TURN back to chapter 6 and read again the story of the man who formed a
mental image of his house, and you will get a fair idea of the initial
step toward getting rich. You must form a clear and definite mental
picture of what you want; you cannot transmit an idea unless you have it
yourself.
You must have it before you can give it; and many people fail to impress
Thinking Substance because they have themselves only a vague and misty
concept of the things they want to do, to have, or to become.
It is not enough that you should have a general desire for wealth "to do
good with"; everybody has that desire.
It is not enough that you should have a wish to travel, see things, live
more, etc. Everybody has those desires also. If you were going to send a
wireless message to a friend, you would not send the letters of the
alphabet in their order, and let him construct the message for himself;
nor would you take words at random from the dictionary. You would send a
coherent sentence; one which meant something. When you try to impress
your wants upon Substance, remember that it must be done by a coherent
statement; you must know what you want, and be definite. You can never
get rich, or start the creative power into action, by sending out
unformed longings and vague desires.
Go over your desires just as the man I have described went over his
house; see just what you want, and get a clear mental picture of it as
you wish it to look when you get it.
That clear mental picture you must have continually in mind, as the
sailor has in mind the port toward which he is sailing the ship; you
must keep your face toward it all the time. You must no more lose sight
of it than the steersman loses sight of the compass.
It is not necessary to take exercises in concentration, nor to set apart
special times for prayer and affirmation, nor to "go into the silence,"
nor to do occult stunts of any kind. There things are well enough, but
all you need is to know what you want, and to want it badly enough so
that it will stay in your thoughts.
Spend as much of your leisure time as you can in contemplating your
picture, but no one needs to take exercises to concentrate his mind on a
thing which he really wants; it is the things you do not really care
about which require effort to fix your attention upon them.
And unless you really want to get rich, so that the desire is strong
enough to hold your thoughts directed to the purpose as the magnetic
pole holds the needle of the compass, it will hardly be worth while for
you to try to carry out the instructions given in this book.
The methods herein set forth are for people whose desire for riches is
strong enough to overcome mental laziness and the love of ease, and make
them work.
The more clear and definite you make your picture then, and the more you
dwell upon it, bringing out all its delightful details, the stronger
your desire will be; and the stronger your desire, the easier it will be
to hold your mind fixed upon the picture of what you want.
Something more is necessary, however, than merely to see the picture
clearly. If that is all you do, you are only a dreamer, and will have
little or no power for accomplishment.
Behind your clear vision must be the purpose to realize it; to bring it
out in tangible expression.
And behind this purpose must be an invincible and unwavering FAITH that
the thing is already yours; that it is "at hand" and you have only to
take possession of it.
Live in the new house, mentally, until it takes form around you
physically. In the mental realm, enter at once into full enjoyment of
the things you want.
"Whatsoever things ye ask for when ye pray, believe that ye receive
them, and ye shall have them," said Jesus.
See the things you want as if they were actually around you all the
time; see yourself as owning and using them. Make use of them in
imagination just as you will use them when they are your tangible
possessions. Dwell upon your mental picture until it is clear and
distinct, and then take the Mental Attitude of Ownership toward
everything in that picture. Take possession of it, in mind, in the full
faith that it is actually yours. Hold to this mental ownership; do not
waiver for an instant in the faith that it is real.
And remember what was said in a proceeding chapter about gratitude; be
as thankful for it all the time as you expect to be when it has taken
form. The man who can sincerely thank God for the things which as yet he
owns only in imagination, has real faith. He will get rich; he will
cause the creation of whatsoever he wants.
You do not need to pray repeatedly for things you want; it is not
necessary to tell God about it every day.
"Use not vain repetitions as the heathen do," said Jesus said to his
pupils, "for your Father knoweth the ye have need of these things before
ye ask Him."
Your part is to intelligently formulate your desire for the things which
make for a larger life, and to get these desire arranged into a coherent
whole; and then to impress this Whole Desire upon the Formless
Substance, which has the power and the will to bring you what you want.
You do not make this impression by repeating strings of words; you make
it by holding the vision with unshakable PURPOSE to attain it, and with
steadfast FAITH that you do attain it.
The answer to prayer is not according to your faith while you are
talking, but according to your faith while you are working.
You cannot impress the mind of God by having a special Sabbath day set
apart to tell Him what you want, and the forgetting Him during the rest
of the week. You cannot impress Him by having special hours to go into
your closet and pray, if you then dismiss the matter from your mind
until the hour of prayer comes again.
Oral prayer is well enough, and has its effect, especially upon
yourself, in clarifying your vision and strengthening your faith; but it
is not your oral petitions which get you what you want. In order to get
rich you do not need a "sweet hour of prayer"; you need to "pray without
ceasing." And by prayer I mean holding steadily to your vision, with the
purpose to cause its creation into solid form, and the faith that you
are doing so.
"Believe that ye receive them."
The whole matter turns on receiving, once you have clearly formed your
vision. When you have formed it, it is well to make an oral statement,
addressing the Supreme in reverent prayer; and from that moment you
must, in mind, receive what you ask for. Live in the new house; wear the
fine clothes; ride in the automobile; go on the journey, and confidently
plan for greater journeys. Think and speak of all the things you have
asked for in terms of actual present ownership. Imagine an environment,
and a financial condition exactly as you want them, and live all the
time in that imaginary environment and financial condition. Mind,
however, that you do not do this as a mere dreamer and castle builder;
hold to the FAITH that the imaginary is being realized, and to the
PURPOSE to realize it. Remember that it is faith and purpose in the use
of the imagination which make the difference between the scientist and
the dreamer. And having learned this fact, it is here that you must
learn the proper use of the Will.
