Or is there a difference?
Wow … this is a heavy one. Consider these verses:
“For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
Mark 11:23-24, KJV
After pondering this issue for a few minutes, I arrived at the following conclusion:
On the surface, while at first glance it may appear that the power of positive thinking and praying in faith are the same thing, this is another subtle deception of the world. It is New Age doctrine in my view. Let me tell you why I feel this way.
From the little I have read regarding this subject, according to the power of positive thinking cult, we possess the power to create things, to create our own realities, and to create our own futures, through our positive thoughts.
In other words, it is all us and the power of our minds. Either that, or they will attribute it to the Universe, as if the Universe is some living entity. I don’t think they ever say “God”. As I said, it is very New Age thinking.
In contrast, when we pray, we are in fact directing our thoughts and prayers very specifically to God the Father through Jesus Christ, which is why the Lord specifically told us to ask for things in HIS name, as we see by this set of verses:
“In Jesus’s Name” KJV Bible Verse List:
https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse113.html
In other words, unlike the power of positive thinking folks who attribute things to the power of our minds, or to the Universe, it is GOD who rewards us because of our faith and belief.
Furthermore, God the Father is not only the Cause of what happens, but He is also the one who creates the effect in the form of our answered prayer. It is not our minds, or the Universe.
In short, one gives glory to God, while the other gives glory to self, to the mind, or to the Universe.
Do you now see what a subtle deception the power of positive thinking mindset is? They seem almost like the same thing, but they are definitely not!
Isn’t that exactly the way that Satan operates? He is a copycat who creates false versions of things, which almost look like the real thing. But remember this:
“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
2 Corinthians 2:11, KJV
By the way, I had never thought of any of this until early this morning while laying in bed. What do YOU think? Does it seem to make sense to you? Feel free to leave your comments below. Thanks!
