Nuggets from Seeking and Finding God—“Faith” in Positive Thinking

And if that can be done, why bother with prayer at all? Why not simply affirm repeatedly what one desires? In fact, that is exactly what many people do, even those who are not at all religious. Positive affirmations play a large part in motivational and success seminars in the business world. If those who follow this practice, however, are willing to be honest with themselves, they must admit that this method is largely unsuccessful—for which we should all be thankful. How frightening it would be, and what chaos would reign, if everyone had the power to impose his or her will on the universe and upon the rest of mankind by affirming personal desires.

It is irrational to believe that affirmations will cause anything to occur in the real world. What is the mechanism or universal law by which someone’s belief or affirmation controls the course of events? The power of one’s own mind? The desire for which one prays or makes affirmations to bend events to one’s will almost inevitably involves factors that affect other people’s lives. Why should one person’s desires be imposed upon others? And what god or force would so readily accommodate individual passions?

Suppose several firmly held beliefs and affirmations of different individuals are in direct conflict with one another, as many of them must inevitably be. What then? Which one will this universal mechanism or law decide cause to occur? And, indeed, how can a mechanism or law decide anything? In fact, an impersonal force or principle cannot make choices or distinctions, so every affirmation would have to be granted.

Here we see a major problem with this theory: if unlimited power were made available to everyone, the result would not be peace and blessing but increased conflict between human egos, resulting in even greater chaos than before. Surely, if answers to prayer are to come, one would hope that a Supreme Intelligence that is just and impartial is in charge of the process.