Think And Grow Rich... with faith

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill is probably the achievement classic of all time. His interviews of the wealthiest men of the early 1900's commissioned by Andrew Carnegie resulted in this most comprehensive, thoroughly researched success manual ever written. Hill, before writing Think and Grow Rich, interviewed over 500 multimillionaires of his day, which translates to the billionaires of today. Carnegie introduced Hill to the wealthy people of his era so Hill could create a resource for every person to obtain wealth. This 21st Century Updated Edition includes modern analogies and applications of these enduring principles.

Of the 13 principles to riches, I will focus more on a few selective ones, but this is a book every person starting a business or building an enterprise should read and re-read.

Thoughts are things. What we think about frequently and with emotion, good or bad, eventually materialize in our lives. When thoughts are mixed with purpose, persistence, and a burning desire are translated into riches. Hill points out several examples where people literally thought themselves into riches. So his book title is the theme behind all the principles in the book... you can think and grow rich. In what most people see as defeat, may be a direction for what you want. So, with good thinking, we can evaluate defeat and see the opportunity for our success in it. All you need is one sound idea for success. So what follows Hill says are "13 principles which contain the best and most practical ways and means of creating ideas."

The first huge step is changing the way you think from failure consciousness to success consciousness. Combine desire with persistence and the Think and Grow Rich formula unfolds.

Desire has no retreat... the first step to riches.
The way your desire is transmuted into its financial equivalent consists of six definite and practical steps.
1. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire.
2. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire.
3. Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money.
4. Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.
5. Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.
6.Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just before retiring at night and once after arising in the morning. You must believe that you are already in possession of that money. And read the statement with emotion.
"With the power of desire backed by faith, I have seen this power lift people from lowly beginnings to places of power and wealth. Nature wraps up in the impulse of strong desire 'that something' which recognizes no word as impossible."

Faith...visualization of, and belief in, attainment of desire is the next step.
When faith is blended with thought the subconscious mind instantly picks up the vibrations. It is then translated and transmitted into Infinite Intelligence. With love and faith and intimacy in relationships, a thought induces Infinite Intelligence to act. You develop faith by mastering the 13 principles in Think and Grow Rich.

Faith is created by continual affirmations or repeated instructions to the subconscious mind, through the principles of autosuggestion. Regardless of what is in your subconscious mind, you can direct it through repeated instructions to assist in materializing thoughts. With positive emotions, what you Think, repeated, will cause Faith to grow to the level of your desire. When you believe it, and faith has taken root, you become what you think about. The danger is the opposite is true. When your thoughts are filled with fear and doubt, what you fear and doubt will be what you become.

Ideas are created into huge fortunes by an idea created through the imagination, mixed with faith, formulating a plan, the action of the plan, persistence and decision to fully carry it out, and the burning desire for success.

Riches begin in thought, only limited by the person's mind, but faith removes limitations.

Autosuggestion, the third step, the method for influencing the subconscious mind.
Autosuggestion is the term that applies to all suggestions and all self-administrated stimuli that reach your mind through your five senses. It is self-suggestion. By allowing certain thoughts in the conscious part of the brain, it programs the subconscious to do what it suggests. The subconscious responds to the conscious suggestions with good or bad. What ever it puts there, the subconscious makes that happen for you. We have this control, but we don't always deliberately exercise that control. When we do, we get powerful results, while we deliberately put powerful suggestions into our subconscious brain.That's why some go through poverty and others prosperity. It all depends what we are telling ourselves.

To reprogram our brain, regardless of what's there now, we use the six steps outlined in "desire" above. When we recite our specific goal, time of achievement, what it will do for others, and do it with strong emotion, we implant this in our subconscious. Hill points out that this has the strongest impact on the process, and over looked by many, which is doing this with a strong emotion. And doing it in morning when we get up, and before we go to sleep. At these two times the subconscious is most reception to suggestion.

When this information is given for our imagination to act on, the brain creates practical plans for the accumulation of money you desire... which Hill calls the transmutation of your desire. (Note the definition of transmutation in Wikipedia, etc. Hill uses this word a great deal and it's a very powerful process.)

A plan emerges out of this process, many times in creative idea form, when we are focusing on the solution, seeing the money in our hands, and emotionally involved in the experience. By not thinking directly about a plan, our subconscious comes up with a plan. Hill feels these are many times Divinely inspired and implanted to us through the brain. To stimulate the subconscious, go to a quiet spot, close your eyes and repeat these statements aloud, with strong emotion. Again, state the time for its achievement, the exact amount, what you will do in return, and seeing and believing it is happening with money actually in your hand. Do this at night and early morning. Have a written copy of the statement where you can see it night and morning, until you have it memorized. After reading the entire book, Hill recommends you come back to this chapter on autosuggestion and refine this process.

The fourth step to riches is specialized knowledge.
Specialized knowledge is from personal experiences or observations. Knowledge alone will attract little money. Knowledge alone is not power, but a potential to power. It becomes powerful when organized into definite plans of action and directed to a definite end. Acquire specialize knowledge related to your idea... through study, other people who know, other resources available to tap. This includes using colleges, libraries, courses (today the Internet). Successful people never stop acquiring specialized knowledge. People pay great dividends to those who have special knowledge in areas they need. Specialized knowledge is easier to get than ideas. That's why each person needs to develop his imagination.

Imagination then is the fifth step to riches.
This is the workshop where all plans are created. The impulse and desire is given shape. What we can imagine, we can create. Two forms of imagination prevail... synthesized imagination, and creative imagination. Synthesized imagination recreates and re-arranges old ideas, concepts or plans into new combinations. When this doesn't solve a problem, then creative imagination steps in. Creative imagination creates a connection to the Infinite Intelligence which produces new, creative ideas. These come from "hunches, inspirations."

The creative mind works automatically. It is many times stimulated through the self-suggestion process. It is also motivated with strong desire. The ideas are transmuted into cash with a strong definite purpose and definite plans. Ideas born in the imagination out of a burning desire, which march into an obsession, are ones people buy. Especially when you give life, action and guidance to an idea. Ideas live on and carry a sense of immortality to them.

Organized planning is the sixth step to riches.
Those who can assist you with organized knowledge, through the coordinated effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite end in a spirit of harmony. This formation of minds in harmony, create another power coming to their ranks... Infinite Intelligence. It's the greatest of all powers because it taps the genius of the universe. Mixed with positive emotion and faith a great unseen stream of power flows through like a river that carries you to life's fortunes. Riches are shy and timid, they need to be attracted.

Decision, not procrastinating, is the seventh step to riches.
Procrastination, the opposite of decision, is a common enemy which practically every person must conquer. Most people who have made millions have a habit of reaching decisions promptly. Others reach decisions slowly but then change them quickly.

Learn to make your own decisions and not be influenced by others. Everyone has a flock of opinions and delight to shoot holes in your decisions. Limited discussion on what you want and desire to those trusted people who are part of your mastermind group. You have a brain and mind of your own. Use it. Keep your eyes and ears open and mouth closed if you want to acquire the habit of prompt decisions. Everyone wants to acquire wealth like you do and if you share your dreams and desires with the wrong people they will try to get the jump on you. When you know what you want and a plan to get it, you can reach decisions quickly.

Persistence, sustained effort necessary to produce faith,
is the eighth step to riches.
It's a power of will to keep moving with your desire. Lack of persistence is one of the greatest causes of failure and one of the greatest weaknesses among a majority of people. To accept defeat as only temporary, we must have persistence. Then through persistence defeat is finally turned into victory.

Anyone who has achieved success in a noteworthy calling has persisted. Persistence is a state of mind so it can be cultivated. What causes persistence: definiteness of purpose, desire, self-reliance, definiteness of plans, accurate knowledge, cooperation, will power, habit. Rid yourself of fear of criticism and move ahead anyway. Avoid negative thinking, circumstances that pull you down, and have a strong purpose with definite plans surrounded by friendly people to those plans.

The ninth step to riches is the driving force behind the master mind principle.
To make practical plans align yourself with people for the creation and carrying out of the plan. Form, what Hill calls, a mastermind group. The key ingredient is that each person has a benefit or advantage for being part of the group. People will work together when each has a form of desired compensation coming their way for their efforts. It is good to meet about twice a week until you jointly perfected the necessary plan. And, maintain a spirit of harmony in the group. If this part is not carried out, the group will meet with failure.

Sexuality, charisma and creativity, is the tenth step toward riches. Sexuality drives the human willpower, courage, persistence, imagination. The desire for sexual expression is natural and inborn. When harassed and redirected, it is a power force in all forms of our culture, arts, literature, as well as highly effective in driving us to accumulation of riches. When you can transmute sexual energy into charisma, you have an attractive enthusiasm. The influence of a mate or lover affects sexual energy which can then be transmuted to acquiring great fortunes. Genius and creative imagination also are induced by sexual energy. Love and marriage are powerful forces in achieving wealth.

The Subconscious mind is the connecting link and the eleventh step toward riches.
When you plant desires in the subconscious mind mixed with faith and emotional feeling, it goes to work night and day to fulfill your desire. It calls upon Infinite Intelligence for the power to transmute your desires into their physical equivalent. And it does it in the most straight forward and practical way. Hill concludes from his research that this is the defining link between the finite mind of man and Infinite Intelligence. It is the source that prayer can be transmitted into tangible answers to prayer.

You must accept the reality of the operation of the subconscious mind for this to work. So thoughts of fear, disbelief and failure affect the subconscious mind as well as the desires for what you want.The seven major negative emotions to be avoided are fear, jealousy, hatred, revenge, greed, superstition, anger.So focus on the positive and what you really desire so it will work powerfully for you. Using autosuggestion and positive emotion it puts the things we think about strongly in motion.

The seven major positive emotions are desire, faith, love, sex, enthusiasm, romance and hope. If you pray for something but at the same time fear you will not receive it, it defeats the power of the subconscious mind. Use prayers, of faith, and prayer books with this added dimension make prayers work.

The brain, the twelfth step toward riches,
is your broadcasting and receiving station for thought.
Your brain both receives and broadcasts information. It picks up vibrations from other brains across the world. The brain with emotion and at a rapid rate picks up thoughts and it transmits thoughts to others.The subconscious is the sending station of the brain. Autosuggestion stirs the sending part and imagination activates the receiving part.

Our connections of our brain cells have 15 million zeros behind them. This is a great magnetic field that works in power beyond what we can figure out. So your transmitting power is incredible and you can use it to connect with and draw you to your heart's desires when strongly fixed in the subconscious mind through suggestion.

This also works when working with teams. It creates more power in the team, and in a spirit of harmony you get incredible results. If you are sending negative signals from the brain due to negative or resentful thinking it affects the others around you that they aren't productive. But positive and loving thoughts stir the imagination to greater heights, plus those who have the answers or connections for your ideas are drawn to you. It's a mysterious power, that also connects us to Infinite Intelligence.

The thirteenth step to riches, the door to the temple of wisdom,
is the Sixth Sense.
The sixth sense is somewhat of a mystery too. It is based on mastering the other 12 steps and is tied to the creative imagination. It's an innate quality of knowing without knowing, much like a guardian angel is with you. There is an intelligence that permeates every atom and the sixth sense taps this. Although, not a believer in miracles, Hill believed that when you master the other principles this extra sense comes in. It taps nature for results we would call miracles.

Tapping this source of inspiration has to do with the cell structure of the brain that receives vibrations of thought we call hunches. These hunches, or this extra sense is cultivated by those who develop their brains explained in the other parts of Think and Grow Rich. Your mind will develop until you have power to throw off all forms of discouragement, master fear, overcome procrastination, and draw freely from your imagination. This touch of the unknown will tap you on the shoulder and give you the total package to transmute desire into its physical or financial counterpart easily.

There are six ghosts of fear that want to stand in the way of the sixth sense. Indecision crystallizes into doubt, and the two blend to become fear. When these are hidden in the mind and not overcome through deliberate effort, they cause everything else to break down. The fears are the fear of poverty, criticism, ill health, loss of love of someone, old age, death. To overcome these you must control your own mind by taking it from a negative to a positive place of activity. The brain must be a place of positive activity through self-discipline and habit. With a definite purpose and a definite plan keeping it busy with this activity, these ghosts of fear will vanish.

Hill's sequel book, Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude goes more into depth in this area.
More on Think and Grow Rich, The 21st Century Updated Edition and other Napoleon Hill works at
http://www.naphill.org/

In 1907, at the same time when Andrew Carnegie was commissioning Napoleon Hill to share knowledge of how to create wealth, Smith Wigglesworth was having a life changing experience of his own. He experienced, what he called the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And with this new Spirit of faith, many were healed and delivered from serious personal afflictions both mentally and physically. Both Hill and Wigglesworth claimed that faith was the key to seeing riches.... materially and Spiritually, respectively.

Here is a summary of Smith Wigglesworth's Spiritual classic, Ever Increasing Faith.
Wigglesworth's theme...""Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, 'May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart." (Mark 11: 22, 23, NLT)

We need to have our faith strengthened. Miracles literally happen with faith. We should all live by faith. Many try to discredit the miracles in the Bible and claim they are not relevant today. All things are possible if you believe. There is nothing impossible with God. Things are only impossible when we measure them to the limitations of our own unbelief. "You can pray for anything, and if you believe that you've received it, it will be yours." (Mark 11: 24, NLT)

Desire things toward God and you will have desires from God; and He will meet you on the line of those desires when you reach out in simple faith.

If you only believe, all things are possible... if you have no doubt in your heart. God gives liberally. He that asks, receives. The Scriptures say you will have whatever you ask for... and that is "whatever."

We must take our thoughts captive, and believe in God, and His power in our thoughts. God never fails to plan the best for us.

All things are possible through the name of Jesus. "No one can prove to me that God does not always answer prayer. He always does more than that. He always gives the exceedingly abundant above all we ask or think." There is nothing that our God cannot do. He will do everything if you will dare to believe. How can this be done? Through the name of Jesus, through faith in Jesus, through faith that is by Him.

When you are anointed and prayed over, you can be rest assured that the Lord will raise you up. It's the Word of God. If you turn away from God's truth, the enemy will have an advantage over you.

What is faith?
Faith is the principle of the Word of God. The Holy Spirit, the inspired Word, is called the Spirit of Truth. As we receive with meekness the engrafted Word, faith Springs to our hearts. Faith is in the sacrifice of Calvary, the shed blood of Jesus, the fact that Jesus took our weaknesses upon Himself, our sicknesses and carried our pains, and that He is our life today. God has chosen us to help one another. We dare not be independent. He brings us to a place where we submit ourselves to one another.

We have a Big God, a wonderful Jesus, who comforts us in His strength and love. Under His wings we will trust. The Word of God is Living and Powerful. In It you will find treasures of eternal life, if you dare to trust in a Risen Lord. In Him you will find everything you need. You will find if you dare trust Him, you will never fail. "The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise you up." Do you trust Him. He is proven and worthy to be trusted.

There are awful diseases, but Jesus is the healer. There is no case too hard for Him. The Spirit is a Lion who can break ever chain, any bondage, relieve the oppressed, set people free from finances and debts. He is our redeemer, and redemption is with Him.

No man can meet darkness and powers of Satan in their own strength. But any man filled with the knowledge of Jesus, filled with His presence, filled with God's Spirit power, is more than a match for the powers of darkness. Through Jesus death, and rising again, Jesus destroyed the power of death, the power of the devil, and delivered us from the fear of death and all the bondages that may grip us.

We are called to be more than conquerors and we are through the Power of Jesus that works so mightily in us.

The power at Pentecost came to loose men. God wants us free on every line. Mankind is tired of imitations, we want reality, we want to see people with the real living Christ living through them, and filled with the Holy Spirit power as prevailed at Pentecost and thereafter.

God wants us to have this. Receive your portion now. Filled with the Spirit you will be super-abounding in life... living water will flow through you.

"This great Pentecostal work is in motion. . God has promised to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, and His promises never fail. Our Christ is risen.That He might transform us by His grace, and bring us out from under the power of Satan into the glorious power of God. One touch of our risen Christ will raise the dead. Hallelujah!"

"I feel that everything else must go to nothingness, helplessness and ruin. Every thought of advantage for ourselves must be on the decrease in order that Christ may increase, that we may live in another state, where all things are under the power of the Spirit. Dare you take your inheritance from God? Dare you believe God? Dare you stand on the record of His Word? What is the record? If you shall believe you shall see the glory of God. You will be sifted as wheat. You will be tried as though some strange thing tried you. You will be put in places where you will have to put your whole trust in God."

"If you are counting on the presence of the living Christ within, you can laugh when you see things getting worse. God would have you settled and grounded in Christ, and it is only as you are filled with the Holy Ghost that you become steadfast and unmovable in Him."

"I see that God has a realm of Divine life opening up to us where there are boundless possibilities, where there is limitless power, where there are untold resources, where we have victory over all the power of the devil."

"You can never be ordinary from the day you receive this life from above. You become extraordinary, filled with the extraordinary power of our extraordinary God."

"There is no stopping the current of life, of love, of inspiration, and of power."
"I want to tell you that you can please God, and you can get things from God, only on the line of a living faith. God never fails. God never can fail."

"People became so assured that God was working that they knew that anything would be possible, and they brought their sick into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, so that the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow them."

"I do not believe that it was the shadow of Peter that healed, but the power of God was mightily present and the faith of the people was so aroused that they joined with one heart to believe God. God will always meet people on the line of faith."

"Leave yourselves in God's hands. Enter into rest."
"He that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His." (Hebrews 4).
"O this is a lovely rest! The whole life is a Sabbath. This is the only life that can glorify God. It is a life of joy, and every day is a day of heaven on earth."

" I want you to promise God never to look back, never to go back to that which the Spirit has said is "done away." Live with this Faith and miracles will surround you continually.
More articles by Smith Wigglesworth: http://www.smithwigglesworth.com/

Be filled with the Spirit and live a life totally consecrated to God...
and ALL His Power will be within you.