The Law of Belief
All religions of the world represent forms of belief, and these beliefs are explained in many ways. The law of life is belief. What do you believe about yourself, life and the universe? It is done unto you as you believe.
Belief is a thought in your mind, which causes the power of your subconscious to be distributed into all phases of your life according to your thinking habits. You must realize the Bible is not talking about your belief in some ritual, ceremony, form, institution, man or formula. It is talking about belief itself.
The belief of your mind is simply the thought of your mind. If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. Mark 9:23.
It is foolish to believe in something to hurt of harm you. Remember, it is not the thing believed in that hurts or harms you, but the belief or thought in your mind, which creates the result. All your experiences, all your actions, and all the events and circumstances of your life are but the reflections and reactions to your own thought.
Prayer Therapy Is The Combined Function Of The Conscious & Subconscious Mind Scientifically Directed
Prayer therapy is the synchronized, harmonious and intelligent function of the conscious and subconscious levels of mind specifically directed for a definite purpose. In scientific prayer or prayer therapy, you must know what you are doing and why you are doing it. You trust the law of healing. Prayer therapy is sometimes referred to as mental treatment, and another term is scientific prayer.
In prayer therapy you consciously choose a certain idea, mental picture or plan, which you desire to experience. You realize your capacity to convey this idea or mental image to your subconscious by feeling the reality of the state assumed. As you remain faithful in your mental attitude, your prayer will be answered. Prayer therapy is a definite mental action for a definite specific purpose.
Let us suppose that you decide to heal a certain difficulty by prayer therapy. You are aware that your problem or sickness, whatever it may be, must be caused by negative thoughts charged with fear and lodged in your subconscious mind, and that if you can succeed in cleansing your mind of these thoughts, you will get a healing.
You, therefore, turn to the healing power within your own subconscious mind and remind yourself of its infinite power and intelligence and its capacity to heal all conditions. As you dwell on these truths, your fear will begin to dissolve, and the recollection of these truths also corrects the erroneous beliefs. You give thanks for the healing that you know will come and then you keep you mind off the difficulty until you feel guided, after an interval, to pray again. While you are praying, you absolutely refuse to give any power to the negative conditions or to admit for a second that the healing will not come. This attitude of mind brings about the harmonious union of the conscious and subconscious mind, which releases the healing power.
Faith Healing, What It Means, & How Blind Faith Works
What is popularly termed faith healing is not the faith mentioned in the Bible, which means a knowledge of the interaction of the conscious and subconscious mind. A faith healer is one who heals without any real scientific understanding of the powers and forces involved. He may claim that he has a special gift of healing, and the sick person's blind belief in him or his powers may bring results.
The voodoo doctor in South Africa and other parts of the world may heal by incantations, or a person may be healed by touching the so-called bones of saints, or anything else which cause the patients to honestly believe in the method or process.
Any method which cause you to move from fear and worry to faith and expectancy will heal. There are many persons, each of whom claims that because his personal theory produces results, it is, therefore, the correct one. This, as already explained in this chapter, cannot be true.
To illustrate how blind faith works: You will recall our discussion of the Swiss physician, Franz Anton Mesmer. In 1776, he claimed many cures when he stroked diseased bodies with artificial magnets. Later on, he threw away his magnets and evolved the theory of animal magnetism. This he held to be a fluid, which pervades the universe, but is most active in the human organism.
He claimed that his magnetic fluid, which was going forth from him to his patients, healed them. People flocked to him and many wonderful cures were effected.
Mesmer moved to Paris, and while there the Government appointed a commission composed of physicians and members of the Academy of Science, of which Benjamin Franklin was a member, to investigate his cures. The report admitted the leading facts claimed by Mesmer, but held that there was no evidence to prove the correctness of his magnetic fluid theory and said the effects were due to the imagination of the patients.
Soon after this, Mesmer was driven into exile, and died in 1815. Shortly afterwards, Dr Braid of Manchester undertook to show that magnetic fluid had nothing to do with the production of the healings of Dr Mesmer. Dr Braid discovered that patients could be thrown into hypnotic sleep by suggestion, during which many of the well known phenomena ascribed to magnetism by Mesmer could be produced.
You can readily see that all these cures were undoubtedly brought about by the active imagination of the patients together with a powerful suggestion of health to their subconscious minds. All this could be termed blind faith as there was no understanding in those days as to how the cures were brought about.
Subjective Faith & What It Means
You will recall the proposition which need not be repeated at length, that the subjective or subconscious mind of an individual is as amenable to the control of his own conscious or objective mind as it is by the suggestions of another. It follows that whatever may be your objective belief, if you will assume to have faith actively or passively, your subconscious mind will be controlled by the suggestions, and your desire will be fulfilled.
The faith required in mental healings is a purely subj faith, and is attainable upon the cessation of active opposition on the part of the objective or conscious mind.
In the healing of the body it is, of course, desirable to secure the concurrent faith of both the conscious and subconscious mind. However, it is not always essential if you will enter into a state of passivity and receptivity by relaxing the mind and the body and getting into a sleepy state. In this drowsy state your passivity becomes receptive to subjective impression.
Recently, I was asked by a man, “How is it that I got a healing through a minister? I did not believe what he said when he told me that there is no such thing as disease and that matter does not exist.”
This man at first thought his intelligence was being insulted, and he protested against such a palpable absurdity. The explanation is simple. He was quieted by soothing words and told to get into a perfectly passive condition, to say nothing, and think of nothing for the time being. His minister also became passive and affirmed quietly, peacefully and constantly for about one half hour that this man would have perfect health, peace, harmony and wholeness. He felt immense relief and was restored to health.
It is easy to see that his subjective faith had been made manifest by his passivity under treatment and the suggestions of perfect healthfulness by the minister were conveyed to his subconscious mind. The two subjective minds were then en rapport.
The minister was not handicapped by antagonistic autosuggestions of the patient arising from objective doubt of the power of the healer or the correctness of the theory. In this sleepy, drowsy state the conscious mind resistance is reduced to a minimum and results followed. The subconscious
