One reason many of us don't get what we want is that in our hearts we don't really believe that we deserve it. It's not enough to want it. You have to believe that you really deserve it. And to believe means to be alive to that reality that you want to experience. Until you are alive to it, you cannot experience it. I'm not talking about blind belief or some mental assent to an idea or desire. Belief consists of two important components: One is feeling, and the other is creative imagination. And these are the same components of prayer. True belief equates with true prayer.
When you want something, but you judge according to appearances, then you don't get it. Suppose you pray, "O God, I want to be healthy." And yet you keep focusing on the lack of health. If you keep focusing on the condition you want to overcome, you will continue to be overcome by the condition.
For prayer to be effective, we must understand the relationship between the conscious and the subconscious. The subconscious could be called the feeling nature. The conscious equates with will, or reason, or thought. If there is a conflict between what you want and what you perceive to be happening on the outer level, which do you think will dominate? Your sense- perception will dominate! So long as you say, "I'm sick, but I'd like to be well," you have a conflict. If you want to be well, why do you focus on what you don't want? Because you don't understand the relationship between the conscious and subconscious. Any suggestions you give the subconscious are what it responds to. Any suggestions in the subconscious that you now want to eliminate can be overcome by giving positive suggestions to replace the limiting ones. Once positive suggestions take root in the subconscious, then that which is hidden
(the positive) is revealed. It is the Father in me that doeth the works-the inner consciousness in me that doeth the works. That's how prayer works!
