“And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Genesis 3:17-19, KJV
“And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels. And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.” Genesis 12:14-17, KJV
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth.” Exodus 9:13-15, KJV
“And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate. And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me; Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.” Leviticus 26:21-24, KJV
“And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.” Numbers 21:5-6, KJV
“Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;” Deuteronomy 8:15, KJV
“If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.” Deuteronomy 28:58-62, KJV
“I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” Isaiah 45:5-7, KJV
It is likewise because of sins and rebellion, that great plagues occur in the Book of Revelation as well.
“Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.” Romans 15:33, KJV
“And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” Romans 16:20, KJV
“Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” Philippians 4:9, KJV
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23, KJV
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. ” Hebrews 12:2-3, KJV
“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not . . . For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:1, 16, KJV
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9, KJV
“Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.” Ephesians 3:13, KJV
“But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.” 2 Thessalonians 3:13, KJV
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18, KJV
“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 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!
