Manifestation and Prayer
Manifestation is different from prayer. A person prays if he is grateful to God or asks Him for a petition, whereas he manifests to receive or attract something to his life. In other words, manifesting is the tool of bringing a person’s wishes to life by utilizing the power of his mind to attract what he desires.
Manifestation is another term for the new age’s movement term the “Law of Attraction,” which is taught in “The Secret.” Manifestation places all power and control in man and not in God. It means that man’s thoughts and his feelings dictate his life. If a man thinks positively, then good things will happen to him. Manifesting is done by creating the right conditions which include thoughts, feelings and actions whereas praying can be just thinking or talking to God.
Manifestation is inspired by: Hermeticism, New England transcendentalism, and Hinduism. In manifestation, man becomes his own god and the very thing he seeks to manifest becomes his idol. Manifestation is wrong because man doesn’t recognize who is actually in control of his life. In manifestation a person is tempted to be like God (Genesis 3:5). But God is the Sovereign One; He does His own will (Psalm 115:3). Man may make plans, but God’s plans overrule (Proverbs 19:21). Man may design His wishes, but God determines the steps (Proverbs 16:9).
The Law of Attraction
The main principle of the “Law of Attraction” in The Secret, is the ability of faith to change man’s life regardless of his/her religion. It states that every energy attracts its like energy. Every thought emits energy signal out to the universe, then, attracts similar signals back to it. In The Secret, the universe is portrayed as a cosmic genie, who will grant man’s every wish.
In Christianity, God is the Creator of all (Genesis 1; Colossians 1:16). He is the Savior, who sacrificed His life to save man (John 3:16). And if man follows His Creator, he will be given much much more than his temporary dreams could take him (Jeremiah 1:29). God is not just interested in blessing man with riches and earthly prosperity. God ultimately wants to bless man so he may have eternal life and live forever. The Bible tells us that “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Also, although the “Law of Attraction” and the Bible agree in principle on the power of positive thinking and the importance of faith, the Bible shows a code of conduct that is expected from the believer, whereas The Secret does not. The Lord endorses His moral law as the standard of right living (Exodus 20:2-17) and promises to give man the power to keep it (Philippians 4:13).
God’s promises of blessing are conditional upon man’s obedience: “if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth” (Deuteronomy 28:1). The Lord rewards a man according to his actions not mere wishes (Matthew 6:33).
In The Secret, limited man is in charge of his own welfare. He has the power to do all things and the ability to direct his own destiny. To achieve that, he must believe in himself and his abilities because his faith will act as the guiding force. Thus, man not God is the one that creates reality. But creating a reality with eternal blessings is not possible nor logical because man is a finite being (Psalm 103:14). God is the One, who is Almighty. He is the One that can truly utilize all the resources in the universe to bless man not just on earth but also through eternity (Mathew 19:29).
Further, it is impossible for man in his own power to escape from the bondage of sin and to bring forth good fruits because man is sinful by nature (Psalm 51:5). Only when man unites with the infinite God, can he truly become all powerful. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). God originally created man in His image (Genesis 1:26,27) and His desire is to restore man to that state of perfection. And He has made every provision to enable man to overcome every sin (Philippians 4:19).
The law of attraction often uses occult practices such as emptying the mind, higher self visualization, conscious reprogramming, and mantras to achieve its goals. These mystical techniques originated from pagan philosophies. In other words, it originated from the enemy of God who wants to invoke evil spirits to seize control of men and direct their lives away from the truth.
The “Law of Attraction” and “manifestation” are not supported in the Bible. These new age philosophies should be rejected by Christians for they offer deceptive theories created by Satan who mixes truth and error to confuse and deceive those that are not grounded in God’s Word (1 Peter 5:8).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
