Affirmation · “The Subconscious Says Yes”
Collier's Formula for Successful Prayer
Run Collier’s explicit four-step demand-and-affirm sequence — centre thought on the wanted thing and picture it; remind yourself of the power that grants it; give thanks in advance; then affirm into belief that you already have it.
Collier’s four steps: (1) Centre thought on the thing and picture it. (2) Remind yourself of the power that can grant it (e.g. Psalms 91 & 23). (3) Give thanks in advance, as if already granted. (4) Believe — picture it so vividly you feel you already have it. Then release it and go on; don’t dig up the seed with doubt.
What it is
This is Collier’s single most explicit, numbered procedure — what he calls “my own formula for successful prayer” (The Secret of the Ages, Vol. II, “The Magic Secret” / “The Soul’s Sincere Desire”).
Where his other practices are described in prose, here he lays out four ordered steps that move from desire → faith → gratitude → belief that you already possess it. It operationalises the verse he calls the most important in the whole book: “What things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” — with Collier’s repeated stress on “believe that ye receive.” For him, prayer is simply “the soul’s sincere desire” worked through this sequence and impressed on the subconscious.
The Method
Collier’s four steps, in his own words:
- Centre thought on the thing; picture it (plant the seed of desire). “Center your thoughts on the thing that you want. Visualize it. Make a mental image of it. You are planting the seed of Desire.” But planting alone is not enough — “it must be warmed by Faith, nurtured by constant Belief.”
- Remind yourself of the power that grants it (warm the seed with faith). “Read the 91st and the 23rd Psalms, just as a reminder of God’s power and His readiness to help you in all your needs.” (The principle, not the specific text: deliberately re-affirm the existence and willingness of the supplying power — “first asked for that which they wanted, then killed all doubts and fears by affirming God’s power.”)
- Give thanks in advance. “Don’t forget to be thankful, not merely for past favors, but for the granting of this favor you are now asking! To be able to thank God for it sincerely, in advance of its actual material manifestation, is the finest evidence of belief.”
- Believe — picture it so vividly you feel you already have it. “BELIEVE! Picture the thing that you want so clearly, see it in your imagination so vividly, that for the moment, at least, you will actually BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE IT!” Then release: “Once convince your subconscious mind that you HAVE the thing you want, and you can forget it and go on to your next problem. Mind will attend to the bringing of it into being.” And don’t dig up the seed with doubt: “you would not plant a valuable seed… and then, a day or a week later, go out and dig it up to see if it were sprouting… Don’t… tear it up with doubts and fears.” (Sourcing note: steps 1-4 are verbatim from Collier’s numbered “formula for successful prayer”; surrounding lines are his, paraphrased where noted.)
Source & Lineage
Robert Collier, The Secret of the Ages (1926), Vol. II. The four-step formula is Collier’s own crystallisation of New Thought “scientific prayer” (Quimby → Trine → Wattles), grounded in Mark 11:24.
Common refinements
Skipping step 3 or step 4. Collier flags “believe that ye receive” as the load-bearing move; advance gratitude is its “finest evidence.” Don’t truncate to mere wishing.
- “Lip prayer.” “Mere lip prayers get you nowhere… The thing that counts is what your heart desires.” It must be a real desire.
- Re-checking the seed. After the four steps, release. Digging it up with doubt undoes it.
- Mistaking belief for denial of action. “Believe you have it” is a felt conviction that fuels effort — not a reason to stop acting.