Affirmative Prayer

Affirmative Prayer
by Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins

Affirmative prayer differs from supplication or intercession. Affirmative prayers declare what we believe is ultimately true and gratitude is then stated or implied. These prayers aren’t begging God, but acknowledging that divine goodness is never withheld from us.

We affirm truth with gratitude and we expect and allow blessings to flow into our lives. For a biblical example of affirmative prayer, read the 23rd Psalm (God is my shepherd. I want for nothing. God makes me to lie down in green pastures and restores my soul…Surely, goodness and mercy follow me, etc.).

This method of prayer is also called “treatment” as it is treating/healing our attitudes to remove whatever is blocking our good from being experienced in our lives. God, being everywhere fully present and containing all that is good cannot be withholding our good from us. We, being made in God’s image, filled with God’s spirit, and part of the creation that God calls very good must surely deserve to live lives of joy, achievement, harmony, and fulfillment. So if we deserve good and God does not withhold good, there must be some sense of disconnection from God that is blocking our good (if we aren’t experiencing the best Life has to offer). We treat that sense of separation and heal our own attitudes and then we experience more good in our lives. That’s the power and purpose of affirmative prayer.

Affirmative prayer aligns our thinking with God’s will which is always for our highest Good. We affirm spiritual truth and allow it to manifest in our experience.