Shakespeare wrote, “There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.” It is through the law of command that you release this flood-tide of good which has been built up through your list-making and mental images. The prosperity law of command is your key to dominion. The world command means “to have authority or control.” Through an attitude of authority, you can take control of the good which you wish to experience in life. Many people look “up” at life, as though it is a mountain towering over their insignificance. The law of command helps you to move up to the summit and look out over your world with a feeling of authority and control, which then produces like results.
The secret of the law of command is this: A positive assertion of the good you wish to experience is often all that is needed to turn the tide of events to produce good for you swiftly and easily. It’s amazing how fast doors open to us when we dare to take control of a situation and command our high expectations to manifest themselves. But there’s nothing new about the law of command. In Genesis we are told that God created the earth by commanding, Let there be . . . and there was.
Actually the law of command is one of the easiest to use. After having made lists of your desires and after having mentally imaged them as fulfilled, it is then time to release the substance of them into words of decree and command which can move the ethers into action.
What you decree you get, as the Bible promises, for Thou shalt decree a thing and it shall be established unto thee and light shall shine upon thy ways. (Job 22:28)
You Command Through Words
You are now using the law of command because you are constantly making decrees, though often they are the wrong kind of decrees, producing what you do not desire. A businessman recently told me of an acquaintance who had been having trouble with his right arm. Doctors examined it and said there was nothing organically wrong with it. Finally, this man, who knew the power of words, realized that he had been exclaiming, “I’d give my right arm if I could_________.” He stopped using this expression and his arm got well. It was Isaiah who warned us, Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees. (Isaiah 10:1) Our woes can often be traced to our thoughtless remarks.
Once I prayed with a woman who was having trouble with her feet and legs. Her need for healing seemed acute. Her physician told her that he had done everything possible for her. After we began praying, her condition improved, but a complete healing did not seem to come. One day in our prayer time, I said to her, “Now just ask, ‘Father, what is the truth about this situation? What do I need to do to be healed completely?’ “ And she did. In a little while she quietly said:
I have the answer! I recently went into a new business venture and I have not yet made a success of it. I have been foolishly saying, “If only I could get on my feet financially.” I was on my feet physically when I began making that statement, but soon my feet began giving me trouble. My subconscious mind must have taken my words seriously and got me off my feet, which is what I was decreeing through my idle words.
She then declared, “I am going to change that statement and declare that I am financially secure; that I am on my feet financially.” Soon she was, both physically and financially! I know of a woman who is quite deaf in one ear. She constantly declares concerning anything she does not wish to hear about, “I’m going to turn a deaf ear to that.”
Students of the mind have always been taught the power of words. The spiritual leaders of Egypt, India, Persia, China and Tibet all taught their students to speak only when they had something constructive to say. Knowing the danger of idle talk, they set up a standard to determine whether it was wise to say a thing: “Is it true? Is it kind? Is it needful?” Even if it is true, if it is not kind, then surely it is not needful!
From counseling hundreds of people with financial problems, have found that 99 times out of 100 they do not solve their problems until they not only know, but fully use the law of command. When they begin daily, consciously, and deliberately to assert the good they want, their commands seem to call it forth.
Affirmations Are a Form of Command
In modem times we are hearing about “affirmations,” which are a form of command. Many are proving that the daily practice of verbal and silent affirmation is the simplest way of invoking the law of command to create good. In fact, the use of affirmations is such a simple way of bringing forth rich results that many people mistrust it, looking for a more complicated path to prosperity. The word “affirm” means to “make firm.” Through verbally affirming or declaring the good you want, rather than continuing to talk about what you don’t want, you begin to make firm in the mind and in the invisible ethers the good you desire. As you continue to affirm the desired good, it rushes forth as a visible result.
You Make Your World With Words
Never underestimate the power of words. You make your world with your words, as did the Lord in the beginning. But if you do not like the world you have previously made with words of discord, lack, limitation and hard times, you can begin building a new world of limitless good and prosperity by changing your words of command and decree.
The people in my prosperity classes found the law of command one of the easiest and fastest to produce rich results for them. They took affirmative statements that met their needs and declared them over and over verbally for at least 15 minutes a day; perhaps for 5 minutes three times a day. If they were not in circumstances that gave them the privacy to speak aloud the statements, then they would write them out dozens of times. One of the statements of command they used often was: I love the highest and best in all people. I now draw the highest and best people (customers, clients, patients, etc.) to me.
A salesman discovered that by using this statement, he attracted into his department only people who really intended to buy his merchandise. Daily, consistent use of this commanding statement also helped him to make a number of sales that he previously thought he had lost.
In another instance, a saleslady used this statement for 15 minutes each day for several weeks with such success that she became the leading sales person in the entire store. She was honored by her employers for having sold $44,000 worth of merchandise within a short period. Only three other salespeople (all men) sold $30,000 worth of merchandise during the same period. This lady’s department included mostly lower-priced merchandise, which required that she make many more sales by comparison with other department sales.
Another statement of command that people in my prosperity classes found especially powerful was: Everything and everybody prospers me now and I prosper everything and everybody now. By the daily, consistent verbal use of this statement, a government employee soon was informed of an inheritance that had been available, but unclaimed for several years. Another student, who used this statement of command, became one of eleven heirs to inherit a gravel pit. Because of the number of heirs, the amount to be realized from this inheritance was predicted to be quite small. But as this person continued to daily declare, Everything and everybody prospers me now and I prosper everything and everybody now, the income checks received from this gravel pit began arriving monthly in substantial amounts. During the winter months when the gravel business was supposed to “slump,” this student received the largest checks of all!
Command Your Good to Appear!
There are hundreds of affirmative statements you can use that will command good to appear, but definite declarations of command should be used to meet definite needs. You should not hesitate to use them. For instance, if your money supply is low or if your purse seems empty, take it in your hands and declare aloud a number of times, (in privacy, of course): I bless you and bless you for the riches of God that are now being demonstrated in and through you. As you enjoy your meals, it is good to think statements of blessing and appreciation for them, along with the old-fashioned habit of table blessing. When you dress, it is good to think thoughts of appreciation and blessing for your clothing.
In a recent lecture I gave the following statements for definite uses, and was amazed at how many business people commented on them afterwards, and asked for their exact wording. For the perfect clothes and wardrobe which every prosperous thinker should have: I give thanks that I am beautifully and appropriately clothed with the rich substance of God. For the perfect, beautiful, comfortable home, whether it be one room, an apartment or a house: I give thanks that I am beautifully and appropriately housed with the rich substance of God.
And for the perfect transportation, which every prosperous thinker should have: I give thanks that I am beautifully and appropriately transported with the rich substance of God. The ladies especially liked this statement of command: I give thanks for ever-increasing health, youth and beauty. I suppose I might be considered an extremist on the subject of affirmative statements because I have them scotch-taped in various spots in my home. Some of the neighborhood children have been so fascinated with them that they drop by occasionally just to see if I have changed the statements, and to ask for copies. The above statement about clothes is attached to my closet door. The one on health, youth and beauty is taped to my mirror. The one I keep taped on the pantry door is: I rejoice in the bounty of God, constantly manifesting as over-flowing supply here and now. To keep down unnecessary telephone calls, which can be such a waste of time, near my telephone is this declaration of command: Divine Order is now established and maintained. Harmony reigns supreme.
It is good to begin the day with affirmative statements which help you to gain control of your day. I suggest this one: With praise and thanksgiving, I set the riches of God before me this day to guide, govern, protect, and prosper me. All things needful are now provided. My rich good becomes visible this day! So that you will speak words of prosperity and success each day, which is a form of commanding it to come forth, I suggest this affirmation: My words are charged with prospering power.
Other favorite statements of command in some of my prosperity classes have been: For increased income: I give thanks that my financial income now increases mightily through the direct action of God’s rich good. For the payment of bills, indebtedness and financial obligations: I give thanks for the immediate, complete payment of all financial obligations, in God’s own wonderful way. For increased success along all lines: I give thanks that every day in every way I am growing richer and richer.
A statement of command that the business people found helpful for harmony in their homes and businesses was this: Let there be peace within my walls and prosperity within my palaces. (See Psalms 122:7)
Affirmations Are Helpful to Your Work
A railroad employee told me how he used statements of command to help in his work. He was asked to repair a train engine that no one else had been able to adjust. When he heard of the various mechanics who had failed to repair this engine, he became apprehensive. But then he remembered the prosperity law of command. Before beginning work on the train engine, he went aside to a quiet place. From his wallet he took this statement and went over it a number of times: I am a child of the Living God, therefore I am one with His Wisdom. That Wisdom now leads me in paths of righteousness, peace, and true success. As he was thinking of these words and letting them fill his mind with peace and confidence, another railroad employee passed through the shop and asked what he was doing. He replied that he was going over “a plan” he intended to use in repairing the train engine. Shortly thereafter, he returned to his work and quickly repaired the troublesome train engine. Soon the other employee again approached him and asked for a copy of “that plan” he had used with such success!
A postal employee was required to take an efficiency test. He decided to take control of the experience rather than to fear it. He declared over and over, Divine Intelligence knows all I need to know and Divine Intelligence now shows me all I need to know. His test proved that he was most efficient, and it was an easy experience for him.
Recently a man in New York City used a number of the foregoing statements of command. After reading an article that I had written on the subject, he reported these results: At the time I read of the affirmative power of command, my business was in a state of great uncertainty. It soon developed that I was going to have to move out of the rent-free office I had been occupying. Through grace, I found a new and convenient office at a reasonable rate. But there was no new business in sight. It became clear to me that I must have absolute faith in God and go ahead with the radio production I had been planning, though I had not the faintest idea where the capital would come from to finance it. And there were personal and business debts to be paid as well.
Then, in the subway, on the way to work, I read your article containing a number of definite affirmative statements on prosperity and success. I began using all the affirmations in the article, and when I got to the office I copied them off and continued using them.
The next day I was led to call an acquaintance in the financial world who had suggested a year before (in what I had taken to be an offhand remark) that I come around and see him sometime. When I called him, he wanted to see me immediately. We had lunch, and I laid before him my plans and told him how much money I would need. He immediately agreed to all my proposals, except that he refused to take as large a share of the profits as I was ready to give him; and the loan I needed, he insisted, must be interest free.
Exactly a week later, our charter having been filed in Albany, and a check received for initial working capital, I was signing stock certificates as president of my new company!
Thus, one businessman’s proof of the law of command.
Affirmations Produce Satisfying Results
I have never known a person to conscientiously follow the method of daily affirmation and command for even a short time without producing satisfying results in his life. Nor have I ever known a student to really succeed if he omitted the daily use of verbal and silent declarations of command. Often I have met students who could tell me all about the theory of successful living, but they were demonstrating little of it. Upon questioning them, I invariably found that they did not use the law of command. Many of them thought it was “beneath their dignity” to say definite prosperous statements and definite words of success for 15 minutes each day, although they did not find it beneath their dignity to speak definite words of hard times, lack and financial difficulty the rest of the day; nor did they find it beneath their dignity to live in indebtedness and financial embarrassment.
You can take your choice, and follow the high road or the low road of life. The law of prosperous command leads you to the high road, the royal road of success. A mind that has been steeped in poverty and failure thinking for years needs daily help in rising into richer thoughts, attitudes and expectations. Often it takes special methods to bring results in the face of extreme circumstances. If saying definite words of success and prosperity seems an unusual method, then so be it. But go ahead and try it, if you wish to change the tide of your thinking from poverty and failure to prosperity and success.
In the midst of extraordinary experiences, you will often find it necessary to exert a little added effort to produce satisfactory results. Jacob found it necessary to wrestle with the angel until the break of day, or until the breaking forth of good in the situation, in order to obtain his blessing. Sometimes you will find it necessary to do likewise.
Affirmations Can Solve Your Problems
Dr. Emilie Cady, formerly a physician in New York City, has written that when she faced extreme situations, she always struck out and used the boldest, most daring statements of command she could think of. Only after she took command did she find relief from her problems.
In one instance the statement of command which she used to be freed of the strong personality of another who had tormented her was: There is no personality such as this in the universe. There is nothing but God. In another instance, she had a sprained ankle that was badly swollen and painful. Finally she shut herself up in the privacy of her own room and affirmed over and over: There is only God. All seeming else is a lie. Immediately the pain and swelling subsided, and her healing came quickly.
At one point, she had been trying for two years to prove that God was the source of her supply, regardless of her patients’ financial response to her treatment. In prayer it was finally revealed to her that she had not used the law of command; she had not made the positive assertion of prosperity. She then began affirming, It is done. God is now manifested as my supply. She writes that this thought proved to be her deliverance from poverty, and that never again did she have a financial need that was not met. (Dr. Cady records these experiences in her book HOW I USED TRUTH, published by Unity School of Christianity.)
Mere knowing about the power of prosperous thinking isn’t enough. You must put it into action. The daily, verbal use of positive statements helps you to do that.
Affirmations Can Work Wonders
Recently a prospective mother asked for a positive statement of command to use when she went into the delivery room. Though she did not anticipate difficulties in giving birth to her child, it was possible, since she was 40 years old and had not had a baby in several years. The statement of command given to her was this: God in the midst of me is mighty in life, health and strength. In joy and with ease I bring forth my perfect child. Over and over she declared these words when the activity of birth began. She was pleased to discover that though there was the usual activity which accompanies childbirth, there was practically no pain.
Then a little later the doctor declared that she would not give birth in the usual way, but that the position of the baby made it necessary for a breech birth. Instead of becoming fearful, this mother continued to affirm over and over: God in the midst of me is mighty in life, health and strength. In joy and with ease I bring forth my perfect child. A little later the doctor declared, “We must wait a few minutes. It seems that the baby is changing its position and that perhaps you will give birth in the normal way, after all.” And she did, normally and almost painlessly.
Most of us have been human pygmies when we might have been spiritual giants, had we dared to command God’s good to manifest as He empowered us to do, as stated in the first book of the Bible. Dr. Lewis L. Dunnington, a Methodist minister, has described the law of command as the “great affirmations that work such wonders in human lives.” (In the foreword of his book “THE INNER SPLENDOR,” published by the Macmillan Co., N. Y.)
He also relates how he discovered some years ago that the most poised, integrated and well-balanced people in his congregation were those who were using the affirmative approach to life. Dr. Dunnington states that many in his congregation were convinced that they received more concrete help from the use of great affirmations of faith than from any other technique. Learning of their success, he too investigated the power of affirmation and began using it. He writes that after he began applying the technique of affirmation consistently, his congregation grew from 400 to more than 2,000. I can readily understand why this would happen because I discovered, while in the business world and later as a minister, that the masses today are lonely–lonely for a spiritual way of life that isn’t just theory and doctrine, but one that works to produce health, harmony and abundance in their lives.
Join in Affirming With Another
It is good to have at least one other person use the power of affirmative command with you, especially when situations do not seem to respond immediately to your own commands. Be sure, of course, that it is someone that is in agreement with you, with what you are trying to accomplish, and that that person also believes in this success technique. I often asked members of the church staff to use the law of command with me about various situations. My secretary and I affirmed often for the perfect results of our workday: This is a time of divine completion. The finished works of divine love and wisdom appear this day.
Often the bookkeeper and I affirmed for the financial ministry: This is a time of divine completion. The finished results of divine substance and supply now appear. Often the church board members united with me in affirming for the entire ministry: God’s kingdom is come and God’s supreme good will is now done in every phase of this ministry. Always our periods of affirmative command brought satisfying results.
Write Out Your Affirmation
Perhaps you are in a situation where there seems little privacy for verbal use of the law of command. In that event, write out your affirmations over and over again. A successful businessman, lecturer and writer once told me how he had handled such a situation years ago after he learned of the law of command. He was doing work that greatly dissatisfied him. He wished to expand into other fields, to receive greater compensation, and to be free to write, lecture and travel in connection with his work. Furthermore, at the time he was very thin and in poor health. His home life was inharmonious and dissatisfying, too. Indeed, every phase of this man’s world needed uplifting. He was convinced that the law of command could change all this, but because his family was not interested in trying such a “new fangled idea,” he realized it would be necessary to make his affirmations silently.
Since he felt that this would not be completely successful, he hit on the idea of writing them out. Quietly each night he would retire to his room with sharpened pencils and sheets of paper. There he would write out one statement, with which he wished to impress his mind, hundreds of times. He wrote statements concerning his health, wealth, and happiness. At the conclusion of one day that had seemed unusually hectic, he wrote an affirmation hundreds of times concerning the perfect solution to a business disagreement that had arisen between him and his business partner. Over and over he wrote: This situation does not dismay me, for God, the very Spirit of Love and Wisdom, is with me to uphold and sustain me, and to make all things right. I trust everything in my life to the tender care of the Father, because I know His Will for me is health, happiness, prosperity, spiritual unfoldment and all that is good.
As he went to sleep that night, he silently affirmed over and over, Nothing but good can come into my life, for God is in charge.
The next morning, very early, his business partner telephoned to say that he wished to buy out this man’s portion of the business. They then amicably agreed upon a sale price. The transaction was quickly concluded, and this man was then free to begin building a better life for himself and his family. His health soon improved, as he began to gain weight, and later he even had to diet. His wife found work similar to that she had done before marriage; as she resumed working with her husband’s consent, the new activity led to a sense of freedom, fulfillment and harmony between them. Through his writing, lectures and financial transactions, many others are being blessed with health, wealth and happiness. It all began when he dared each night to write out hundreds of times some simple words as to how he wished things to be, rather than fretting about how they appeared at the moment.
Affirm Your Way to Health
Recently a friend related to me how the power of affirmative commands had helped her to regain her health. It seems that she had undergone a very serious operation, after which her doctor informed her and her husband that she would probably live only about three months. However, her husband knew how sensitive the body is to the power of thought, and how it responds positively or negatively to one’s attitudes about it.
When she returned home, he said to her, “You heard the three-month diagnosis. You can accept it and die, or you can reject it and live. But if you want to live, you must do two things: First, you must stop talking about your operation and hospital experience. It is over; forget it. Second, you must think about Me, affirm Me, and expect to live.” He then suggested that she affirm daily: Let divine health manifest for me and in me now. She began using these simple words of command until it became a subconscious habit with her to think them many times a day. When friends or neighbors came to call, her husband always said, “We are not discussing her operation or hospital experience. That is over. She is enjoying good health now.” That was 22 years ago. That lady told me she has never had another sick day since that time!
Perhaps you wonder why I write about healing in a book on prosperity. The word “prosper” means to thrive or succeed in any given goal or desired objective. When I write about prosperity, I write of the desire for wholeness and balance in one’s life and affairs. Truly, Me is worth little without health or the ability to produce it. Psychosomatic medicine, as well as psychology and psychiatry, all agree on the remarkable power which the mind has over the body for illness or for health.
Affirmations Fascinate and Inspire
The whole world desires and is fascinated by the prosperity law of command. Recently when I spoke to a group of college students, I showed them the various types of printed statements of command which spiritual counselors give to people who come for spiritual help in solving their problems. I showed this college group perhaps a dozen different affirmative statements, explaining that each statement applied to specific types of situations and problems.
At the close of my lecture, I left the affirmative statements on the lecture table and invited the students to inspect them more carefully, and to take them with them if they wished. I was astonished how fast those students rushed forth after the lecture and picked up every affirmation! When one student mentioned how concerned she was about a quiz that afternoon, I offered her an affirmation to use.
All of the other students who had attended the lecture remained and wrote out the affirmation, too. It was: “I am letting divine intelligence think through me, I know. I remember. I understand. I express myself perfectly.
A businessman once came to me to discuss the various ways that affirmations have helped in his life and affairs. He declared: I think the power of affirmation has literally saved my life. Six months ago I was contemplating suicide when I found my way to one of your lectures and first heard of the power of command. It sounded too good to be true, but being in desperate circumstances financially as well as in my marriage, I decided to try the affirmative way–after all, what could I lose? Today, I am on top of the world again, thanks to affirmations. It really works! Only a few weeks ago I met an old friend who seemed as low as I had felt six months ago. He said, “You know, I don’t see how I can go on. Suicide seems the only way out for me. Now if I had your happy, optimistic, victorious outlook on life, how happy I would be.”
I replied: A few months ago I almost did what you’re talking about, but I learned about the affirmative way of thinking and acting. It pulled me up by my bootstraps and now I am on the road to success again. I then gave my depressed friend some printed affirmations that had helped him to achieve success. Though they were slightly frayed around the edges from much use, the friend seemed grateful for them. Recently I again met my friend who said, “Thanks for those statements. They pulled me up by the bootstraps, too. I don’t see how a few words can change a fellow’s whole life, but they certainly have changed mine.”
You can have any of God’s rich good for which you are willing to pay the price of daily affirmation and command. There is no easier or more delightful way of changing your thinking and getting on the royal road to success. You, indeed, become what you want to be by affirming that you already are! I suggest that you make this the last phase of a three-step formula for prosperity: First, daily write out your notes of desired good. Second, mentally image the successful results. Third, boldly and deliberately affirm and command those successful results to appear. If you persist daily in following these three simple steps, you will not be able to stop the floodtide of your good from overflowing your life!