Expecting to Receive

Catherine Ponder, Unity minister and prosperity guru, has often written it is natural and appropriate to expect to receive when we give. Because it is a process, two sides of the same coin so to speak, we simply cannot give without receiving. So while we don’t give just so we can receive, it is perfectly fine to expect to receive.

Recently I was reflecting on this and realized that expectation was an area I needed to work on. As I’ve expressed recently, financial prosperity has not freely flowed to me over the past several years, despite my doing all I knew to do as well as I knew how to do it. Because it’s been a struggle for me, I don’t have joyful anticipation of good flowing to me when I start a new endeavor. I need to change this.

One tool we can use to change our attitudes, beliefs, and feelings (or consciousness) is affirmations, positive, present tense statements. Here is a series of affirmations or an affirmative prayer I’ve written and begun using to shift my consciousness:

I expect to receive. Because I give, I expect to receive. Because God is good, I expect to receive. Seeing God’s abundance in all of creation, I expect to receive. Because the Universe is unlimited, I expect to receive. Because Jesus promised, I expect to receive. Remembering that God knows my every need, I expect to receive. Because it is the Father’s good pleasure to give me the kingdom, I expect to receive. As a child of God, I expect to receive. Because I have set the intention, I expect to receive. Because God is faithful, I expect to receive. As I stay in the flow, I expect to receive. Because I am grateful, I expect to receive. Because God loves me, I expect to receive. Knowing the Universe abhors a void, I expect to receive. Remembering all that I have received in the past, I expect to receive. Because I am prepared, I expect to receive. Because I cannot help but receive, I expect to receive. Because I have absolute faith in the goodness of God, I expect to receive. I joyfully, gratefully expect to receive. It is now a habit: I expect to receive.

Why We Need to Be Skillful Receivers

Do you think it’s important to learn to receive comfortably, with grace and ease? Or do you believe that as long as you’re a good giver, that’s all that really matters? After thinking about this for several months now, I’ve concluded that we absolutely must learn to receive well. We simply cannot provide all we need to ourselves by ourselves. We must rely on others, so receiving is not an option. And because giving and receiving go hand-in-hand, the more we give, the more we will be confronted with receiving. Why not accept it and receive the good that comes your way with gratitude and joy.

Prosperity guru and Unity minister, Catherine Ponder, explains in her classic book, The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity, that to live without prosperity is to live abnormally. This intrigued me the first time I read it. She says we cannot live fully on the physical, mental, or spiritual planes of life without prosperity. To live completely we need a roof over our heads and food to eat; rest and recreation; satisfying, creative mental pursuits that incorporate books, art, music, and travel; and quiet time for prayer, meditation, and association with others on our spiritual path. As I thought about it, this made sense to me. I believe that God created us, that God is good all the time, and that God wants only the highest and best for us, as any loving parent does for his or her children. So of course God wants us to live fully in every sense of our lives. And to do all the things I just listed, we must be able to receive the good things that come our way.

Another reason to learn to receive well is so we can develop our perception of life and God accurately. We may say that we believe God meets our every need, but if we don’t receive what’s provided, our needs will not be met and our faith will be shaken. It’s like that popular story preachers tell about the faith-filled old man who got caught in a flood. As the water rose, he stood on his front steps and turned down an offer to climb into a row boat, saying that God would save him. With the waters rising, from the balcony of his second floor, he again refused a ride in a motor boat, asserting the same belief. Finally, standing on his rooftop he motioned a helicopter away, certain that God would save him. Eventually he stood at the gates of heaven where God greeted him. “What happened?” the man asked incredulously. “You tell me,” God replied. “I sent a row boat, a motor boat, and a helicopter!”

To get what we need and want and live the life God intended, we must be more than filled with faith. We must cultivate the ability to receive well.