Scripture Prompt
Can We ‘Manifest’ Things into Existence?
A closer look at Hebrews 11:1
In 2009, Rhonda Byrne wrote the book The Secret, in which she proposed that people could bring things to pass by the three-step process of asking, believing, and receiving.
She referred to this phenomenon as “the law of attraction.” While her claim may sound like mysticism, it is loosely based on Jesus’ words in Matthew 21:22:
“And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (Matthew 21:22, ESV)
Although her book has been largely discredited by theologians and skeptics alike, the ideology still lives on. In modern culture the term “manifesting” carries this same idea; that we can visualize positive outcomes into our lives and — in doing so — we invite the positive energy that will bring about such incomes.
But shouldn’t we believe in such outcomes? Isn’t this what the Bible teaches that faith is: the assurance of things for which we hope to have?
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1, ESV)
As with all passages of Scripture, we must understand these words as the author intended them. The question is not, “What does this…
