Desire Is God’s Gift
Photo by Sam McCool
The Bible includes a specific instruction for manifestation:
Whatever you ask for in prayer,
believe that you have already received it,
and it will be yours.
— based on Mark 11:24 TLB ¹
Abiola Abrams, author of From Imagination to Reality, writes,
Anything you see
in front of you now
first existed
in someone’s imagination. ²
In fact, I like to say,
There isn’t a thing
you can think of
that isn’t a thought.
Think about it! ³
Charles Fillmore, founder of Unity, teaches that
[it is through
the faculty of imagination
that] the formless takes form. ⁴
Science used to think the brain generates consciousness and is, therefore, the source of thought. However Kabbalah reveals that
Human thoughts originate
in the highest ‘realm’
of consciousness…
the ultimate,
unrestricted
will of the Divine. ⁵
This viewpoint recognizes only absolute oneness with God.
Several other traditions agree that individual thoughts originate in a universal field of consciousness, in what Charles Fillmore refers to as ‘divine Mind.’ ⁶
Let’s consider how it can possibly be that God, Mind, is the Source of Thought.
First, we agree that God is All and that God is infinite.
Second, we agree that there’s nothing beyond Infinity.
Third, we reason that God, being All, is the only possible Creator or Source of anything—including thought.
Fourth, we conclude that the Source of Thought is divine.
Even when we accept this conclusion, the question comes immediately: If Divinity is good—All good—where do thoughts come from that are ‘not Good’?
That’s another whole discussion! But in brief, Menachem Mendel Schneerson explains that
[Anything not good]
does not descend from above.
The transmission from above
is pure and coherent.
[Anything that is not good]
is distortion and noise,
an artifact of our reception. ⁷
It all comes down to our perspective! Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science, explains it this way:
…The heavens and earth
to one human consciousness—
consciousness God bestows—
are spiritual,
while to another—
the unillumined human mind—
the vision is material. ⁸
Does the instruction to ‘Believe’ or to ‘have Faith’ mean to think it’s true? No! It means to know it’s true.
Knowing what’s true of reality is far beyond positive thinking. In fact, it is divine thinking!
There’s an old Yiddish adage that says,
Think good, and it will be good. ⁹
This doesn’t mean positive thinking where we hope for the best. Rather, Torah scholar Yanki Tauber reveals that
[Our] absolute…conviction…
actually becomes
the conduit…that draws down
God’s blessings. ¹⁰
Lisa Taylor, author of Look UP Look IN Look OUT, reminds us that
The belief that [we hold]
becomes a law to us. ¹¹
In Kabbalah, to manifest an idea, you have to connect to it with absolute certainty. It is our conviction of Good that anchors our conscious thought in divine Mind.
Where does certainty derive its power? To paraphrase Shneur Zalman of Liadi:
When a person
completely solidifies their faith
into absolute certainty,
they transcend their own ego
and align their
personal willpower
directly with God’s primal,
[unbounded] Will. ¹²
In short, it becomes:
Divine Will be done! ¹³
Kabbalah student Cathy Heller points out that
Faith is a frequency.
And when you learn
how to tune into it…
life starts responding
in miraculous ways. ¹⁴
In the book of Hebrews we find that,
Faith is
the substance of things
hoped for,
the evidence
of things not seen. ¹⁵
If you’re a Bible student, you’ve probably noticed that Jesus is often recorded giving thanks before a healing or a miracle is reported.
Gratitude is essential, but Kabbalah teaches, as Jesus did, that we have it all backwards—we should aim to feel thankful before we receive anything at all. ¹⁶ Here’s why:
Expressing gratitude
for your desire
as if it has
already manifested
amplifies the energy
of [what you have assumed
and know to be true.] ¹⁷
Now doubts may come up, but Charles Fillmore says simply,
If doubts come in,
do not entertain them. ¹⁸
In fact, whenever I have doubts I
Return to the Self.
Return to Bliss! ¹⁹
In other words, as mystic Neville Goddard directs us,
Pick out a lovely state,
go right into it
and dwell there. ²⁰
[This is called] ‘occupying the state’
and thinking from it
instead of thinking[about] it. ²¹
In my experience, there’s nothing more important than dwelling in bliss consciousness. It is the simplest form of awareness which spontaneously includes a feeling of gratitude.
Consciousness is God's ‘house’—our true dwelling place. It is ‘the secret place of the Most High.’ When we’re consciously ‘there,’ we spontaneously feel peace and praise!
What are the mechanics at work here? Vedic sage Maharishi Mahesh Yogi answers this question. He explains that,
When consciousness
is in its simplest state
it is able to transform itself
into any desired value…
This is the dignity
of human awareness—
a lively field
of all possibilities. ²²
Professor John Hagelin at MIU appeared in the movie The Secret some years ago. In a recent video he says
If you can get familiar
and comfortable
in the transcendent…
and plant one foot there,
so to speak…
Be awake to that level,
while you're thinking also,
at the tenderest,
subtlest level of thought.
That juxtaposition of subtle,
powerful thought anchored
in pure being…
[is the] secret behind The Secret.
The secret
behind The Secret
is: [to] transcend.
Go to the subtlest
levels of thought—
and even transcend
the subtlest level of thought—
and project a desire
from [there].
Nature [then]
picks up that desire,
and you will find
your goals and desires
being fulfilled
with the effortlessness
that is promised
in The Secret,—
but not often delivered. ²³
The famous Rebbe Nachman of Breslov reminds us that
[The bliss/joy of transcendence] is not
merely incidental
to your spiritual quest.
It is vital.
Joy is not the gift
at the end of the road.
Joy is the lantern
that shows you where to go.
Without it,
prayer is paper
in the wind. ²⁴
Neville Goddard was a Christian man from Barbados living in NYC. He studied the Bible, Hebrew, and Kabbalah with Abdulla, a Kabbalist Rabbi from Ethiopia. To manifest a goal, he learned from to:
Assume the feeling
of the wish fulfilled. ²⁵
To ‘assume the feeling’ is to transcend the finest aspect of Belief—beyond any words we might utter or even think. Neville says,
By assuming the feeling
of your wish fulfilled,
you are setting your
dominant emotional tone
to one of ‘having’
rather than ‘wanting.’ ²⁶
Let’s see how this plays out in actual practice.
When I was press secretary for the Michigan Attorney General, I found myself in a competition with several others for a political appointment in state government. It was an opening for executive director of the Consumers’ Council, whose mandate was to be the state’s consumers’ advocate.
These were big shoes to fill. The previous director had been a long-time Republican state senator, and the director before her was an attorney who had left to become vice-president of a major corporation.
This nine-member Council was made up of five Republicans and four Democrats.
The press reported that a candidate was already the clear favorite. Even so, a friend of mine in the National Women’s Political Caucus told me I should apply for the appointment. But, like Moses, when God gave him an assignment, I had excuses:
I’m too young to direct a state agency (I was only 26)
I’ve never hired, fired, or supervised staff
I’ve never been a lobbyist—that’s not me!
Plus, I told her that the Republicans would never vote for the Democratic attorney general's press secretary!
My friend said, “If you were a young man, you wouldn’t say that!” I had to admit that she was right.
Now this conversation was a few months after I had learned Transcendental Meditation. In the deep bliss of that evening’s meditation, an entire strategy unfolded in my thought as to exactly how to obtain five of the nine votes.
‘Capture the fort!’ ‘Go for the highest first!’ This insight meant I only really needed to win over the ranking Republican. I just knew it was a done deal. I could feel it, so to speak, ‘in my bones.’ And I felt both deep peace and an abiding gratitude.
After my meditation that day, I began to have doubts. But when the bliss returned in subsequent meditations, the doubts always vanished.
At some point every morning I was inspired to play Helen Reddy’s album, “I Am Woman," as I got ready for work. Whenever I looked in the mirror, I literally ‘saw’ myself in the role of the agency’s director. This routine went on for some weeks.
At one point I was brave enough to meet with the Director of Commerce. I told him my philosophy: that “good consumer affairs is good business. It need not be a threat.”
In short, both my boss and the Director of Commerce pledged their votes to me. I won on the third or fourth ballot when they each signaled to the others that their votes would not change.
To be clear, I did not know at the time that conceiving in bliss and gratitude—and having an unshakable confidence—was key to achievement. But I do now! This lesson has served me well for many, many years.
The movie The Secret calls this
the ‘Law of Attraction,’
Neville calls it Kabbalah’s ‘Law of Assumption.'
I call it the ‘Law of Bliss!’
Recently I shared the Law of Bliss with one of my associates. She understood immediately and told me that some 40 years ago, after 13 years of marriage and no children, she was inspired to visit fertility experts at the University of Iowa Medical Center.
Their conclusion: no possibility for pregnancy. She was devastated. Then she remembered something she had heard Maharishi say:
It’s our joy to be impossible. ²⁷
Maybe, she thought, the experts were wrong. This blissful memory gave her hope. But she didn’t stop with hope.
Soon the thought came to purchase a baby blanket. She then proceeded to rock that 'baby,' nurse it, sing to it, and cherish it day after day.
As she did so, she says she could just see a little face peek out!
She was rewarded with the birth of a son—and another son a few years later.
In another example, a little fourth-grade boy had just received a brand-new bike and was eager to ride it to school. It was quite nippy out, so before his father left for work, he made sure the boy had on a warm coat and hat.
About three-quarters of the way to school—as his mother was just finishing her prayers and meditation—he called home, sobbing. “Mother!” he cried. “My fingers are ice cold, they’re numb, and I’m scared.”
Apparently, it was cold out, and the windchill from the bike's speed made it much worse.
Did she scold him for not wearing his gloves? Did she blame his father for not making sure the boy was properly dressed? I’ll bet she was tempted!
But, no. She spontaneously declared to her son, “The warmth of divine Love is always present no matter what. You can never be out of the presence of God who is Love…”
Then the boy interrupted her. “Mother! My fingers just got warm.”
What happened here? Was it the mother’s words? Positive thinking? Mind over matter?
From the immediate results of the mother’s prayer, we glimpse that the mother had kavana, which is a Hebrew word that can mean ‘sincere feeling.’ ¹ This is really divine knowing!
These examples illustrate that the sequence
Conceive.
Believe.
Achieve.
is not a fanciful formula but a natural cognition. These women that I speak of? They had never heard of the Law of Attraction, the Law of Assumption, or the Law of Bliss.
Abrams expresses the bottom line in all of this:
What you are seeking is,
in the most extraordinary way,
seeking you too. ²⁸
Instead of asking,
‘What do I need to do
to get what I want,’ ask,
‘Who do I need to be
to…be aligned
with what I want?’ ²⁹
Remember, what you want already exists spiritually in the Field of All Possibilities!
[Conceive. Believe. Achieve.]
is not new.
It is universal law.
[This] means that, like gravity,
it just is,
and it always was. ³⁰
The student of Kabbalah learns that
Life is not happening to you,
nor for you…
Life is happening from you.
Because if life is only happening to you,
then you become a victim
of random events.
If life is happening for you,
then suffering becomes a lesson.
But if life is happening from you,
then life becomes a mirror…
of consciousness… ³¹
To engage this Law, we’re called to:
Declare the end
from the beginning. ³²
[Because] the end
of an action
is contained in the thought
[from the very first sprouting.] ³³
We can summarize the core mechanics in four points, ³⁴
As Neville Goddard says,
Consciousness is
the one and only reality. ³⁵The physical world is a projection of your inner thoughts and beliefs.
Your deepest Feeling is Key: You must feel as if you already have your desire. And you must feel gratitude!
You must Live in the End: That means to think and act as if your goal is already achieved.
Ignore Physical Evidence: Disregard current negative circumstances because they are just past thoughts materializing.
Three Key Practices
Imagine your desired end-scene while deeply relaxed right before falling asleep and upon waking. Imagination is ‘Divinity in action.’
Be alert to your mental dialogue. It must match the reality of a person who already has their desire fulfilled.
Strictly monitor and redirect negative thoughts throughout the day to maintain your assumption.
Because creation
is [complete],
what you desire
already exists.
[The Law is what]
brings the invisible
into sight.
It is nothing more
nor less
than seeing
with the eye of God. ³⁶
Waves of the Ocean
[1] see also Matthew 21:22
[2] Abiola Abrams, From Imagination to Reality: Secret Manifestation Lessons and the Law of Assumption from Abdullah, Master Alchemist (Hay House LLC, 2024), p. xix AX 9194
[4] Charles Fillmore, The Revealing Word, p. 104
[5] Nissan Dovid Dubov and Naftoli Hertz Pewzner, The Yechidah Effect, https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/6214343/jewish/3-The-Yechidah-Effect.htm 06.02.2026 AX 9374
[6] Charles Fillmore, The Revealing Word, (Unity Books), p. 56
[7] Tzvi Freeman, Poor Reception, https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/52682/jewish/Poor-Reception.htm • 10.15.20 AX 8004
[8] Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 573 AX 9400
[9] Yanki Tauber, Good Thinking, https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2492/jewish/Good-Thinking.htm 05.31.2006 AX 9367
[10] Ibid.
[11] Lisa Taylor, This Choice Matters, https://thischoicematters.co/ 06.12.2026
[12] Shneur Zalman of Liadi, Torah Ohr, AX 9388
[13]See Luke 22:42
[14] https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1292619929392877 06.03.2026 AX 9377
[15] Hebrews 11:1 AX 1394
[16] Putting Gratitude First, https://onehouse.kabbalah.com/en/articles/putting-gratitude-first/ 07.24.2026
[17] Abiola Abrams, From Imagination to Reality: Secret Manifestation Lessons and the Law of Assumption from Abdullah, Master Alchemist (Hay House LLC, 2024), p. 46 AX 9221
[18] Weekly Unity WU030911/9, AX 4084
[19] Joy Hirshberg, Desire is God’s Gift, https://www.expressionsofjoy.com/readexpressions/desire-is-gods-gift 07.27.226
[20] Abiola Abrams, From Imagination to Reality: Secret Manifestation Lessons and the Law of Assumption from Abdullah, Master Alchemist, (Hay House LLC, 2024), p. 104 AX 9238
[21] Ibid.
[22] Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, lecture 29 September 1980, Seelisberg, Switzerland per Neshret Rashidov
[23] The Secret Behind The Secret,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxvdZTUMRa8 04.21.2026 AX 9267
[24] https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/quotes/quotations/view/1138/spiritual-quotation 06.05.2026 AX 9390 9375
[25] Abiola Abrams, From Imagination to Reality: Secret Manifestation Lessons and the Law of Assumption from Abdullah, Master Alchemist, (Hay House LLC, 2024), p. 66 AX 9225
[26] Neville Goddard via Abiola Abrams, From Imagination to Reality: Secret Manifestation Lessons and the Law of Assumption from Abdullah, Master Alchemist, (Hay House LLC, 2024) pp. 100-101 AX 9235
[27] 1980 lecture by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
[28] Abiola Abrams, From Imagination to Reality: Secret Manifestation Lessons and the Law of Assumption from Abdullah, Master Alchemist, (Hay House LLC, 2024) p. xii AX 9191
[29] Ibid., p. 117 AX 9245
[30] Ibid., p. 20 AX 9211
[31] https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYnOgndIcx_/ 05.31.2026 AX 9371
[32] Isaiah 46:10
[33] Shael Siegel, Thought, Free Will, and the Shabbat Bride: Sof Ma’aseh B’machshavah Techilah, https://medium.com/@shael/thought-free-will-and-the-shabbat-bride-sof-maaseh-b-machshavah-techilah-c3eef229f869 05.31.2026 AX 9370
[34] Hector Jesus Arencibia, Kabbalah and Manifestation: How Abdullah—Neville Goddard’s Mentor—Bridged Jewish Mysticism with the Law of Assumption 17 Sep 2025, https://www.theuniverseunveiled.com/kabbalah-manifestation/ 06.10.2026
[35] Neville Goddard, The Complete Collection: The reference book by Neville Goddard with all 15 books, radio lectures, and lessons. (Fabio Mantegna, 2023), p. 136
[36] Neville Goddard, The Power of Awareness, (TarcherPerigree: 2012), p. 39 AX 9224
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