确信神的心意会引导我们的意愿和行为，引导我们仅仅全心向善；祂——我们心中的父——会亲自做工，因此不可能失败。无论我们将什么全心全意地交托给父，并确信它能成就，我们就必然看到它得以成就。这就是四个笼统的肯定断言。
24. Our affirming His mind working both to will and to do, makes us will only the good; and He, the very Father in us, does the works, hence there can be no failure. Whatsoever we fully commit to the Father to do, and affirm it is done, we shall see accomplished. These, then, are the four comprehensive affirmations.
25. 第一：神是生命、爱、智慧和实体，它无所不能，无所不知，无所不在。
25. First: God is life, love, intelligence, substance, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence.
26. 第二：我是上帝的孩子或化身，祂的生命、爱情、智慧和力量每时每刻都流淌到我的心中，并通过我向世界彰显出来。我与神是合一的，并服从他的律法。
26. 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.
27. 第三：我是完满的、圣洁的、和谐的圣灵。没有任何东西可以伤害我，或者让我感到不适或害怕，因为圣灵就是上帝，而上帝不可能感到不适或害怕，也不可能受到伤害。现在，我通过这个身体彰显出了真实的自我。
27. Third: I am Spirit, perfect, holy, 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.
28. 第四：上帝引导我乐意按照祂的旨意行事，祂不会失败。
28. Fourth: God works with me to will and to do whatsoever He wishes me to do, and He cannot fail.
29. 要铭记这些断言，以便你随时随地都能在心中默念这些话语。他们会产生不可思议的力量，救你脱离世人完全爱莫能助的巨大外在压力。这就仿佛是说，当你坚定地宣称你与父神合一的时候，无所不能的爱就会立刻发挥其全部力量，赶紧前来援救你。当它着手帮助你的时候，你可以放弃所有外在的方法和手段，勇敢地说：“成了，我心中的愿望已得满足。”
“你张手，
使有生气的都随愿饱足。”（诗篇146:16）
29. Commit these affirmations to memory, so that you can repeat them in the silence of your own mind in any place and at any time. Strangely, they will act to deliver you out of the greatest external distresses, places where no human help avails. It is as though the moment you assert emphatically your oneness with God the Father, there is instantly set into motion all the power of omnipotent love to rush to your rescue. And when it has undertaken to work for you, you can cease from external ways and means, and boldly claim: "It is done; I have the desires of my heart."
"Thou openest thy hand,
And satisfiest the desire of every living thing" (Psalms 145:16).
30. 事实上，神始终都在我们心中做工，祂可以藉着我们将自身（至善）更充分地彰显出来。我们出于信心的确认，会将我们自觉的人性需求与祂的力量和恩赐联系起来。
30. In reality God is forever in process of movement within us, that He may manifest Himself (all-Good) more fully through us. Our affirming, backed by faith, is the link that connects our conscious human need with His power and supply.
31. 那些从容地确信他们与神联合并获得长子名分的人知道，当他们让这种确信发挥奇妙的力量以后，他们能够完全放弃人为的规划和努力。这种力量已经让病人痊愈，哀哭者喜乐，确实打开过狱门，让囚犯获得自由，而不需要任何人施以援手。
31. They who have claimed their birthright by thus calmly affirming their oneness with God know how free they can be from human planning and effort, after they have called into operation this marvelous power of affirmation. This power has healed the sick, brought joy in place of mourning, literally opened prison doors and bidden the prisoner go free, without the claimants calling for human assistance.
32. 要知道，单单使用这种形式的话语未必对每个人都有用。真正解救我们的方法是：否认表明的邪恶，即便在所有相反的证据面前也要如此，与此同时，确信善始终存在，确定自己能够与上帝无所不能的力量联合来成就诸事，即使没有明显的迹象表明上帝的存在。据我所知，有个人（由于系列无比狡猾的欺骗和阴谋）而离开家人和祖国，流亡了五年之久，但当他单单宣称“上帝是你的盾牌和拯救”之时，所有的大门都为他敞开了，他在一个月之内就与家人团圆，在这个过程中，他或他的朋友都没有做出任何人为的努力。与此形成对照的是，律师们在这五年中所做的最艰辛的努力则完全没有将真理彰显出来，也没能释放这个囚犯。
32. Understand, it is not necessarily the using of just this form of words that has availed in each individual case. It is the denying of apparent evil, and, in spite of all contrary evidence, the affirming of good to be all there is, affirming oneness with God's omnipotent power to accomplish, even when there is no visible sign of His being present, that has wrought the deliverance. In one case within my knowledge, just simply claiming, "God is your defense and deliverance," for a man who had for five years been an exile from home and country (through a series of deceptions and machinations that for depth and subtlety were unparalled) opened all the doors wide and restored the man to his family within a month, without any further human effort on the part of himself or his friends, and this after five years of the most strenuous human efforts of lawyers had failed utterly to bring the truth to light or to release the prisoner.
33. 有些人心态较为稳定，重复运用否认可以给他们带来较好的效果；而对另外某些人来说，则应该少运用否定，多运用肯定。
33. Some minds are so constituted that they get better results from repeated use of denials; others, from using denials less and affirmations more.
34. 要想最有效地消除表面的邪恶并让善彰显出来，其方法因人而异，并没有特定的规则。但此处可以提供若干小小的建议，它们或许不无益处。
34. No definite rules can be laid down as to which will work most effectually in each individual case to eradicate apparent evil and bring the good into manifestation, but some little hint that may be helpful can be given.
35. 否定有消除或毁灭的倾向。肯定则会建立，并给予力量、勇气和动力。记忆力很强并喜欢沉湎于过去或当前的痛苦、悲伤和烦恼中的人，需要多多否定；因为否定能净化心灵，抹除个人对所有表面邪恶和不快的回忆，让它们变成遥远的梦境。同样，对于那些冷酷、褊狭或喜欢作恶的人，或者，由于成功变得过于自信、相信人类自身足以解决各种问题的人，或者，对于那些自私、毫无顾忌地伤害他人的人，否定也尤其有用。
35. Denials have an erasive or dissolving tendency. Affirmations build up, and give strength and courage and power. Persons who remember vividly, and are inclined to dwell in their thoughts on the pains, sorrows, and troubles of the past or present, need to deny a great deal; for denials cleanse the mind and blot out the memory of all seeming evil and unhappiness, so they become a far away dream. Again, denials are particularly useful to those who are hard and intolerant, or aggressively sinful; to those who, as a result of success have become overconfident, thinking the human is sufficient in itself for all things; to the selfish, and to any who do not scruple to harm others.
36. 对于那些胆小和觉得自己无能的人，或者，担心其他人的想法的人，或者，容易“屈服妥协”的人，或者，容易焦虑或怀疑的人，或者，需要承担责任的人，则应该采用肯定断言。那些显得消极被动的人需要多多采用肯定断言，那些自信或无情的人则需要多多采用否定断言。
36. Affirmations should be used by the timid and by those who have a feeling of their own inefficiency; those who stand in fear of other minds; those who "give in" easily; those who are subject to anxiety or doubt, and those who are in positions of responsibility. Persons who are in any way negative or passive need to use affirmations more; the ones who are self-confident or unforgiving, need denials more.
37. 要否定表面的邪恶；肯定善。否定软弱，肯定力量。否定逆境，肯定你所渴望的善。当耶稣说：“凡你们祷告祈求的，无论是甚么，只要信是得着的，就必得着”（马可福音11:24），祂指的就是这个意思。神的应许“凡你们脚掌所踏之地、我都[照着我所应许摩西的话]赐给你们了”（约书亚记1:3）也是这个意思。
37. Deny the appearance of evil; affirm good. Deny weakness; affirm strength. Deny undesirable conditions, and affirm the good you desire. This is what Jesus meant when He said, "All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe [or claim and affirm] that ye have received them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:24). This is what is meant by the promise: "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon [or that you stand squarely or firmly upon], to you have I given it" (Josh. 1:3).
38. 要随时随地默默练习这种否定和肯定，大街上、车上或晚上醒着的时候都可以练习。他们会赐予你新奇的能力，让你能够主宰外在事物以及你自己。如果你有时候不知道应该做什么，那就站着不动，肯定地说：“我心中的上帝具有无穷的智慧，我知道该怎么做。”“因为我必赐你们口才智慧、是你们一切敌人所敌不住，驳不倒的”（路加福音21:15）。不要慌乱或焦虑，而要充分信靠你的原则，然后你会惊喜地发现，灵感会自然而然地不期而至。
38. Practice these denials and affirmations silently in the street, in the car, when you are wakeful during the night, anywhere, everywhere, and they will give you a new, and, to you, a strange, mastery over external things and over yourself. If there comes a moment when you are in doubt as to what to do, stand still and affirm, "God in me is infinite wisdom; I know just what to do." "For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand or to gainsay" (Luke 21:15). Do not get flustered or anxious, but depend fully and trustingly on your principle, and you will be surprised at the sudden inspiration that will come to you as the mode of procedure.
39. 所以，如果我们接受这些简单原则并真心运用它们，它们就始终会帮助我们解决生活中的所有问题——我不关心其具体形式——以便让我们这些神的儿女摆脱各种逆境，并让我们的人生从中受益，直到最后，它们会带领我们完全认识到我们的神性，让我们不再需要有意识地依赖它们。
39. So always this principle will work in the solution of all life's problems -- I care not what the form of detail is -- to free us, God's children, from all undesirable conditions, and to bring good into our lives, if we will take up the simple rules and use them faithfully, until they lead us into such realization of our Godhood that we need no longer consciously depend on them.
