Lecture time. Today’s sermon is.. Faith!

Faith is confidence in the outcome. Faith is positive expectation. Faith is the state of mind dominated by thoughts of what you want and the knowing that it can be yours.

Faith is the state of mind induced or created by affirmations, aka repeated instructions to the subconscious mind through thoughts, words, actions, feelings, expectations. It is a state of mind that you may develop voluntarily through application and use of universal principles.

According to the Napoleon Hill Action Guide by Nightingale-Conant:

1. Faith is the starting point of all riches.

3. Faith is the only known antidote for failure.

A lack of self-confidence may be the biggest obstacle to maintaining faith in yourself. This handicap can be overcome and timidity translated into courage through the use of positive thoughts stated in writing, memorized with feeling, and repeatedly lived until they become part of your subconscious mind, your identity, you.

Self-Confidence Formula

The following is a formula for attaining and strengthening your self-confidence. Commit yourself to genuinely believing in each element of the formula and acting upon each belief.

a) Know you have the ability to achieve the objects of your definite purpose in life (what makes you come alive and feel joy); demand of yourself persistent, continuous action toward its attainment, and promise to render such action.

b) Realize that the dominating thoughts of your mind will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical action, and will gradually transform themselves into physical reality; concentrate your thoughts for 30 minutes daily upon the task of thinking of the person you intend to become, thereby creating in your mind a clear mental picture.

c) Know that through the principle of autosuggestion (self-talk) any desire that you persistently hold in your mind will eventually seek expression through some practical means of attaining the object you desire. Devote 10 minutes daily to demanding of yourself the development of self-confidence.

d) Write down a clear description of your definite chief aim in life, and never stop trying until you have developed sufficient self-confidence for its attainment.

e) Realize that no wealth or position can long endure unless built upon truth and justice; engage in no transaction which does not benefit all whom it affects. Succeed by attracting to yourself the forces you wish to use and the cooperation of other people. Induce others to serve you because of your willingness to serve others. Eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness, and cynicism by developing love for all humanity; know that a negative attitude toward others can never bring success. Cause others to believe in you, because you will believe in them and in yourself.

Sign your name to this formula, commit it to memory (if you’d like), and repeat it aloud once a day (preferably in the morning) with full faith that it will gradually influence your thoughts and actions so that you will become a self-reliant, successful person.