That’s an Affirmative

As a Christian, I grew up learning to pray, and prayer has been something constant in my life.  However, it wasn’t until I was diagnosed with cancer that I learned about affirmative prayer.  My neighbor gave me a book of inspirational writings and scripture, and it was here that I first heard about this type of prayer.  Looking into it more, I found out that affirmative prayer is said with the expectation that whatever you need has already been given to you.  I first thought, “Well, that seems a bit presumptuous!”  In fact, it made me downright uncomfortable to be assuming that God would grant me my request rather than asking that He consider it if it was His will.

I continued to look into it further and found that there is a basis for this type of prayer in The Bible:  “So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24).  The key phrase here is “have received,” not “will receive” or “may receive” but “have received.”  If we believe that God already knows our needs, it makes sense that He would not wait for us to identify them to Him.  I also saw yet another example of my mustard seed at work, believing that, with faith, all things are possible.

Wikipedia refers to affirmative prayer as “focusing on a positive outcome rather than a negative situation.”  There’s also the idea that what we put out in the universe comes back to us, whether it’s a smile, kindness, or positive thoughts.  So I changed my prayers to being more affirmative and, for me, I have felt a difference.  I feel more positive and calmer during this life-changing journey I’m on, and I do believe it has played a large role in my healing.  But that’s another story.

Share the strength.

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