Affirmation · “The Subconscious Says Yes”
The Thank-You Method
To impress the subconscious with the wish already granted by repeating a short thanksgiving — ‘Thank you, Father’ — until the feeling of gratitude dominates the mind.
In 5 lines: Pick a short thanks-phrase (“Thank you, Father”). Relax, morning and night. Repeat it slowly and feelingly, as if the good is already given. Keep going until thankfulness fills you. When lack-thoughts come, return to the phrase.
What it is
A devotional gratitude technique from Joseph Murphy’s The Power of Your Subconscious Mind (1963), taught in his chapter on practical techniques.
Rather than asking for a thing, you give thanks as though it were already received, repeating a short phrase — most famously “Thank you, Father” — quietly and feelingly, morning and night, until a settled feeling of thankfulness fills the mind.
Murphy held that “the thankful heart is always close to the creative forces of the universe,” and that thanksgiving with feeling impresses the subconscious with the sense of the wish fulfilled.
The Method
Murphy’s best-known illustration is a young mother who wanted to provide for her children. His protocol, faithfully reconstructed:
- Choose a short phrase of completed thanks. Murphy’s model is “Thank you, Father,” optionally extended to the specific good — e.g. “Thank you, Father, for my wealth.” It is past-tense in spirit: gratitude for what is already given, not a request.
- Settle into a relaxed, peaceful state. Sit or lie quietly. Murphy’s case-subject repeated her phrase “in a relaxed, peaceful manner” — no strain.
- Repeat it feelingly, morning and night. Say the phrase slowly, with genuine warmth, “every night and morning.” Feeling, not word-count, is the active ingredient.
- Continue until the feeling dominates. The aim is to keep on “until the feeling of thankfulness dominated her mind” — to generate the emotion, not merely recite. Murphy taught she persisted for about three weeks.
- Use it to displace contrary thoughts. When “thoughts of lack, poverty, and distress” arose, she returned to “Thank you, Father” “as often as necessary,” using it as a corrective to re-establish the grateful state. (Sourcing note: short quoted phrases are from Murphy’s published text, attributed. The numbered protocol is a faithful description of his consistently-taught method, not a reproduction of his book.)
Source & Lineage
Joseph Murphy (1898–1981), a Divine Science / Religious Science minister, popularized New Thought’s conscious/subconscious model for a mass audience. The “give thanks for it as already done” pattern is older than Murphy — it runs through Emmet Fox, the Unity movement (Charles and Myrtle Fillmore), and ultimately the Gospel injunction to make requests “with thanksgiving.” Murphy’s contribution is the simple, repeatable phrase-and-feeling drill.
Common refinements
Reciting without feeling. Murphy’s whole point is the feeling of thankfulness; mechanical muttering is weak.
- Treating it as a demand. “Thank you” is acceptance, not pressure. If it becomes “thank you (now hurry up),” the underlying state is lack, not gratitude.
- Quitting before the feeling settles. The instruction is to continue “until the feeling dominates,” not to stop after a few repetitions.
- Skipping the corrective use. The power move is returning to the phrase whenever lack-thoughts intrude.
- Using it to bypass real needs. Gratitude complements action and care; it does not replace them.