Affirmative Prayer is a specific style of prayer developed by our Founder, Ernest Holmes.
It was specifically designed to reiterate and empower our knowledge and faith in the Philosophy of the Science of Mind and as a Spiritual Practice to use as a means of developing the conscious mentality that will elicit the life we desire to have.
Affirmative Prayer is not about asking, beseeching, begging or otherwise placing a request that “might” be answered. Affirmative Prayer is a process by which we remind ourselves of what we know to be true and further convince ourselves to cultivate even greater faith in that knowing.
This form of prayer focusses only on the desired result and not the conditions surrounding it. Because we are cultivating faith in what we wish to know more fully, we speak it as if it were already so. This means all prayer is best expressed when it is spoken in the present tense as if the prayer itself were already “answered” or demonstrated in our lives.
Purpose
When we come to Affirmative Prayer we must first be mindful of what we desire from our prayer. It can be helpful to think of your purpose by asking ourselves, “What do I want God to know and do in my life?” and then speak our prayer as if God were speaking and that the outcome or “answer” to the prayer were already assured.
God Is…
The first step in Affirmative Prayer, known as Recognition, is our opportunity to remind ourselves that we believe in only Oneness. This is where we contemplate and consider what God (or whatever you choose to call your highest power) really is. Because it is everything, we recognize the most important aspects of it as it pertains to the purpose of our prayer.
I am…
The second step in Affirmative Prayer, known as Unification, is our opportunity to contemplate our individuality within the One. We use this time to both remember and feel our unity with it and also to recognize our own individuality within it. This is where we are reminded that we have the authority to speak our Word and know that it is already so.
I know…
The third step in Affirmative Prayer, known as the Declaration or Revelation, is the place where we solidify what we are praying to know. This is where we speak the Truth as we know it, regardless of circumstances, and know that the Universe is saying YES to every claim we make! Again, this is spoken as if it were already done and felt the same way.
I accept…
The fourth step of Affirmative Prayer, known as Acceptance, Giving Thanks or Expressing Gratitude, is where we simply feel that feeling of already knowing that the manifestation or “answer” to the prayer is assured. Imagine that what you prayed for really was already done… then bask in the gratitude. This is how we really embrace the idea that our faith is operating in the prayer and in our lives. This is how we embrace the idea that the outcome exceeds even the feeling of gratitude we have for knowing that it is done.
I release…
The fifth step of Affirmative Prayer, known as Release or Surrender, is where we remind ourselves that, while we have the thought and prayer in our minds and our heart, that the Universal Law is what goes forth to bring it into life. This is where our faith becomes trust. We let it go knowing that the entire Universe, God Itself, Creation or whatever you choose to call your highest power is the one that “Makes it so”. This is how we remember that we are willing to receive rather than willful. We do not “make it happen” but rather create the idea that the Law will act upon.
And so it is!
This is our most common closing phrase for Affirmative Prayer. While it is not necessary to use this phrase you will hear it most often because it was the one used by our founder Ernest Holmes and because it serves as the exclamation point to the idea that this prayer is assured in the Law.
