Jesus - healing a blind manIn this article we will look at the importance of using creative thought (yes, imagination) as a God-given ability to “create” or receive what we have prayed for.  So many believers pray, but complain that they do not see results.

Many discoveries on the level of quantum physics, the study of subatomic particles, proved that we influence our world with our thoughts.  No wonder that the greatest “physicist”, the Creator of the universe wrote in His Book, the Bible, “For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Pro 23:7). Our thoughts can play a powerful role in our wellbeing, health and prosperity as I will explain below.

We can influence our destiny, create opportunities and change circumstances by practising positive thought as an underlying principle of faith.  In fact, I will show you that this is exactly how we are instructed in the Bible to practise our faith:

Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]–
(Eph 3:20)

Faith is a spiritual power that operates from a higher dimension as thought and physics.  The laws of nature and the power of creative thought function on a lower level of authority than spiritual power, and should therefore be practised in support of faith and not as the ultimate level of authority as propagated by many under the title “The Law of Attraction” etc.  It is positive an powerful principles, but we should remember that there is a higher level of control, a higher will and purpose that governs the universe.  We should get “in tune” with the Spirit of God to really guarantee results.

What is the role of positive thinking when it comes to practical faith?

Our thoughts, words and actions must be in agreement to be able to create a supernatural outcome.  We cannot apply faith for the supernatural, while believing (thinking with the mind) something to the opposite.  Our thoughts must support our faith and the will and purpose of God to be effective.

Visualisation can, and should play a vital role in our practising of faith. I call this ‘Creative Faith’.

  • How can a person have faith for something, if he cannot define what exactly it is that he wants?
  • How can someone define what he wants, without first forming a clear picture of it in his mind?
  • How can a person think positively and creatively, if his words and actions are negative and destructive in nature?  Our words portray our inner believes and thoughts.

Everything that you would like to ‘create’ or receive in your life by means of faith starts out from an original thought.  Once you have created a mental picture, the idea should be meditated upon until you could clearly visualise the details and even experience the outcome in your mind.  How do we do this?  By using a very unique capability given to man – imagination.

Once you have completed the mental picture, and know exactly what you want, you can use this mental picture as the seed and substance for your faith and trust the Creator to transfer it into reality from a spiritual dimension.  We ‘sow’ or ‘plant’ this spiritual prototype (seed) by means of words (prayer).

The spoken word (the prayer of faith), is the seed that will take this spiritual prototype (creative thought) into the dimension of the Spirit where faith cultivates it, protects it and grows it into reality.  Once the seed has become full-grown in the spiritual dimension, it also becomes reality in the visible world.  Sometimes the result can be instantaneous (a miracle) or it may take a while (spiritual interference in the natural processes, it might take time).

A fact that should always be kept in mind is the sure knowledge and conviction of heart (faith), that whatever the need was, the blueprint for the solution is immediately created in the spiritual realm. You have received the answer to your prayer of faith the moment you have spoken the words.

This is why Jesus, once He has formed the outcome in His mind by faith and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, would never confess anything else. On His way to heal Talita, Jairus’ little daughter, the report (natural or medical fact) reached them that she was already dead.  Jesus didn’t listen to the negative reports they received along their way to Jairus’ house. Jesus kept on confessing that she was only “asleep”. Not once when Jesus was on His way to heal the sick or raise the dead, would He confess the natural facts.  Jesus always kept the original thought alive and demonstrated that the spiritual dimension overrules the laws of the natural.  We can see this also in the case of Lazarus.

How does this kind of works?

The Bible defines faith as follows:

NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, (the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].  (Hebrews 11:1 – Amplified Bible)

If you have real faith for something, your words and conversations will portray that believe, even if it is not visible in the physical yet.  Real Biblical faith always comprehends the outcome as something already obtained.

I once stood outside the ICU unit of a hospital. A friend has called me to pray with her alongside the bed of a man that was already declared brain-dead by the doctors.  This was the second time I was requested to minister to this man.  Three weeks earlier I have also stood alongside his bed, praying the prayer of faith, but his situation just seem to deteriorated. This time, they have decided to turn off the life support systems.

I remember while I was waiting outside, the family members that came to say their last good-byes were standing outside and they were sadly discussing his funeral arrangements.

You can imagine how shocked they were when I suddenly remarked: ‘He is not that sick you know… Lazarus was much sicker; he was dead for three days when Jesus healed him.’ I was getting out of the boat with this statement, walking on the water!

Before any of them could say something, the door to the ICU opened and the nurse called me in.  We anointed the sick with oil according to James 5:14 and we prayed the prayer of faith again, speaking life into his seemingly lifeless body in the Name of Jesus.  I took the family aside afterwards and asked them to again pray the same prayer with me.

When they removed the life support that evening, for the first time in 6 weeks, this man was able to keep up the breathing on his own and his heart just kept going.  He is alive today and back with his family, praise God, the Creator and giver of life!  If you are willing to walk on water, Jesus is there to keep you up!

Many people’s prayers are ineffective because they have no clear definition what exactly it is they want in the first place.

Many might know what it is they need and will start out with a clear image of it in their minds, but if it does not appear immediately or in a very short time in the physical, they loose hope and the image is changed, adapted or even forgotten.  The energy to create this idea in the spiritual realm is lost.  There is a lot of creative energy in purposeful thought and meditation.

This is how the Bible instructs us about this very principle, note the highlighted keywords:

James 1:5-8

If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.

Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind.

For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything [he asks for] from the Lord, [For being as he is] a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides].

The words used in the Bible are terms like “ask”, “the giving God”, “it will be given”, if it was asked in “faith”, with “no wavering”, “imagine” to receive, but not with “two minds”.

The principle of using your imagination is underlying and supportive to the principle of creative faith.  To imagine is only the start of the creative process, it must be taken further into the realm of faith.  Then keep going with the original thought, if you doubt, you are having second thoughts, you are a man with two minds says the Bible that should not expect anything from God.  I call this ‘tough love’.  Sometimes God will wait for us to trust His Word unconditionally,  if we don’t we’ll just suffer the consequences till we learn.  At the end, the benefits are so far greater, and our faith is strengthened to the next level.

Remember how Peter without thinking jumped out of the boat when Jesus called him?  Then after walking on the water and seeing the big waves and realizing with his rational mind that he is walking on water, he started having second thoughts and started to sink.  Having second thoughts takes you back to the lower level of natural law.

You may “imagine” that you have already received the outcome, but only if your words and thoughts supports your act of planting (prayer).  This is not difficult if you know the Word of God relating to your need or want.  Meditation of the Word of God cultivates this kind of faith. (Psalm1)  Listen to God’s Word as Peter at first listened to the voice of his Teacher calling him to get out of the boat.

When you lose hope and faith along the way, the energy to create the outcome from the spiritual realm is lost and the partly created spiritual prototype stops taking shape and it may even be destroyed.  If you believe for anything but cannot “imagine” the final result and know that it is possible, it is a sure sign that you are not operating in the dimension of creative faith.

The Bible also states that without faith it is impossible to be pleasing and acceptable to God! (Heb 11:6).

In other words, it is God’s very desire that we should be able to have the faith to create abundance on earth in the same way He has created the earth and the universe, by faith, words and thought!  Once we start to show these creative qualities you can know this; the Creative Spirit of God will be drawn to you like never before.  God is a God of creation and abundance, and when you join Him in this enterprise, you become an empowered co-creator in your world.

This is why Jesus said:

…I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it [2]overflows). (John 10:10)

You are the centre of your world.  The Holy Spirit is looking for channels of faith to further advance the work that Jesus began on earth, to create life, health abundance and prosperity for all.

We have the amazing ability to influence the world around us by means of creative faith.  Creative faith relies on the principles of spiritual knowledge (of the Word of God), creative visualisation by inspiration (by the Holy Spirit) to expand God’s kingdom on earth (Mathews 6:33).

Have you noticed that whenever Jesus spoke about the gospel of the kingdom of God, he always related it to miracles, signs and wonders? This is the attributes of kingdom life that He demonstrated through His life on earth, speaking to storms, changing water into wine, healing the sick, raising the dead etc.  If these principles are already accepted concepts of faith in your conscious mind, it will enable you to proceed into the higher dimension of authority and faith.

Living in the dimension of faith will open up a completely new world with endless and potentially limitless possibilities.  Do you need the right partner for life, or finances for a house, healing, or anything, here is a few pointers to create it by means of faith and visualisation.

  • Specify in detail what you want or need. This is to help you to create a clear and defined picture in your mind.  It will also help you to recognise the opportunity or the outcome when it presents itself in the physical.  You will be able to make the right decision. (E.g. should I buy this house or not?  If it is as per original thought and specification, you can already tick of one important checkpoint.)
  • Check your motives, vanity should not feature anywhere in your soul.  Other people, also those given to you (your family), should be the main beneficiaries.  The people in your life were given to you as your responsibility, but also for you to prosper through them by means of the spiritual law for increase in Mathews 6:33.
  • Think it through, is this really what you want?
  • Have a clear mental picture of you and that which you desire.  Utilize it in your imagination; see yourself in it, or enjoying the benefits of it.  See other people benefiting from it like your family and friends.  Remember the second point, your motives.
  • Submit the complete picture, the prototype or spiritual seed, into the realm of the Creative Spirit, give it to God, the Master Creator.
  • Now start experiencing the outcome as if you already have it.  This means you should see it, hear it, feel it, smell it and enjoy it in your mind.
  • Act as if you already have it.  Do not look at physical circumstances or facts. Remember, the higher dimension of Spirit overrules the physical dimension and is much stronger.  You must walk, talk and act from a spiritual dimension.  Acting like this will be strange to other people, but they don’t know what you know.  We live in a world where we are flesh and spirit.  We can choose from which dimension we live and dictates circumstances.
  • Always live in gratitude.  A life of gratitude is a happy life, not limited by the laws of physics.  Gratitude shows that a person is not limited by physical circumstances but are living from a higher dimension.  This means thanking God for what you have already received, even before you can physically see it.  This is creative faith in action. (Hebrews 11:1)

This is an article based on the contents of my eBook – Entrance to Power

Post to Twitter