The Law of Attraction is a popular phenomenon that promotes the theory that you can attract anything you want into your life by thinking about it. Now, this is a 30,000 foot view of the Law of Attraction, because upon closer inspection, there are many other factors that are needed to insure success for manifesting what you want into your life. Religious fundamentalists have criticized the Law of Attraction because of its emphasis on seeking material possessions and because it looks like the Law of Attraction places the power of creation solely upon the individual, as opposed to God, which is not a concept embroidered in fundamentalist religious ideology .
The Law of Attraction gained its popularity by the huge success of the book and movie, "The Secret". If you use only "The Secret" as an argument against the Law of Attraction due to the movie / books simplicity of LOA (Law of Attraction) principles and the hedonistic tone of the movie, I may have to agree. But, the true value of "The Secret" was the mass exposure the book / movie provided to the general public about the concept of LOA. Before the "The Secret" was produced, the idea itself of being a participant in your own life design was totally alien. There is no doubt that the prevailing attitude of our current culture, whether you're religious or not, is that we are all victims in a tough world, and I thank "The Secret" for opening the door of opportunity to see the world differently .
The initial first look at the principles of the Law of Attraction in "The Secret" was a good introduction, but ironically the true principles of the Law of Attraction have been around for over 2000 years, in fact, they were taught to us by Jesus . The Law of Attraction, when studied deeply and from a metaphysical level, is really an opportunity to live our lives the way that Jesus taught us to do, infinitely and abundantly.
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33)
At first glance, Jesus words above might simply that we have a huge task to fulfill before we can get to the good part for us, (things added until you). But although the above words from Jesus holds more to it than we thought possible before.
Many traditional religions teach that life is successful, happy, fulfilling, etc., or not, by the manner in which we conduct ourselves according to the religious rules / principles, and by doing so, we create a positive or negative flow into our lives . (seek the Kingdom of God first THEN the you will be rewarded accordingly). Yet, a devoutly religious person may do everything their religion says they should do, and yet still experience great hardships and suffering in their lives. This is sometimes attributed to being the will of God or part of a plan that God has for you. Or, these hardships may be because you clearly have not been "seeking the Kingdom of God first". While there may be some spiritual sanction in the text for these traditional religious beliefs, the precept that you are not a participant in your own life design, other than to live by the rules mandated in order to receive your blessings in this life or the next , is highly subjective and clearly interpretive. Religious themes leave out the fact that as a child and image of God, that you, yourself, have amazing power as well. The find God principle taught in almost all religious belief systems, is what I call the top down approach to spiritual connection. God is above and we are below and it is our responsibility to reach out to God by following these rules and opening our hearts and then all should be pretty good for us in the here and after after. In the approach, we start with a baseline of separateness and use religion and ideology as a way to connect to God. In other words, we do not go to church to learn about our power because of our inseparable relationship with God, instead we learn what God has done for us already, separately from us, to encourage us to connect to a relationship with God.
The notion of learning about God, and I mean connecting to God in a serious intimate and powerful way, comes by first looking inside ourselves and therein finding God. This is what I call the bottom up approach to connecting to God. In this approach, our baseline starts with us being ALREADY connected and using our own Divine power within to discover and awaken to God and the Divine Universe, which includes the LOA principles. It is in this approach to spiritual connection and personal empowerment that true LOA processes begin.
So another interpretation of our earlier Bible verse that may more closely align with our innate power and divine inheritance is:
"But seek ( discover, obtain ) ye first the kingdom of God, ( the divine power of God manifested in you ) and his righteousness; ( God's qualities, such as worth, value, abundance, and joy that is already within you ) and all these things ( human and spiritual wants and needs related to what you find within you ) will be added to you. " (Matthew 6:33)
And to support the kingdom of God verbiage (because without the following words from Jesus, the kingdom of God could be construed to be some faraway or unknown place), Jesus clarifies for us where the kingdom of God is located.
"Either shall say, Lo here! Or, lo there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)
The Law of Attraction also teaches that in order to manifest the things that we want to see realized into our lives, we must go within as well. The greatest LOA teachers will equate the powerful visualization and certainty of our strongest desires to a heartfelt calling from your inner divine being. Manifesting a new trinket for pure pleasure may be possible by the power of a strong energetic will, but this parlor trick is not a true Law of Attraction principle. LOA principals operate from a fundamental covenant that God and man, cooperatively manifest from the infinite possibilities available within each one of us (kingdom of God within).
The exact Law of Attraction definition simply states that "like contracts like", which is another way of saying that we live within our true beliefs. So, the best start for a successful LOA practice is to think and act from our existing beliefs (go within). Certainly it is possible with a strong belief, and an undeniable firm conviction, to manifest just about anything. But for those only looking for a new distractions and material possessions to manifest for the purposes of status, ego gratification, or neediness, then you have missed the true power of the Law of Attraction. You may be able to apply LOA principles to get what you want, but then next day, the want will still be there. The bottom line is you can think and attract all you want, but the core element of practicing a successful and strongly beneficial Law of Attraction practice is first starting within to manifest from a divine and authentic belief system. Know where your power comes from, which is from the kingdom of God within you. Applying the LOA principles from a position of divine strength, by going within, to see the enfoldment of all the "things" that will be added to you (through our beliefs), is the Law of Attraction being practiced as Jesus taught.
Now, the next steps in a successful Law of Attraction practice were also taught by Jesus in many different examples in the Bible. We will address the next fundamental step of LOA principles, which is your belief in the power of manifestation and what you are manifesting, in Part 2 of this article. For this article, the main concept to consider is this: The Law of Attraction is a process of living a life of unlimited potential within your own Divine authority (kingdom of God within). We all have the ability to do this, but the reasons we are unsuccessful at it are: we ask and desire from an inauthentic mindset (our desires do not match a true need that wants to be met), we do not really believe in the process or in the thing that we are asking for, and we do not "live" within the Divine authority to create the life we want. All of these problems with the LOA process will be addressed in the next segment of this article and additional teachings of Jesus will be referred to demonstrate how Jesus also taught the Law of Attraction.
Summary
Law of Attraction - Like Attract Like
Step One - Before you go manifesting things like, days off from work, cars, money, or for your ex-husband to get the crabs, you MUST identify what you really want and where the want comes from. Want that comes from neediness, resentment, revenge, unworthiness, fear, and lack, are inauthentic wants (meaning they come from the ego and not from the divine higher self), and you may succeed in manifesting some of your wants but they will never satisfy the authentic need. This does not mean you can not manifest material "things", it just means that your manifestation must come from "within" to be a true Law of Attraction principle in action. This is why Jesus instructs us to find the kingdom of God (within) before the things are added to us. Know where your power comes from and understand what your true wants are.
Proverbs 29:18, "Where there is no vision, the people perish."