God didn’t tell Abraham that he would conquer Canaan, so Abraham couldn’t have gone to Canaan and tried to destroy the promised land, because that was not God’s plan. Abraham couldn’t have “spoken it into existence” or “manifested victory” for something that God did not give him. Abraham was promised an heir and would only sojourn in the land of Canaan. God said that Abraham’s “seed” (descendants) would inherit the land of Canaan. In Genesis 15:13-16, God said Abraham would die before that would happen and that the promised land would be inherited over 400 years later, after enduring persecution and enslavement. No amount of “manifesting” would have changed God’s word. We can repeat God’s word in faith because he initiated the idea and does the work, but we cannot tell God what to do. Faith begins where the will of God is known.

In John 6:28-33, the Israelites mistakenly attributed the miracles to Moses, but Jesus corrected them, stating that it was God who performed the miracles. Hearing a word from God is the first step; then, believing, receiving, speaking, and acting on it are the next steps. Proverbs 3:6 states that if we acknowledge God in all our ways, then He will direct our paths. The only reason someone would feel the need to manipulate God for their own gain is that they don’t trust him, so they have to usurp and subjugate him.

Christians are supposed to speak what God says and believe it because God says it. The whole “manifest my blessing” thing is often used as a form of modern sorcery by non-believers. People like Aleister Crowley (a new-thought teacher from the 1800s) started the “do thine own will” movement and taught that we can manipulate the universe to bend to our will. Cults like the Free Masons, Rosicrucian, and others use pseudo-biblical principles and mix ideas from the Bible with gnosticism, eastern mysticism, and sorcery. People who practice these systems are more likely to view God as a force of nature rather than a being that loves us and asks us to follow His teachings. This is why modern new-age and new-thought followers often call God the “universe” or “higher power/force.” The Dharmic religions don’t require a belief in deities because the cosmic engine of reincarnation (Dharma, Karma, and Samsara) doesn’t need supervisors. Teachings such as “The Secret”, “The Silva Method”, and “The Law of Attraction” are based on New Thought teaching. God’s word is from a being that made us, loves us, and judges us, but there are deceptive ideologies that will redefine God as a substance or resource to be manipulated for personal gain. Christians must be watchful of the “make the universe do your will” stuff and recognize it as anti-Christ since Christ is king and we don’t tell him what to do.

The thing about the Law of Attraction stuff is that it’s built on the foundation of doing things without God, so it’s a form of deception, and it’s very sneaky. They often quote the Bible to draw Christians into their theology. Keep this in mind: when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, Satan quoted Psalms 91 when he told Jesus to jump off a building (Matthew 4:5-7). Satan quotes scripture, and that’s where we need to be cautious of deception. I’m not denying God’s power for us, which is executed through our faith and speech, but God’s power for us is given through the Holy Spirit himself. In Acts 1:8, Jesus told his disciples that they would receive power to be his witnesses on the earth, and this power involved healing and deliverance, which would lead to people getting saved and fulfilling the Great Commission. The power was received on Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus rose, and that is the power that separates the church from the world. It is a belief in our hearts and a confession of faith that initiates our state of being saved and allows us to receive the promised gift of the Holy Spirit (Romans 10:8-10). However, there’s a difference between God’s power and Satan’s power. There are dark spiritual forces that have nothing to do with God, working behind the scenes, and people are getting connected to these things through deception (Eph 6:10-13, Col 2:8). Instead of “manifesting our blessing”, we should read God’s word and trust him to be our source. Our mindset should be to petition and ask God, and have faith that he will answer. Even if His answer is different from what we expect, that means it is better because He is good, He is love, and He is trustworthy, and knows all things. This combination of attributes should inspire faith in us to always talk with him through prayer and do so in faith.

If you’re saying “money cometh” but you’re not sowing any seed and following the Holy Spirit’s instructions, then nothing’s going to happen. Or if it does come, it’ll come in a sinful corrupt way. 

Proverbs 10:22 says, (NLT) “The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.

That means when God blesses us, there are no side effects and no catch, like debt. If we become entangled in dark spiritual forces, then there will be consequences. Satan can set traps designed to destroy us with the very thing we are given, think of it like a Trojan horse attack. This is why Jesus warned in the parable of the sower about the deceitfulness of riches (Mark 4:18-20). We should seek first the Kingdom (Matt 6:31-34), and this means seeking God’s face and his direction. Remember, it is when we acknowledge Him by involving Him in our decisions that He directs our paths (Proverbs 3:6). These other systems don’t involve seeking God the Father at all; instead, they treat God like a genie that grants wishes. God doesn’t grant wishes as if he is a slave to us, we are to be servants of him and to submit to HIS will from heaven to be done on earth (Matt 6:10). When we seek the Kingdom we are not trying to use the kingdom, we are simply seeking to join the kingdom and submit to its king. It is in the process of submission that we can receive the blessings He promises His children. The greatest two commandments are to love God and love our neighbor (Matt 22:34-40). Loving God means trusting him and submitting to his commands (John 14:15). The Law of Attraction stuff rejects a loving God because you can’t love a thing or substance that has no personality, instead, it is to be used and abused to get your own way no matter whom it hurts in the process.

Acts 8:9-25 features Simon the Sorcerer. Simon has been using witchcraft to manipulate people and make money. He was known as “The Great One” with “The Power Of God”. However, when Phillip shows up and heals people (in a greater way with no side effects), Simon is astonished by the power of the Holy Spirit. James and Peter showed up and ministered to people so that everyone could receive the Holy Spirit. Simon wants to purchase the power to give people the Holy Spirit so that he can profit from it, but it is not for sale because it is a gift. Peter scolds him for asking for such a thing and threatens Simon with judgment. Simon repents out of fear. God’s supernatural power is part of a package of the Holy Spirit; these are the gifts of the Spirit that Paul discusses in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, and they come freely with the Holy Spirit. Only believers get the Holy Spirit, meaning unbelievers don’t have access to these gifts (John 14:15-17, Rom 8:5-11). In John 6:63, Jesus says, “The Spirit alone gives eternal life and human effort accomplishes nothing, and his [Jesus’] words are spirit and life.” Therefore, they resort to alternative means through partnerships with unclean spirits. There is a slave woman in Acts 16:16-24, who was being used by her masters to work as a medium, and a demon in her gave her the appearance of divine powers. She was being enslaved by both humans and an unclean spirit; this is a dangerous situation to be in, and when Paul cast the demon out, she was free.

Some people go to the other extreme and deny the gifts of the Spirit, claiming that all such manifestations ceased in the first century. This is called cessationism, and it’s pretty popular in certain Christian theology movements. However, I believe the idea that God’s supernatural power is available in our lives through the Holy Spirit is based on God’s teaching and instruction, and on following the Holy Spirit. People of the world who reject Jesus do not have God’s Spirit since Jesus only promised the Spirit to his disciples (John 14:15-17). Therefore, his power is only executed through his people. In Acts 19:13-17, some Jewish exorcists were Christians, trying to use the name of Jesus to exorcise demons, but it failed. They thought the disciples were doing a technique, some sort of magic trick. They equated the name of Jesus with “abracadabra”, but that is not how this works. The authority that Jesus delegates to his followers is some through the Holy Spirit. Only God’s people have the power to be his witnesses on the earth. Anyone else is working spiritual rebels like Satan, and those who partner with him will be defeated on Judgment Day.  I will say this one more time: “The only reason someone would feel the need to manipulate God for their own gain is that they don’t trust him, so they have to usurp and subjugate him to get their way”. There is one character in the Bible who embodies this mindset: Satan.

Let’s take heed to John’s advice from 1 John 4:

1 John 4:1 (NLT) Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. 2 This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. 3 But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. 4 But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. 5 Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. 6 But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.