Are You Manifesting or Praying?  

[00:00:01] Hello and welcome to another episode of Worldwide Wonderful Women. I am your host, Paula Harris, and this podcast is for women who are all about learning how to live in God's divine power. It is produced on behalf of Transformed Worldwide Ministries. Thank you so much for being here. [00:00:39] Hello and blessed Fourth of July celebrations to you and to your family. [00:00:45] This is Episode Number 374 and it's entitled, "Are You Manifesting or Praying?" [00:00:55] Manifesting and praying are not the same. In today's climate, we need to have clarity on what each one means, especially if we are to protect our families from this error. [00:01:08] I wasn't aware that manifesting was so dominant in our culture. It dates back to the 19th century, but recently I read that manifesting is a culture that has been on the rise in recent years, with Google searches of manifesting striking 600% since the beginning of the pandemic. [00:01:34] So online searches relating to manifesting spiked during the lockdown period of COVID 19 and remain strong today. [00:01:46] On Instagram, the hashtags manifest and manifestation now total more than 15 million posts. And on TikTok, they surpass 9 billion. [00:02:02] And social media, especially TikTok and Instagram, is notorious for popularizing the concept of liking a post to manifest your wealth, your love or power. Now you might say, Paula, I don't do social media and I'm not worried about any of that. But you know what, your younger family members are, and it's important for you to have wisdom and understanding regarding prayer and its difference from manifesting. [00:02:36] Now, manifesting is totally different from prayer, and we as believers need to know the difference so that we, our children and others are not deceived by Satan. I did some research and I wanted to be able to understand what was the difference myself. And so now I want to share with you some of that research that I found. [00:03:01] So first of all, what is manifestation? [00:03:05] A short definition of manifestation is that our thoughts can literally create our reality. Now let me give you that short definition again. [00:03:17] Manifestation is that our thoughts can literally create our reality. [00:03:25] Now, in more depth, people practicing manifestation try to will things into existence by their focus and their attention on what they desire. [00:03:38] Sometimes it takes the form of repeatedly writing down a word or phrase that describes their desire, maybe in a journal. [00:03:48] Sometimes it involves candles or crystals to harness some positive energy. [00:03:55] Sometimes it involves saying what they desire out loud as if it's going to already or has already happened, like "I got a job" or "I'm going to get that promotion" or "I am in a loving relationship." [00:04:15] But at Its core manifesting represents the idea of mind over matter, that our thoughts can actually affect the external world; or what you may have heard of the Law of Attraction, that our thoughts determine what we attract, whether it be good or whether it be bad. [00:04:40] Now, manifesting has come to mean that focusing on a goal or desire and believing you can achieve it or have it will make it happen. [00:04:53] So manifesting teaches that positive thoughts and visualization can influence reality and attract success, health and happiness. [00:05:07] It's all about harnessing the power of your mind to create your destiny. [00:05:13] The idea is that through visualization, affirmations and other similar techniques, you can indeed turn your thoughts into reality concerning maybe a future mate, finances, a new job, a bigger house, or whatever. [00:05:35] Now please understand that manifesting can cause harm. [00:05:41] If one embraces this whole thing of manifesting and it doesn't help them to achieve success, it can damage their self esteem and perhaps produce fear, feelings of guilt, shame or depression, making them feel worse about themselves because the results that they're getting is not helping them to achieve what they desired. [00:06:11] Some who support manifesting insist that when something bad happens to someone, it is only because their thoughts summon that result, and so their misfortune only proves that they themselves are flawed. [00:06:30] Furthermore, concerning like finances, they suggest that the reason many people do not become rich is that they don't want it bad enough. [00:06:42] That if they would just focus on manifesting wealth, it would turn them into magnets who can influence the universe and make wealth become attracted to them. [00:06:57] Now if this doesn't work, it's only because the person did not think hard enough to summon the finances and wealth, causing that person to be the one who should absorb the blame and also be defeated. [00:07:16] In the parable of the rich farmer in Luke 12:13-21, Jesus presents a man who had nothing but positive thoughts, visualizations and affirmations for himself. [00:07:33] After he had a bummer crop, the man said, "This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain and I'll say to myself, you have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink and be merry." [00:07:59] So in his thoughts he visualized many future years of success. [00:08:05] Unfortunately, all the visualizations in the world could not change his destiny. Jesus said in verse 20, "But God said to him, you fool, this very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?" [00:08:27] So this teaching of our thoughts can literally create our reality is a false one indeed. It is important to not confuse manifesting with positive affirmations though. [00:08:43] Manifesting is the idea that we can believe a goal into being. That's all it takes. [00:08:52] Affirmations though are positive phrases or statements; like for example, "I am enough" that people can repeat out loud or in their heads with the goal of boosting their confidence and their self esteem. [00:09:10] Such affirmations can help people believe that they can accomplish their goals and then more confidently help them to move forward to take the necessary steps to do so. [00:09:24] This is different from manifesting. The positive affirmations can help a person gain confidence in taking some form of action towards their goals. Manifestation is centered mainly around belief or thoughts to accomplish a goal or desire. [00:09:49] Positive affirmations help a person to be more optimistic versus being pessimistic in taking positive steps to achieve their goal or desire. So positive affirmations are not bad. Focusing on a goal and believing that you can achieve it is also not bad. [00:10:13] But believing that you can just think something into existence without any effort of taking some positive steps of actions, is just foolish. [00:10:26] Now more importantly, it is important not to confuse manifesting with prayer. Please listen carefully so you can know the difference and not be afraid to state positive affirmations of faith when you do pray. [00:10:43] Prayer focuses on humbling ourselves before God and seeking his will, His Divine guidance, His blessing, and his goals for our life. [00:10:58] Manifestation focuses on and emphasizes the individual's will and power to create their own reality or destiny. [00:11:12] Prayer requires us to acknowledge our humble place in God's plan. We can voice our desires, but we must also surrender them to God's will, knowing that he knows what's best. Prayer helps us to see that God's love and understanding of our lives supersedes anything that we may try to will into existence through our own thoughts. [00:11:43] Manifestation, on the other hand, sets an individual up as a Creator through their own thoughts. [00:11:52] But prayer turns over our lives, our plans, our hopes to the Creator Himself and His will. God is in control. We are not, no matter how many positive thoughts we may have. [00:12:11] What audacity for created human beings to think that they can supersede the greatness of God's sovereignty, power, authority, wisdom, trustworthiness and care for his created beings. It takes a lot of guts to believe that any plan that we could think up is going to be better than His. In all of his perfection and in all of his majesty, he knows what is best. [00:12:44] That is why we need to understand this so that we're not deceived. Satan will always try to copy closely what God does, offering a counterfeit to confuse and lead many astray. [00:12:58] Proverbs Chapter 19, verse 21 in the New Living Translation states, "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." So in other words, we can imagine and plan all we want, but God's purpose for us is going to prevail. [00:13:22] Manifesting and prayer both take faith. The difference is that manifesting is faith in one's own imagination or thoughts with really no need of God. [00:13:36] Prayer is faith in God alone, apart from having to have our own selfish will. Because we trust that God sees the past, the present, and the future. In faith, we're dependent upon him to do what is best for us. [00:13:55] Manifesting is a more self-centered practice of focusing on personal power rather than God's. As a child of God, we make numerous positive affirmations of our faith in accordance with our trust in God and His Word. We may repeat, speak aloud, write down, declare and even memorize God's Word. For His Word is true and it contains his promises that we hold onto by faith. The difference is our dependence is upon him and His Word, not our own thoughts or our own words. [00:14:39] John 15:7 states, "If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you." The focus of our faith here is in Jesus and His words, not our own for receiving our desires in prayer. We are bringing our requests to God and trusting him with the outcome instead of relying on the universe or the power within us to make it happen. [00:15:15] The primary danger of manifestation lies in its promotion of self reliance and the belief that we can control our lives independently of God. This is pride, and God resists the proud. Now I don't want God resisting me and I'm sure you don't want that either. So let's humble ourselves and show our dependency upon God by approaching him in prayer. Prayers that acknowledge our Father knows all things, has control of all things, and is able to do all things. Amen. Yes, Amen. [00:16:00] Well have a blessed Independence Day that signifies when the American colonies declared freedom from British rule. [00:16:11] I pray that you can claim your independence from Satan's rule and declare your freedom given to you through the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, please go to our website given at the end of the podcast. [00:16:31] Well, Lord willing, please join me next month; and smile, Jesus loves you! [00:16:42] Thank you for listening. To make sure you do not miss any future episodes, please subscribe to our podcast. We want all to be able to live in God's divine power. Also, sign up for our monthly newsletter on our website--twmforjesus.org. Please do share our podcast with others; and Lord willing, we'll be together next month.