Imagination · “Feel It Real”
Order Then Wait
Perform a single imaginal act, then deliberately stop striving and wait in faith, letting the ‘bridge of incidents’ unfold in its own appointed time.
Do one simple imaginal act of the wish fulfilled — make there here, then now. Then stop: wait, in faith, without forcing or repeating it. Trust it has an appointed hour, watch for the bridge of incidents, and walk across it when it appears. It ripens; it will not be late.
What it is
A technique built around the second half of the manifesting process: the waiting. After you perform a simple imaginal act — “making ‘elsewhere’ here, making ‘there’ here and ‘then’ now” — Neville’s instruction is one word: “wait.” The discipline is to do the brief inner act and then not interfere, trusting that “a little bridge of incidents” will appear and carry you toward fulfilment “in its own appointed hour.” It addresses the most common failure point: people place the order, then anxiously try to force or check on the result, and so cancel it.
The Method
- Know exactly what you want, and order it. Perform one simple imaginal act of the wish fulfilled. Neville: “putting yourself elsewhere by making ‘elsewhere’ here, making ‘there’ here and ‘then’ now.”
- Open your eyes and accept the apparent smallness of it. Expect the doubting reaction — “I just did a simple little thing in my Imagination. How on earth could that produce the result?” Don’t let that reaction undo it.
- Then wait. “Well then, wait.” This is the operative instruction. Waiting is the technique: “Waiting is exercising your faith in the imaginal activity you have engaged in.”
- Believe enough to leave it alone. “To imagine is not enough; you must have faith enough in your imaginal act to believe in its reality. then wait in faith for your assumption to appear in your world, for that imaginal act has its own appointed hour.”
- Let it ripen. “It ripens, it will flower. If it be long, then wait, for it is sure and it will not be late” (Neville, paraphrasing Habakkuk 2:3). Watch — without meddling — for the “bridge of incidents” compelling you toward fulfilment.
Source & Lineage
The named technique is from Neville Goddard’s lecture “Order — Then Wait” (dated 16 April 1970). The supporting quotations are drawn from his lectures “Imagination,” “Biblical Language,” and “No Other Foundation.” The “appointed hour / it ripens, it will flower” refrain is Neville’s repeated citation of Habakkuk 2:3 (Moffatt translation).
It is the patience-and-non-interference counterpart to active methods like “Construct an Event” and is closely tied to his image of the wish as a planted seed that must be left alone to grow.
Common refinements
Re-ordering compulsively. Repeating the act out of anxiety signals disbelief; order once, then wait.
- Confusing waiting with passivity toward the bridge. When opportunities/incidents appear, you do walk across them — waiting is non-interference, not refusing to act on what shows up.
- Setting a deadline and panicking. “If it be long, then wait” — the timing is not yours to dictate.
- Neglecting real, time-sensitive action. “Wait” is about not forcing the result, not about ignoring a bill, a deadline, or a doctor.