expanding their desires or crossing off desires that no longer appealed to them.
Then each week the class members brought these listed desires to class. No one ever saw these individual lists except each student. We began each class period by privately taking our lists in hand and verbally declaring together concerning them: I am the rich child of a loving Father. All that the Father has is mine to share and to experience. Divine Intelligence is now showing me how to claim my own God-given wealth, health and happiness. Divine Intelligence is even now opening the way for my immediate blessings. I have faith that all that is mine by divine right now comes to me in rich abundance. My rich blessings do not interfere with anyone else’s good, since God’s rich substance is unlimited and everywhere for all to use. There is no delay! That which is not for my highest good now fades from me and I no longer desire it. My God-given desires are richly fulfilled now in God’s own wonderful way.
The students were also instructed to spend at least 15 minutes a day pouring their verbal prayers and blessings (which we will talk about in the sixth chapter) upon their listed desires, and daily to work on their lists, revising, changing, expanding them. They were asked to do very definite things, such as listing the amount of money they wished to make for the day, week or month. They were also asked to place a time limit and definite dates by which they wished the fulfillment of their desires. They were further instructed not to wonder, doubt or question how their rich good was to be fulfilled, but they were to stay busy putting the creative laws of prosperity into action in these simple ways. The results they attained were fabulous and I have received letters from people all over the world who read of this creative method of prosperity, and who tried it, with similar prosperous results! As the group worked with their lists, revising and changing them, we often affirmed the words of Goethe, “What you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” We often declared, What we can conceive, we can achieve with the help of God. And we often reminded ourselves of this truth: Every obstacle rushes to get out of the way of the man who knows where he is going; and all the world seems on the side of the man who tries to rise. There seems to be almost magical power in thinking of one’s desires, expressing them constructively by writing them down, stating the time by which one wishes their fulfillment, and then praying that God’s good will be done in the matter. Does it sound too simple to work? Great truths and powerful secrets often appear simple. So simple, in fact, that the average person overlooks them in trying to find a more difficult way.
Write a Letter to God
One businesswoman invoked the creative method of prosperity in a slightly different way. At the first of the year, instead of making a lot of New Year’s resolutions, she wrote a letter to God in which she honestly listed all of her desires for the New Year. She then placed the sealed letter in her Bible. Toward the end of the year, she showed me that letter, which had specifically listed many things. All of the big desires she had expressed had been fulfilled: She was widowed and had expressed a desire to marry happily again. Toward the end of the year, I performed a private wedding ceremony for her and the bridegroom, whom she had met through friends after writing out that desire. She also had stated in the letter her desire for a better home.
The bridegroom gave it to her! Her other big desire had been for a better job. In the middle of the year, that too had come forth as a pleasant, satisfying, higher-paying position. But I must caution you: Be honest with yourself when you write out your desires. Express, as did this woman, your really deep feelings. Don’t write out what somebody else wants for you, or what you think you should desire. Be honest with yourself and your Maker, if you really want happy results.
I know of another businesswoman who wrote a similar letter to God at the first of the year, but instead of writing out her deep and big desires, she listed in a lukewarm, half-hearted way some of her surface and smaller desires. The things really gnawing at her heart were not even mentioned. And nothing happened. Because she had kept her really deep desires locked within her, there had been no opened channel through which God’s substance could pour forth its rich good for her. A loving Father always wants you to have better than the best that you are now experiencing. Because “the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” if you wish God’s help in experiencing it, the least you can do is to be honest with Him and with yourself. Otherwise, you block any possibility of fulfillment.
Perhaps you are thinking, “Yes . . . but what if my desires are not of the highest? Should I still be honest and list them?’ Certainly, because by being honest, you are releasing them instead of suppressing them; and as you release and face them, a loving Father can help you readjust them for good. I have observed this principle work in counseling people who wanted spiritual help, but who would perhaps feel that their problem was embarrassing or shocking. They would speak of their lesser problems, but would keep the thing which was really bothering them tight within them. It was only when they got at the heart of their problems that the answer and divine solution could come forth.
Make a Daily List
The creative method of writing out one’s desires proved so effective for a friend who has a modeling school that she recorded on tape specific instructions about making lists, revising them daily, etc. She plays that tape as a part of her modeling school course of instruction. The result? Scores of her students have obtained jobs of their choice in fashion modeling as well as in television and radio work, after faithfully making specific lists of the work they desired, the pay they desired, the hours they wanted to work and the working conditions they hoped for. Another simple but effective way of invoking the creative law of prosperity is by beginning and ending your day making notes and lists. In the morning I always sit quietly for a few minutes, often with a cup of coffee, while I think of my day and the many big and little things I wish to see accomplished by myself and others. I make lists of those desired accomplishments. It takes only a few minutes, which is time well spent, because I then feel in control of my day. I usually write a note of thanks to God at the end of that list for the “divine fulfillment and the divine achievements.” It is amazing how many things are taken care of for me, without my doing anything more than listing them and giving thanks for their divine fulfillment.
In like manner, at the end of the day I take another few minutes, go back over the day and write “thank you” notes to God for the blessings received and the good accomplished. I usually also begin thinking of the following day and make some notes concerning its perfect fulfillment. It seems to assure me of a peaceful mind and a restful night. I have found this practice of making morning and evening lists so satisfying and enlightening–because there are always more blessings to list than expected–that I now feel something is amiss if I do not observe this daily ritual. Things rarely go wrong in my day if I stick to my list-making.
Many People Use This Method
In case this list-making technique is beginning to sound slightly trivial to you, let me assure you that it is a success technique used by a number of successful people–more than most of us realize because they do not advertise their success secrets. Two prominent engineers have confidentially shown me little books that they keep in an inside coat pocket, which they take out when things become hectic during their business day, and in which they quickly make notations of the way they wish things to work out. No one suspects what they are doing, and so in the midst of people all around them, they quickly gain control of the various problems that confront them with their list-making.
Recently a mother in one of my classes asked her son who is a young business executive about a special course of instruction that he was currently studying with his company. He explained that he had been instructed to use a new psychological technique in solving his executive problems. This course had taught him that the proper modem method for solving problems was to sit down quietly, write out the problem, write out what he considered the highest and best solution, then tear up his notes and relax, knowing that his solution or something better would work out, since he had been able to work out a possible solution in his mind and on paper! This executive was quite surprised when his mother informed him she had been using that method for many months, having learned it at our study class.
A doctor’s financial income was boosted considerably within a few weeks after he began to