Affirmation · “The Subconscious Says Yes”
Becoming an Open Channel
Pray affirmatively by first recognizing God as the indwelling source within you, then affirming the desired good as already true, giving thanks, and releasing the prayer — making yourself an ‘open channel’ for that good to manifest rather than pleading for it.
Be still and recognize God as the indwelling source within you. Set the intention to be an open channel for God’s goodness. Affirm the desired good as already true; give thanks as though received; release it in trust. Carry that consciousness into action and let the good flow through you. A support for state and confidence — never a replacement for real-world care.
What it is
Barbara Lewis King taught prayer not as begging a distant God for favours but as aligning with God already present within you so that good can flow through you into your life.
The subtitle of her best-known book names the practice exactly: Discover How to Be An Open Channel to Allow God’s Goodness to Manifest In Your Life. For King, “God is an indwelling spirit within every person” and “God [is] the source of everything you have”; affirmative prayer therefore begins by recognizing that indwelling source, then affirms the desired good as already true, gives thanks, and lets it go.
The work is not to persuade God but to open and clear the channel — your own consciousness — so the good already given can appear. This is her form of New Thought “treatment”: recognition, affirmation, thanksgiving, release.
The Method
Faithfully described from King’s Hillside teaching and Transform Your Life (short quotes only; the numbered structure is an attributed paraphrase):
- Centre and recognize the source. Become still and remember that God is “an indwelling spirit within every person” — not far off, but the very life and intelligence within you, “the source of everything you have.” Prayer starts from union, not separation.
- Open the channel. Set the intention to be “an open channel to allow God’s goodness to manifest.” Release doubt and fear; King’s teaching repeatedly turns “fear into faith.” You are not generating the good; you are clearing the way for it.
- Affirm the good as already true. Speak the desired good in the affirmative present — health, supply, peace, right relationship — as a present spiritual fact, because for King “life is consciousness”: the inner realization comes first.
- Give thanks. Move into gratitude as though the good is already received. Thanksgiving is the felt sign that you have accepted, not merely requested.
- Release it. Let the prayer go in trust rather than anxiously watching for results. Holding on with worry re-closes the channel you just opened.
- Act as an open channel. Carry the prayed-for consciousness into ordinary action and generosity, letting the good move through you toward others as well as to you. (Sourcing note: quoted phrases are from King’s published subtitle and summaries of her teaching; full text is not reproduced.)
Source & Lineage
Barbara Lewis King (1930-2020) founded Hillside International Chapel and Truth Center in Atlanta from a 1971 home prayer group of twelve, growing it into a congregation of thousands.
She was introduced to Unity teaching during a recovery from illness and studied under Rev. Johnnie Colemon, placing her squarely in the Black New Thought stream descending from Unity and the Emma Curtis Hopkins lineage.
Her affirmative-prayer / treatment teaching is set out in Transform Your Life (DeVorss, 1989; revised 2016) and in Hillside’s classes in prayer and prosperity.
The Traditions' versions
“Recognize the divine, affirm the good as true, give thanks, release” is the shared skeleton of New Thought treatment — the files differ in framing:
- Spiritual Mind Treatment (Ernest Holmes) — a fixed five-step sequence (Recognition / Unification / Declaration / Thanksgiving / Release); King’s form carries the same arc but is framed around becoming an open channel.
- Scientific Prayer / Treatment (Emmet Fox) — “knowing the Truth” about a condition until fear lifts; less about channel-opening, more about realization.
- Affirmative Prayer (Myrtle Fillmore) — the Unity root practice King inherited.
- Johnnie Colemon’s treatment — King’s direct teacher in Black New Thought (being added in parallel).
Common refinements
Pleading instead of affirming. The shift King teaches is from “please give me” to “thank you, it is already so.” If it still feels like begging, return to recognizing the indwelling source.
- Affirming while marinating in fear. “Turning fear into faith” is the precondition; an unreleased dread re-closes the channel.
- Refusing to release. Anxiously monitoring for results is holding on. Give thanks and let go.
- Treating the channel as one-way. King’s “open channel” includes letting good flow through you to others; pure getting narrows it.
- Using prayer to bypass action. Opening the channel is not a reason to skip the doctor, the budget, or the hard conversation.