Affirmative prayer
Encyclopedia
Affirmative prayer is a form of prayer
or a metaphysical
technique that is focused on a positive outcome rather than a negative situation. For example, a person who is experiencing some form of illness would focus the prayer on the desired state of perfect health and affirm this desired intention "as if already happened" rather than identifying the illness and then asking God for help to eliminate it.
spirituality originated during the 1880s and has emphasized affirmative prayer as an essential part of its philosophy. Practitioners among the various New Thought denominations Religious Science
, Divine Science
and Unity
may also refer to this form of prayer
by such names as "scientific prayer," "spiritual mind treatment" or, simply, "treatment."
Within New Thought organizations, centers and churches, the foundational logic of this form of prayer is based on the belief that God is unlimited and plays no favorites, that God has created spiritual laws that are both as mysterious and as constant as scientific principles like gravity, and thus, if one's prayer is correctly and diligently focused, it will be answered consistently.
and Myrtle Fillmore
in 1889.
and the New Thought Movement, by the 1920s they were referring to their study by the term Jewish Science
. A major figure in this movement was Morris Lichtenstein
who together with his wife Tehilla Lichtenstein, published the Jewish Science Interpreter, a periodical featuring much of his own writing. Lichtenstein found affirmative prayer to be particularly useful because, he believed that it provided the personal benefits of prayer without requiring the belief in a supernatural God who could suspend the laws of nature. Lichtenstein considered that affirmative prayer is a method that can access inner power that could be considered divine, but not supernatural. He taught that the origins of affirmative prayer can be found in the Old Testament
book of Psalms
, and that affirmations, or affirmative prayer is best offered in silence.
popularized the power of affirmative prayer. After the death of her husband Robert Wilcox, she wrote that she had tried in vain to communicate with his spirit, but only after she composed and recited the affirmative prayer, "I am the living witness: The dead live: And they speak through us and to us: And I am the voice that gives this glorious truth to the suffering world: I am ready, God: I am ready, Christ: I am ready, Robert" was she able to contact him by means of a Ouija board
, an event she described in her 1918 autobiograhy, The Worlds and I.
hoodoo, usually in conjunction with its opposite, which is called a prayer of removal. In this folk magic application of the technique, the prayer of removal may be said during a waning moon or at sunset
or at ebb tide
("As the sun goes down, this disease is removed from my body") and the affirmative payer may be said during a waxing moon, at dawn
, or at high tide
("As the sun rises, this day brings me perfect health").
The explanation for this application of affirmative prayer is that God has ordained laws of natural inflow and outflow, and that by linking one's prayer to a natural condition that prevails at the time, the prayer is given the added power of God's planned natural event.
described affirmative prayer as an element of the American metaphysical healing movement that he called the "mind-cure"; he described it as America's "only decidedly original contribution to the systemic philosophy of life."
What sets affirmative prayer apart from secular affirmations of the autosuggestion
type taught by the 19th century self-help
author Émile Coué
(whose most famous affirmation was "Every day in every way, I am getting better and better") is that affirmative prayer addresses the practitioner to God, the Divine, the Creative Mind, emphasizing the seemingly practical aspects of religious belief.
Some members of the self-help and self-improvement movements advocate affirmative prayer in addition to or instead of secular affirmations. The choice is largely an individual one, based on the beliefs of the practitioner.
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
or a metaphysical
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
technique that is focused on a positive outcome rather than a negative situation. For example, a person who is experiencing some form of illness would focus the prayer on the desired state of perfect health and affirm this desired intention "as if already happened" rather than identifying the illness and then asking God for help to eliminate it.
New Thought
New ThoughtNew Thought
New Thought promotes the ideas that "Infinite Intelligence" or "God" is ubiquitous, spirit is the totality of real things, true human selfhood is divine, divine thought is a force for good, sickness originates in the mind, and "right thinking" has a healing effect.Although New Thought is neither...
spirituality originated during the 1880s and has emphasized affirmative prayer as an essential part of its philosophy. Practitioners among the various New Thought denominations Religious Science
Religious Science
Religious Science, also known as Science of Mind, was established in 1927 by Ernest Holmes and is a spiritual, philosophical and metaphysical religious movement within the New Thought movement. In general, the term "Science of Mind" applies to the teachings, while the term "Religious Science"...
, Divine Science
Divine Science
The Church of Divine Science is a religious movement within the wider New Thought movement. The group was founded originally in San Francisco in the 1880s under Malinda Cramer...
and Unity
Unity Church
Unity, known informally as Unity Church, is a religious movement within the wider New Thought movement and is best known to many through its Daily Word devotional publication...
may also refer to this form of prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
by such names as "scientific prayer," "spiritual mind treatment" or, simply, "treatment."
Within New Thought organizations, centers and churches, the foundational logic of this form of prayer is based on the belief that God is unlimited and plays no favorites, that God has created spiritual laws that are both as mysterious and as constant as scientific principles like gravity, and thus, if one's prayer is correctly and diligently focused, it will be answered consistently.
Religious Science, Divine Science, and Unity
Affirmative prayer with a Christian theme is a central practice of the loosely organized, decentralized Unity School of Christianity, initially named the Society of Silent Help founded by Charles FillmoreCharles Fillmore (Unity Church)
Charles Sherlock Fillmore , born in St. Cloud, Minnesota, founded Unity, a church within the New Thought movement, with his wife, Myrtle Page Fillmore, in 1889...
and Myrtle Fillmore
Myrtle Fillmore
Mary Caroline "Myrtle" Page Fillmore was co-founder of Unity, a church within the New Thought movement, along with her husband Charles Fillmore. Prior to that time, she worked as a schoolteacher....
in 1889.
Jewish Science
In the early 1900s, some in the American Jewish community were attracted to the teachings of Christian ScienceChristian Science
Christian Science is a system of thought and practice derived from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy and the Bible. It is practiced by members of The First Church of Christ, Scientist as well as some others who are nonmembers. Its central texts are the Bible and the Christian Science textbook,...
and the New Thought Movement, by the 1920s they were referring to their study by the term Jewish Science
Jewish Science
Jewish Science is a Judaic spiritual movement comparable with the New Thought Movement. Many of its members also attend services at conventional synagogues....
. A major figure in this movement was Morris Lichtenstein
Morris Lichtenstein
Morris Lichtenstein was the founder of the Society of Jewish Science. Born in Lithuania, he later moved to Cincinnati, Ohio where he was ordained by the Reform Hebrew Union College in 1916, becoming the first Eastern European student to ever study at the institution.Lichtenstein served as a Rabbi...
who together with his wife Tehilla Lichtenstein, published the Jewish Science Interpreter, a periodical featuring much of his own writing. Lichtenstein found affirmative prayer to be particularly useful because, he believed that it provided the personal benefits of prayer without requiring the belief in a supernatural God who could suspend the laws of nature. Lichtenstein considered that affirmative prayer is a method that can access inner power that could be considered divine, but not supernatural. He taught that the origins of affirmative prayer can be found in the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
book of Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
, and that affirmations, or affirmative prayer is best offered in silence.
Spiritualism
The well-known Theosophist, Spiritualist, and New Thought poet Ella Wheeler WilcoxElla Wheeler Wilcox
Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet. Her best-known work was Poems of Passion. Her most enduring work was " Soiltude", which contains the lines: "Laugh, and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone"...
popularized the power of affirmative prayer. After the death of her husband Robert Wilcox, she wrote that she had tried in vain to communicate with his spirit, but only after she composed and recited the affirmative prayer, "I am the living witness: The dead live: And they speak through us and to us: And I am the voice that gives this glorious truth to the suffering world: I am ready, God: I am ready, Christ: I am ready, Robert" was she able to contact him by means of a Ouija board
Ouija Board
Ouija Board is a Thoroughbred mare racehorse owned by Edward Stanley, 19th Earl of Derby and trained by Ed Dunlop. In a career spanning four seasons, she won 10 of her 22 races, 7 of them Group 1s, including the Epsom Oaks in 2004 and the Hong Kong Vase in 2005...
, an event she described in her 1918 autobiograhy, The Worlds and I.
In Hoodoo
Affirmative prayer is used by practitioners of African AmericanAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
hoodoo, usually in conjunction with its opposite, which is called a prayer of removal. In this folk magic application of the technique, the prayer of removal may be said during a waning moon or at sunset
Sunset
Sunset or sundown is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon in the west as a result of Earth's rotation.The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment the trailing edge of the Sun's disk disappears below the horizon in the west...
or at ebb tide
Ebb Tide
"Ebb Tide" is a popular song, written in 1953 by the lyricist Carl Sigman and composer Robert Maxwell.-Recordings:* The best-known versions are by Frank Chacksfield & His Orchestra , Vic Damone , Roy Hamilton , Frank Sinatra , The Platters , Lenny Welch and the Righteous Brothers...
("As the sun goes down, this disease is removed from my body") and the affirmative payer may be said during a waxing moon, at dawn
Dawn
Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of the twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the presence of weak sunlight, while the sun itself is still below the horizon...
, or at high tide
High Tide
High Tide was a band formed in 1969 by Tony Hill , Simon House , Peter Pavli and Roger Hadden .-History:...
("As the sun rises, this day brings me perfect health").
The explanation for this application of affirmative prayer is that God has ordained laws of natural inflow and outflow, and that by linking one's prayer to a natural condition that prevails at the time, the prayer is given the added power of God's planned natural event.
Self-help
William JamesWilliam James
William James was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher who was trained as a physician. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and on the philosophy of pragmatism...
described affirmative prayer as an element of the American metaphysical healing movement that he called the "mind-cure"; he described it as America's "only decidedly original contribution to the systemic philosophy of life."
What sets affirmative prayer apart from secular affirmations of the autosuggestion
Autosuggestion
Autosuggestion is a psychological technique that was developed by apothecary Émile Coué from the late 19th century to the early 20th century.-Origins:...
type taught by the 19th century self-help
Self-help
Self-help, or self-improvement, is a self-guided improvement—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. There are many different self-help movements and each has its own focus, techniques, associated beliefs, proponents and in some cases, leaders...
author Émile Coué
Émile Coué
Émile Coué de la Châtaigneraie was a French psychologist and pharmacist who introduced a method of psychotherapy and self-improvement based on optimistic autosuggestion....
(whose most famous affirmation was "Every day in every way, I am getting better and better") is that affirmative prayer addresses the practitioner to God, the Divine, the Creative Mind, emphasizing the seemingly practical aspects of religious belief.
Some members of the self-help and self-improvement movements advocate affirmative prayer in addition to or instead of secular affirmations. The choice is largely an individual one, based on the beliefs of the practitioner.