I

THE POWER OF FAITH

In this book you are asked to consider the facts concerning the presence and manifestation of a most potent form of Personal Power, and, therefore, of that Universal Principle of POWER of which all Personal Power is the direct or indirect expression and manifestation.  This form of Per­sonal Power is one of the five great elements or factors involved in the expression and manifestation of Personal Power in general — the others be­ing respectively, Ideative Power, Desire Power, Will Power, and Compensative Power.  This particular element or factor of Personal Power is equal in importance, efficacy, and power to either of the elements or factors which we have just mentioned — it is their peer and equal in every respect.  Its name is Faith Power.

You may experience a sense of surprise, mingled with incredulity, when you hear Faith Power mentioned as an equal of Ideative Pow­er, Desire Power, Will Power, and Compensa­tive Power — particularly of Will Power.  You may, indeed, approach the consideration of this particular phase of Personal Power with mental reservations, and with lurking doubt con­cerning the value and importance, the power and efficacy, of Faith Power in this special connection.  This, because to you the idea of Faith has heretofore represented certain things, and involved certain meanings, which were not associated in your mind with the activities of the practical world of men and action.  To you, Faith has doubtless been a term properly ap­plied in sermons and theological books, but which has but little or no practical place or meaning in the world of action and deeds — in the world in which most of us live most of our time, and perform most of our actions.

But we hasten to assure you that the Faith Power which forms the subject-matter of this book, is not at all the kind of Faith Power which you have in mind, and of which you are uncer­tain so far as is concerned its efficacy and power in practical everyday life.  We assure you that the Faith Power of this book is something hav­ing a most intimate and important relation to Per­sonal Power along practical lines, and is something which, in the current phrase, “you need in your business.”  Moreover, we are certain that you will admit the truth of this contention by the time you finish the study of this book — or even when, much earlier in the study, you dis­cover just what we mean by Faith and Faith Power.

*        *        *        *        *

The term “Faith,” and the concept embodied in the term, has undergone a process of evolution in which several distinct stages are in evidence, and has finally been subjected to a division into sev­eral distinct concepts each of which has its own particular meaning, import and significance.

Originally, it seems to have been employed solely for the purpose of indicating fidelity to promise or duty — faithfulness, fealty, honesty, in­tegrity, truth, constancy.  Thus, one was said to act “in good faith,” to be “faithful to his trust,” to be “faithful and true” — in short to manifest the quality of “faith” in the direction of honesty of purpose, steadfastness, constancy and loyalty toward that or those to whom one was bound by duty, promise or honor.

In time, the term took on the additional meaning of “firm belief, and confidence, partic­ularly in regard to moral or religious precepts or doctrines.”  Faith, in this usage, became the term indicating a lively and firm belief in and assurance of the truth of presented facts, doc­trines, dogmas and propositions, particularly in absence of immediate and personal knowl­edge of their truth.  In this sense, the term indicated a certain surrendering of the rational demand for immediate and certain intellectual conviction, in favor of the claims of real or as­sumed authority.  Thus, the faithful believer expressed and manifested a “faith” concerning certain dogmas and authoritative teaching of which he had, and could have, no immediate knowledge, and which in many cases seemed to be beyond his understanding, and even con­trary to his actual experience.  Thus, Faith became the expression of a belief based upon confidence in and reliance upon authority rath­er than upon logical reasoning or actual knowl­edge.

Later, from the combination of the two old­er concepts, there arose a new concept — a new meaning — involved in the old term, Faith.  Faith, in this new meaning, consisted of (1) confidence, (2) earnest belief or conviction of truth, and (3) hope, or expectation of the re­alization of the object of faith.  In this mean­ing, Faith may be defined as: “Earnest belief in the power of certain causes to produce cer­tain effects; an abiding confidence that such effects will be so caused; and a confident expectation of the happening of such caused ef­fects.”  Here, you will see, there is a mingling of the original concepts of Faith and Hope, respectively.

Hope, alone, indicates “a desire for some good, accompanied by at least some expecta­tion, confidence or trust that it is obtainable or will be obtained.”  But Faith, in the later meaning, took over this concept of Hope, and added to it the “firm and earnest belief, trust, confidence and expectation” of the fulfillment of the Hope.  Moreover, it indicated that not only the “good” which was the object of Hope may be “confidently expected,” but that, likewise, a “bad” thing may be the subject of the confident expectation.  In this way “the bad thing feared,” as well as the “good thing desired,” might become the object of the “confi­dent expectation and belief” — the object of Faith, in fact.

Analyzing this last conception and meaning of Faith, seeking to eliminate the non-essential factors and elements, and to preserve all the essential ones, we find that at the last we have left merely the concept of “Confident Expecta­tion and Expectant Belief.”

Think over the above mentioned concept for a few moments, and you will see that Faith, in this usage, is identical with “Confident Expec­tation.”  The term, Confident, means: “Having full confidence, belief, and expectation; sure, certain, positive.”  The term, Expectation, means: “State of expecting, or looking forward to, something that is believed about to happen or occur, or to come about; the act or state of awaiting confidently some approach­ing event.”  Here, you see, there is the idea of (1) a firm belief, accompanied by (2) the firm conviction of the realization; it is a combina­tion of Faith and Hope raised to their highest degree of certainty.

In the several books of this series, the gen­eral subject matter of which is the recognition, realization, and manifestation of Personal Power, frequent reference is made to The Master Formula of Attainment, which con­sists of the following elements: (1) Definite Ideals, or the mental attitude of “knowing ex­actly what you want” — of creating and main­taining strong, clear, definite ideas, ideals and purposes; (2) Insistent Desire, or the mental attitude of “wanting it hard enough” — the strong, authoritative element of Desire manifesting itself; (3) Confident Expectation, or the mental attitude of undoubting Faith, unfailing Hope, in the success of your efforts, and the realization of your Ideals and Desires; (4) Persistent Determination, or the mental atti­tude of Indomitable Will, persisting in its determination that you shall succeed in the at­tainment and realization of your Ideals and Desires; and (5) Balanced Compensation, or the mental attitude of willingness to “pay the price” of attainment.

In other volumes of this series we have con­sidered in detail the respective elements of Ideative Power, Desire Power, Will Power, Compensative Power.  In the present volume we shall direct your attention to that additional element of Personal Power — the Power of Confident Expectation, which is properly term­ed Faith Power.

Though perhaps not so familiar to the gen­eral reader as are the other four elements mentioned, this element of Faith plays a part equal to that of any of them, mighty as their pow­er undoubtedly is.  He who leaves out of the calculation this element of Faith, is discarding or neglecting to use one of the five great in­struments of Personal Power, each of which is equal in importance to the other — such a one is robbing himself of one-fifth of his available Power, and that missing part may bring to him defeat in place of victory.

We shall not attempt to decide, or to explain, just why Faith, or Confident Expectation, should play such an important part in the ac­tivities of Personal Power.  Such an attempt would take us to the very heart or centre of POWER — the Universal Principle of Power — itself; and even there it might be difficult to find that which we seek.  Enough for the pres­ent purpose is for us to state that extended and careful investigation establishes the truth of this contention concerning Faith Power — and to point out to you the evidences of its presence and strength.  The “just why” phase of the subject is quite difficult; but the “just how” phase is easily stated and explained.  Faith Power meets the test of Pragmatism — “it works,” and produces results when properly applied.

By reason of your familiarity with the idea, you will readily admit that the man in whom has been kindled the fierce Flame of Desire will brush aside obstacles, and surmount ob­structions in his path — and if you have learned the “inside facts” you will also realize how such a man will attract to himself that which fits in with his Insistent Desire.  In the same way, you will readily admit that the man of the Persistent Will will cut and bore through the obstructing rock of circumstances, and reach his goal — circumstances themselves seeming to fall in with the purpose of such a Will.

But when it comes to ascribing similar vir­tues and power to Faith — to admitting that Faith Power is equal in force and efficacy to either Desire Power or Will Power — your un­familiarity with this phase of the subject may cause you to withhold your judgment and assent.  Yet, as you will presently discover, Faith Power is as strong, efficacious and pow­erful as is Desire Power, or as is Will Power.  We insist upon this fact, not for any academic reasons, but simply and solely because we wish you to realize this important truth to the end that you may set it to work for you in your own manifestations of Personal Power.

*        *        *        *        *

We have referred above to the several ele­ments of the Master Formula of Attainment.  Let us now examine in further detail these ele­ments, leaving the third element, that of Con­fident Expectation, for the last.

(1)         Definite Ideals.  One must know as certainly, as positively, as clearly, and as defin­itely as possible “exactly what he wants.”  The man who lacks this clearness of direction cannot be expected to walk straight toward the object of his desires.  Many men, otherwise well equipped mentally, fail to obtain or to at­tain success, simply because they do not know “exactly what they want.”  Lacking a specific and definite goal, they wander along by-paths and side-roads, traveling often in a circle.  The definite aim is necessary if the straight road to attainment is to be traveled.  The better one knows “exactly what he wants” — the more clearly he is able to visualize and picture it in his mind — the straighter and more direct will be his path to it, and the less will be his danger of becoming confused and bewildered, and of becoming “side-tracked.”  This proposition is axiomatic — self-evident.

(2)         Insistent Desire.  One must insistently desire that which he wants — must “want it hard enough” — in order that his full powers of application and endeavor may be awakened, aroused and called into action.  The men who, as the Americans say, “get there” — or, as the French say, who “arrive” — are not those of faint wishes or wants, of feeble desires and cravings, but rather those who are filled with the ardent urge of desire and longing — with the fierce lust of “wanting that which they want, when they want it.”  The world is filled with “pink tea” wishers — and their names comprise a large portion of the list of the fail­ures.  The small list of the really successful individuals is filled with the names of those who “wanted it hard enough.”  In order to attain a thing, you must “want it the worst way,” as the saying goes; you must “want it so hard that it hurts.”  Otherwise, your ener­gies and powers of will are not called forth.  This, also, is axiomatic — self-evident.

(4)         Persistent Determination.  One must persistently will, determinedly resolve, and firmly apply one’s full powers of Will to the attainment of that which one knows that he wants, and which he wants “hard enough” to cause him to “pay the price” of attainment.  This final stage of mental power must be pres­ent and applied, else the whole enterprise fails.  This element, perhaps, is the one most strongly emphasized in the popular opinion and thought on the subject — so strongly, in fact, that the other elements are often under-emphasized.  The need of the “strong will” is universally recognized — and the handicap of the “weak will” is universally admitted.  One must “will to will,” if he would attain success.  This, also, is axiomatic — self evident.

(5)         Balanced Compensation.  One must obey the Law of Compensation — the Rule of Balance — manifest in all Nature.  He must be prepared to “pay the price” of attainment in the form of (a) diligent work; (b) service to others ; and (c) relinquishment of desires, aims, and performances opposed to the subject or object of his Definite Ideals, Insistent Desires, and Persistent Determination.  This also is axiomatic — self-evident.

Now, let us return to the consideration of the third element, i.e., that of Confident Ex­pectation:

(3) Confident Expectation.  One must con­fidently expect to realize that which he knows definitely that he wants, which he earnestly and insistently desires, which he persistently and determinedly wills to attain, and for which he is willing to “pay the price.”  In the meas­ure that he does this, he also opens the draft of his mental furnace in which burns the Flame of Desire, and as a consequence, he generates a greater supply of the Steam of Will.  Doubt is the shutting-off of the drafts of the furnace, which results in the deadening of the Fire of Desire, and the decreasing of the supply of available Steam of Will.  Faith is the stimu­lation of Desire and Will; Doubt, their dead­ener; and Unfaith, the destroyer of both.  Let us, however, drop all figures of speech and pro­ceed to consider concrete examples.

In your own experience you have known the power and energy of the Desire and Will which have come to you by the introduction of the element of Faith into the mental equation.  When you have become tired and wearied, so much so that your desires have burned low and your volition has become less intense, you have discovered something which re-aroused your Faith in the outcome, your Hope in the attainment — your Confident Expectation, in short — and lo!  your desires once more asserted their power, and your will again sprang back to the task.  On the other hand, when you have been going along nicely, and have seemed to be succeeding, a series of depressing circum­stances, the appearance of unfavorable condi­tions, have caused Faith to droop and Doubt, Distrust, and even Unfaith to manifest itself.  When this has occurred, you have found that you “lost heart” — and to “lose heart” means that your Desire loses its insistent urge, and your will loses its persistent application and determination.

Again, you have been pursuing some plan, have been building upon some idea in which you had Faith, have been selling goods in which you believed, and have been doing well in that direction.  Then, alas!  Doubt and Dis­trust have crept in; you lost your Faith in the idea; you lost confidence in the goods handled by you; and, as a consequence, “the bottom dropped out” of the thing, and you found your Desire weakening and your Will losing its power of application and its determination.   Most of us do our best when we “believe in” the thing which we are doing; and but few of us can do creditable work if we “don’t believe in it.”  Thus, Faith is found to exert a tre­mendous influence over Desire and Will, in either direction.  Faith can truly say, “They reckon ill, who leave me out!”

We feel that we are justified in asking you to regard as axiomatic — self-evident — these statements concerning Faith, or Confident Ex­pectation, just as truly as you so regard the similar statements made concerning Thought, Desire and Will, respectively.  We feel that we are warranted in asking you to admit to an equal place of importance with Thought, De-sire and Will this element or factor of Personal Power known as Faith, or Confident Expecta­tion, even though you have not previously recognized its importance and power.  Moreover, we feel that we need not apologize to you when we ask you to analyze your own mental and emotional makeup for the purpose of dis­covering whether you have not, heretofore, omitted this important element from your characteristic mental attitude; or, at least, whether you will not do well to take it into greater account in the future.

Before proceeding to the elaboration of this idea of Faith or Confident Expectation, however, we wish to call your attention to a fact of even as great importance as those just presented to you.  We allude now to the positive effect of Faith, or Confident Expectation, wrongly applied.  You have seen and undoubt­edly now realize, that Doubt, Distrust, and Un­faith exert a strong negative influence in the direction of deadening the Fire of Desire, and restricting the Steam of Will; but you have probably failed to realize that this Doubt, Dis­trust, and Unfaith may become transmuted into an active Faith and Confident Expectation in the wrong direction, and may thus become an active power working to produce failure, non-success, and defeat.  Faith may, and does, cause “mine own to come to me”; but, reversed in its direction, it may, and does, often cause the condition of “that which I have feared hath come upon me.”

Analyzing Faith as you have done, and find­ing that its essence is Confident Expectation, viz., the belief and expectation of the happen­ing or coming-about of things, you will readily perceive that if that Confident Expectation is directed to something bad rather than good, something “feared” instead of “desired,” it may work with equal effect though in the wrong direction.  Confident Expectation of evil — the Fear of dreaded results — is as truly Faith as is the Confident Expectation and Hope of good and desired things; though very few persons even begin to realize this fact — this very im­portant fact of life and action.  This realization brings to mind many corroborative facts — facts serving to support it — which go far toward explaining many things in your personal experiences which have heretofore perplexed you greatly, and which have been laid aside by you as beyond explanation.

Leaving aside for later consideration in this book the psychological (or even “spiritual”) causes which operate to produce the above state of affairs, we wish here to call your attention to certain general facts concerned with the operation of this law and mental action.

You are more or less aware of the Law of Attraction in the mental world by means of the operation of which ideas, things, men, conditions and environment are correlated to your habitual thoughts and general mental attitude, and by means of which such things are attracted to and drawn toward you, or you toward them.  This is no longer deemed to be “moonshine” and idle fancy; too many practical men have discovered its truth, and applied its principles successfully, to allow of this old accusation.  Despite the sometimes fanciful theories employed to interpret and explain this class of facts, the facts themselves are most real and far from fanciful.

Well, then, we wish to remind you here — or perhaps to inform you for the first time — that this is a rule that “works two ways — in either direc­tion.”  Faith, i.e., Confident Expectation, if di­rected toward evil and feared things, operates with as much force as if directed toward good and desired things.  It serves to fill the mind with visualized pictures of the undesirable things, in place of those desired; it arouses the negative aspect of Desire, which is Aversion — and which has a force of its own, sometimes operating in the wrong direction; it arouses the negative as­pect of Hope, which is Fear — which has a strong attracting power in the wrong direction.  In short, it reverses the entire mental and spiritual machin­ery of the individual, and causes his forces to travel in the wrong direction — in the same way and with the same power with which they travel in the right direction when energized by Faith and Confident Expectation of the right kind.  Nega­tive Faith, i.e., Doubt, Distrust, and Unfaith, sometimes transmutes itself into positive Faith — but Faith in the wrong set of things, in the wrong direction.  So, you see, it is of the utmost im­portance to you that you should learn the laws of Faith Power, and to acquire the art of running its machinery properly, in the right direction, and to avoid the reversed process above indicated.  There is much more to this subject of Faith Power than you have imagined.