Is there a conflict between what Mormons believe, and the principles of the law of attraction? To me that is an easy question to answer because; I believe that not only are there no conflicts between the two, but they are actually the same thing just worded differently.
For example, in the classic law of attraction book “Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting,” the author, Lynn Grabhorn, says that the way to attract anything into your life is to determine what it is that you want and then to imagine what it would feel like if you already had it. The Mormon Church, just like all other Christian churches teaches that God will bless us with the desires of our heart if we ask in faith. So whether you call it faith, or a feeling, it doesn’t really matter, does it?
And I like to compare the teaching of Mormonism and the principles of the law of attraction; because a clearer understanding of one, leads to a better understanding of the other. For example, a common misunderstanding of the law of attraction is that you just have to feel good, and suddenly everything you want will just appear. But a key component of the law of attraction is to “act as if” you already had what you want. This is perhaps better explained by the scripture that Mormons like to quote which says that “faith without works is dead.” Taking inspired action is both a gospel principle and a part of the law of attraction.
My favorite Biblical example of Christ teaching people to “act as if,” is the story of the leapers who called out to Christ, asking him to heal them. His instructions to them were to go show themselves to the Chief Priests. Why? Because it was the custom of the day that when someone was restored to health after being seriously ill, that they had to have the Chief Priest certify them as “clean” before they were aloud back into society. So Christ was telling the leapers to go ahead and do what they would do if they were healed. He was telling them to “act as if” they were healed. They acted, and they were healed.
I am a life coach who specializes in the law of attraction; I am also a practicing Mormon. And I have found that my religion is a great aid to me as a life coach. One thing that Mormons teach is that time is pretty much meaningless to God. Think about it, if God knows right now, everything that has ever happened, and everything that will ever happen, then the concept of “time” certainly changes.
And playing around with “time” is one of the best techniques that I know of to apply the principles of the law of attraction. This worked wonders with a client I was working with that was so stressed out about a major crisis in her life that it was making her physically ill. She couldn’t see HOW this crisis could possibly be resolved. So I told her that I didn’t know HOW the crisis would be resolved either, but I was certain that it would indeed be resolved over time. So I asked her to imagine that she could travel 2 weeks into the future and imagine what it would feel like to have the issue completely resolved. That didn’t work for her, so she asked if she could go 2 YEARS into the future! And when she imagined herself 2 years into the future she reported that she felt completely at peace. I told her to focus on that feeling, and trust (or have faith) that her feeling of peace would manifest itself into reality. And within 2 weeks everything was resolved and she really was at peace.
So in this example, did this woman create the solution to her problem? Or did God bless her with what she needed? Or perhaps God blessed her with the ability to create what she needed in her life. And perhaps that is why some people have trouble reconciling Mormonism (or any religion) and the law of attraction. Perhaps some people feel that the law of attraction’s teaching that WE attract what we want into our lives, leaves God out of the process. I don’t believe that to be the case at all. I believe that by blessing us with an understanding of the law of attraction, God is simply teaching us how to become more like him. And when our lives turn out just the way we design them, is God really concerned about if He gets all the credit?
