Ask the universe and you shall receive is a very bold promise that encapsulates one of the great truths in life.
We’ve all heard this phrase many times in some form another and it is one of the most popular quotes from The Bible.
The idea that the universe is like a “Genie in The Bottle” and we can ask anything of it with a guaranteed answer sounds too good to be true.
After all, you’ve probably asked for a lot of things that never showed up?
What gives?
Is the problem with the way you are asking? Is the problem with the very idea that you SHALL get everything you ask for?
These are really fundamental ideas to understand in more depth if you really want to understand manifesting and the law of attraction in more depth.
Do You Really Get EVERYTHING You Ask For?
Imagine a world where everything you think of instantly manifests. At first it might sound great, but then you start realizing that for every thought of what you DO want there are at least 100 thoughts of things you do NOT want.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
– Matthew 7:7 (The Bible)
The above quote from the book of Matthew is perhaps one of the most quoted verses from The Bible. It holds a great promise and highlights a great truth.
I think the problem is that many ‘believers’ interpreted it as a metaphor. From the law of attraction we know that this is not a metaphor but a universal truth.
The instant you ask for something with your will and your intention you set in motion an almighty force that starts arranging the entire universe to bring that intention into physical form.
Most of the time it is simply not powerful enough to manifest. When you have a single idea that you think over and over again you put enough energy into that thought for it to be attracted and to manifest.
It explains why most people keep attracting more of what they already have. It is their habitual thoughts and emotions that dictates what they attract.
You always get what you ask for consistently. If you look back at your life and analyze what you’ve been attracting you will see just how true this is.
Ask the universe and you shall receive. This does not mean that you shall receive instantly but what you ask for consistently through your intention is what MUST materialize in your life.
It can be no other way.
The Law Of Gestation and Getting What You Ask For
The law of gestation is a universal law that is a corollary of the law of attraction. The law of gestation or the law of incubation states that there is a time frame between conception and birth.
Every seed you plant goes through the gestation period where it will sprout and start to grow.
Everything that comes into this universe has a gestation period.
When you ask, the law of attraction immediately responds and starts this ‘growth’ process. Only if you nurture your intention will the seed of your idea grow and take shape.
If you have an intention and do not see your million dollars after 4 weeks, do you then start to bash the law of attraction and descend back into your old poverty thoughts?
Your job is to nurture your intention for however long it may take to sprout and take form. Your job is to ask and to keep asking. Be absolutely consistent in exactly what you do want.
Every negative or opposing thought will block the flow of energy that is allowing your intention to manifest.
Your job in this creative process is not to ‘make it happen’. Your job is to remain clear on what you want. Nurture your intention and keep your thoughts and emotions aligned with what you do want.
Trust.
The law of gestation has to run its course. Pay close attention to when your ideas start to sprout as that will serve as early signs that your intention is starting to manifest.
Can You Really Ask The Universe for Anything?
Can you really ask the universe and you shall receive anything? First and foremost you need to understand that to the universe there are no “big or small” things. Those are only personal judgements.
To the universe there is no difference between $1 and $1 million. Because you make the one big and impossible and the other small and insignificant, you make it either easy or hard to manifest.
The law of attraction is universal and is always working. Everything that you have in your life is a perfect reflection of what you’ve been asking the universe.
You may not be consciously aware of it, but what you currently have is a result of what you’ve been asking for – mostly subconsciously.
Consciously you may have certain goals and intentions for what you really want, but underneath those intentions are habitual thoughts and emotions that often communicate the opposite of what you really want.
Suppose you ask the universe for a million dollars. You may write this down as a goal or an intention. You may have it as an affirmation and say it out loud.
What is the thought and the emotion behind that intention?
Do you really believe that you can manifest a million dollars? What are your dominant thoughts and emotions around money and abundance?
The law of attraction CAN NOT interpret what you really mean. It simply responds to your dominant thoughts and your intentions.
In your mind you may have a clear idea of what you want to manifest but it is often muddled up in a pile of crap (aka that which you don’t want).
The law of attraction can not sift through all your thoughts to pick out the few things that you really want.
It can not tell the difference. It acts more like a mirror to reflect back to you what is inside your being (the sum of your thoughts and emotions).
How To Ask The Universe For What You Want
As human beings we are fixated on verbal communication. It is actually one of the worst ways to communicate effectively. We now know that things like body language, tonality, cadence etc. massively affect communication.
The words you use are of little value in how effectively you communicate. It is not what you say but how you say it that really matters.
Communicating to the universe is very similar.
It’s not what you ask but HOW you ask that really makes the difference between manifesting what you want or always being stuck in a state of wanting.
All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.
– Swami Vivekananda
Ask the universe and you shall receive it is no like asking a waiter for a glass of water. It is not a verbal communication (even though could be).
We do not ask the universe with words. It is that which is hidden behind the words that is the true communication with the universe.
The language of the universe is thought and feeling.
You can write and say affirmations and goals until you are blue in the face. The energy behind the words is what really asks the universe and creates the intention.
So many people will write and speak prosperity affirmations like:
I am wealthy. I am abundant. I am prosperous. etc.
While this does help, most often the energy behind those affirmations is that they do not have what they want. It comes from an energy of lack and scarcity.
1. Be Very Clear In What You Want
Imagine for a moment that you are typing to chop down a big and mighty tree with a small axe. It might take a lot of very focussed blows with this axe to eventually make your way through the tree.
Manifesting is very much like this. You need to have very specific and focussed thoughts over and over again for it to gain enough energy to manifest in your physical reality.
Imagine you use your axe to deliver a few blows here and a few blows there and then you move on to another tree that seems easier.
This is how most people go about manifesting what they want.
You need to get very clear on exactly what you want. Be very specific. The universe can not interpret or reason what it thinks you want.
When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream.
– Paulo Coelho
It simply reflects back to you what you put out energetically. If your intentions are vague and scattered then your energy is vague and scattered.
Have a single focussed intention free from conflicting ideas. Give the universe very clear instructions for exactly what you do want.
The universe can not respond to conflicting ideas. If you say you want to have $1 million
Clarity in itself will direct your focus and your attention. Think about what you really want and fix it in your mind.
Work really hard on getting very clear about what it will look and feel like to HAVE this in your life.
2. Create The Image (Visualization)
Once you get very clear on exactly what you do want it becomes much easier to visualize. Your mind does not communicate with words but with images.
Words are usually just a means to an end – with the end being a visual image in your mind. The first clue with visualization is to watch the words you use.
When you say things like ‘I am broke’ you actually proved a powerful image to your subconscious mind and that becomes a command that it responds to.
If you say you are ‘broke’ then your subconscious mind will find ways to break you. It has to. That is its job.
With the right words, visualization is easy. Far too much has been made of visualization and after The Secret most people jumped on to the idea of visualizing what they want.
Vision boards are great but unless you can internalize the image and get emotionally attached to it, it simply does not have the power to communicate with the universe what you want.
When you have a thought about your future (or your past) it instantaneously creates an image in your mind. These images are really powerful as they come with certain emotional charges.
It is the combination of the thought (the image) and the emotion that invokes the law of attraction.
It is how you ask the universe for what you want.
Unfortunately, this is also how you ask the universe for what you don’t want.
When you get clear on exactly what you DO want, build the image in your mind. Hold on to that image. Develop words and an everyday language that encourages that image in your mind.
3. Feel The Feeling
Get beyond wanting it. If you say to the universe “I want to attract my soulmate” then “wanting” your soulmate is what will be attracted into your life.
You need to reach an emotional state of “already having” your soulmate in your life for the universe to reflect back to you the actual experience in your life.
This may sound like a very subtle difference but it is actually a huge difference because it hits at the core of how you ask the universe for what you REALLY want.
Most people simply can not attract and manifest what they really want because they are fixated on WANTING it. Your energy and your attention has to be on HAVING IT and not wanting it.
The promise of ‘ask and you shall receive’ is that whatever you ask will come to you. There is no doubt if you truly believe that.
Once you can overcome that doubt you can move from ‘wanting’ to ‘having’. When you can convince your subconscious mind that what you want is already part of your reality then you remove all resistance and the law of attraction can work unimpeded.
Doubt and fear (that it might not come) is like asking for what you do not want.
We all have this amazing faculty called imagination. You can imagine yourself already having or experiencing anything.
By using and developing your imagination you can really feel and experience already having what you want to attract.
This feeling is the most powerful request you can send to the universe. This goes well beyond just having a thought of what you want.
It is an imprint of your future that acts as a direct command to your subconscious mind and it is the subconscious mind that ultimately ‘communicates’ to the universe.
4. Be Congruent
The idea of being congruent is all about arranging every aspect of your life to align with what you intend to manifest.
One powerful idea that I have adopted in my own life is this: for things to get better, I have to get better. For things to change I have to change.
When you have this attitude you start assuming responsibility for your life. This also gives you back your power.
Your life is no longer at the mercy of outside forces.
The idea of being congruent relates closely to this. When you ask the universe for what you want you need to go beyond just the asking.
You need to deliberately make an effort to alter yourself in such a way that ALL your thoughts and actions are congruent with what you want to manifest.
Don’t spend 15 minutes visualizing and affirming what you want and then descend back into your old ways that are not in harmony with what you asked for.
You need to develop a new awareness and self regulate your thoughts and emotions.
Remember that it is your dominant thoughts and emotions that are constantly doing the asking.
5. Gratitude
The idea to ask the universe and you shall receive includes two important components. There is the asking AND there is the receiving.
When you ask it’s given and the law of attraction immediately draws it into your life. Unless you are open and receptive you can not allow it into your life.
The best way to ‘allow’ and to open yourself up to receive is through gratitude.
Gratitude is the energy that opens your heart and mind and allows what you want to come to you.
When your thoughts are on what you do not have it closes the door. When your thoughts are on what you DO have, you open the door.
Gratitude is a powerful way of controlling and directing your energy. You can deliberately choose a grateful thought.
You can never be truly grateful for something without seeing an immediate shift in your energy. The instant you feel gratitude your emotions shift and along with that you thoughts shift.
6. Quiet Your Mind
Our lives are bombarded with noise. Our phones serve as a constant distraction and social media has become an addiction for most people.
Our conscious attention is being pushed and pulled in a thousand directions from the second we wake up until we fall asleep.
To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.
– Lao Tzu
When you ask the universe and you shall receive but you shall not receive if your mind can not remain focussed on what you do want.
A quiet mind is calm and focussed. When your mind is filled with noise and chatter it breeds anxiety and negativity.
Make time to quiet your mind. Dedicate 10 to 15 minutes 2 to 3 times a day where you can just close your eyes and focus only on your breathing.
You can use formal meditation techniques or just close your eyes and focus on your breathing. This will help you empty your mind and free yourself from all the noise that is doing nothing more than distracting you.
Only when you quiet your mind can you truly gain perspective on your life. It allows you to separate what you do not want from what you do want.
