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Chapter Three

The Vacuum Law of Prosperity

You have heard it said that Nature abhors a vacuum. It is particularly true in the realm of prosperity. The vacuum law of prosperity is one of the most powerful, though it takes bold, daring faith to set it into operation, as well as a sense of adventure and expectation to reap its full benefits. When a person is honestly trying to be prosperous, is thinking along prosperous lines and still fails, it is usually because he needs to invoke the vacuum law of prosperity.

Basically, the vacuum law of prosperity is this: If you want great good, greater prosperity in your life, start forming a vacuum to receive it! In other words, get rid of what you don’t want to make room for what you do want. If there are clothes in the closet or furniture in your home or office that no longer seem right for you; if there are people among your acquaintances and friends that no longer seem congenial–begin moving the tangible and intangibles out of your life, in the faith that you can have what you really want and desire. Often it is difficult to know what you do want until you get rid of what you do not want.

Let Go of the Lesser

Inevitably, in your life experiences you will find that, when the good you wish has not appeared, it is usually because you need to release and let go of something to make room for it. New substances do not flow easily into a cluttered situation. If you want greater good in your life, what are you letting go of or getting rid of to make room for it? Nature does abhor a vacuum, and when you begin moving out of your life what you do not want, you automatically are making way for what you do want. By letting go of the lesser, you automatically make room for your greater good to come in.

Recently a couple used this vacuum law of prosperity in furnishing their new home. From their former home they brought only the furniture they really liked and felt appropriate for the new atmosphere. They fearlessly gave away a great deal of their old furniture and simply left bare spaces in their new home, visualizing those spaces filled with the kind of furniture they definitely wanted. For a while, nothing seemed to happen but they remained steadfast to their vision of beautiful, appropriate new furniture.

Then one day the husband, who works for a large company, was placed on a merit point system. As he produced certain prosperous results for his company his points of merit increased; these points could be applied toward a number of tangible rewards, one of which was furniture.

A businessman had been trying for a number of months to sell his home because he was being transferred to another state. He heard about the vacuum law of prosperity and realized that though he had earnestly desired to sell his home for a number of months, he had done nothing to form a vacuum of any kind through which his desired good could begin manifesting. And so he sat down quietly in his study one day and mentally pictured each room of the house as empty, just as it would look after the house had been sold and be had moved out. He visualized a vacuum of emptiness everywhere. He then made notes concerning the furniture mover he desired to handle the moving and mentally worked out all the detailed plans of the move, just as though the house was already sold. Within a few days a buyer appeared who liked everything about the house and gave him a check for the thousands of dollars equity, as well as for the down payment involved.

Form a Vacuum for Health

Whenever you dare to form a vacuum, the substance of the universe then rushes in to fill that empty space. This applies on the spiritual, mental and physical planes of life. A businessman got very sick and for weeks was under his physician’s care. Every possible thing was done for him medically by his doctor, a very fine physician. But it all seemed to no avail; this man just got weaker and weaker. It seemed that his body was filled poison and nothing seemed to dissolve it. Finally, one night, perspiring from a high fever and deep cough, this man finally remembered the vacuum law and realized that there must be some thing he needed to release. Since he knew that the mind and emotions have such a powerful effect on the body, perhaps there was some mental attitude or emotional feeling that had to go, to help eradicate his pain, fever, and weakness.

He became very quiet and silently asked Divine Intelligence to reveal to him what he needed to release. Suddenly he began to think of a person against whom he had been holding a strong grudge. He had said a number of unkind things about this person and had gone to great lengths to hurt him. He then mentally reviewed the events between them that had caused the grudge and his later desire to hurt that person. As he honestly thought about it, he realized that the other person may not have known that his feelings had been hurt from the events that took place; and that perhaps there was no reason for him to hold a grudge at all. (There never is!)

As he lay in bed with a high fever, he began to declare over and over: I fully and freely forgive you. I loose you and let you go. So far as I am concerned, that incident between us is finished forever. I do not wish to hurt you. I wish you no harm. I am free and you are free and all is again well between us. In a little while a feeling of peace, quietness, and release came over him. For the first time in many nights he slept peacefully. The next morning his fever was gone, and his physician declared that the poison had miraculously left his system overnight. At long last he was on the road to recovery. Through forgiveness, this man had formed the vacuum needed so that new life could restore his body to health and his mind to peace.

Forgiveness is the Answer

Most folks are afraid of the word “forgive,” thinking that it means they must do something unpleasant and dramatic; but the word simply means to “give for”–to let go of old ideas, feelings or conditions and to give something better in their place. The “giving-for” process forms a vacuum and makes way for new good to rush in.

I have discovered from talking with hundreds of people about their problems and from corresponding with hundreds more that inevitably, when a stubborn problem does not yield, it is because there is a need for forgiveness. I have further discovered that if only one person connected with the problem will start the action of forgiveness, all concerned will respond, be blessed and the solution will come.

For instance, a very wealthy woman became involved in a legal tangle over some of her deceased husband’s business property. It was all very embarrassing to her because the defendant in the court case whom she was suing was a former family friend. In great distress she attended a prayer group one night and poured out her plight to those present. To her dismay, however, the prayer group members did not become upset about her problem at all; nor did anyone seem particularly sympathetic. In fact, they completely surprised her by saying that her problem would be solved if she would forgive the man whom she was suing. Aghast, she replied, “Forgive him? I only wanted you to pray that I would win against him in this court case. He has done such terrible things!” But the prayer group stood firm. She left in disgust but returned the next week and was again assured that forgiveness could solve everything. For many days after that she began to consider seriously the power of forgiveness. One day as she was driving along in her car thinking of this former family friend with whom she was now at law, she cried out, “Lord, I humanly cannot forgive that man. But if You can, please forgive him through me.” Suddenly a feeling of great peace came, and she then gave thanks for it and dismissed the matter from her mind.

A few days later this man came into town and went to see her lawyer. He asked her lawyer if he might pay her a personal visit. Hesitantly, the lawyer replied, “I suppose so, but it will do you no good. If you want to settle this case, you will have to deal with me as her attorney.” The defendant replied, “Oh, I do not wish to visit this lady to talk about the court case. I wish to visit her simply because we were once friends, and I always greatly admired her husband. I would just like to see her as in former times and talk of old times.” And so in a friendly way he paid his call, during the course of which, the subject of the court case finally arose. They amicably agreed to settle the matter quietly out of court to the mutual satisfaction of all concerned. Thus, the power of letting go of fixed ideas, attitudes and opinions, which make way for more pleasant experiences.

A Forgiveness Technique

Here is a forgiveness technique that can form a vacuum for whatever good your life seems to need just now: Sit for half an hour every day and mentally forgive everyone that you are out of harmony with, feel badly toward or are concerned about. If you have accused anyone of injustice, if you have discussed anyone unkindly, if you have criticized or gossiped about anyone, if you are legally involved with anyone, mentally ask their forgiveness. Subconsciously, they will respond. In like manner, if you have accused yourself of failure or mistakes, forgive yourself. Forgiveness can form the vacuum that will undam your prosperity and success. Mentally declare to others: God’s forgiving love has set us free. Divine Love now produces perfect results and all is again well between us. I behold you with the eyes of love and I glory in your success, prosperity and complete good. It is good to declare for yourself: I am forgiven and governed by God’s Love alone and all is well. I once talked with a lady who was having great difficulty in her marriage. Her husband was on the brink of losing a very fine job because of his drinking and instability. When I suggested that she let go those ideas about her husband and form a vacuum for greater good to come to them by forgiveness, she self-righteously declared, “There is no reason for me to try forgiveness. There is nothing to forgive. I love my husband!”

But I suggested that some kind of vacuum obviously needed to be formed; that there was much about their situation that she would like to be free of; and that perhaps it was not her husband she needed to forgive, but that all of us need to practice forgiveness every day because of many negative, subconscious attitudes stored in our emotions of which we are are not even consciously aware.

Rather reluctantly, she finally agreed to sit for half an hour every day and practice forgiveness. Later, she declared in amazement that the names of people she had long forgotten came to her during those times, and that unpleasant or unhappy experiences of the past floated up in her memory. To all of these she declared words and thoughts of freedom, release and forgiveness, as well as for and concerning her husband’s recent behavior. As she began to feel relieved and freed of a lot of old, half-buried, hostile emotions and attitudes, her husband’s drinking ceased. He began to work very hard in his job again. And success came in such a big way that she was even able to stop working and provide a beautiful home for her husband, which had long been their desire. Thus, the power of forgiveness.

Releasing is Magnetic

Are you clinging to the thought of how some troublesome situation in your life can be made right, what shape and form the solution should take? Then release, loose, let go. Declare to the situation or personalities involved: I release, loose, let go and let God. Do not be fearful of letting go. Nothing can ever be lost through spiritual release. Instead, your own good and the good of all concerned is much freer to move into your life. Through release, your power of attracting good is greatly increased. One word of caution here about attitudes toward the tangible things you release. I once felt led to go through my closet and give away most of the clothes therein to my sister. These clothes were perfectly good but I had tired of them, and no new clothes had recently appeared, so I felt by passing them on, I was making way for the new clothes.

After mailing these clothes to her, I felt happy and expectant about the new clothes I was so sure would manifest. But for a number of weeks nothing happened. Finally I realized that I was still mentally hanging on to the clothes I had sent her, thinking, “If I had that dress or suit I sent Sis, I would wear it today.” It was then necessary for me to re-release what I thought I had already released. In my mind I went over every item I had sent her and declared to each individual piece of clothing mentally: I fully and freely release you. I completely loose you and let you go. So far as I am concerned you have served your purpose in my wardrobe and I no longer need you. You are now in your perfect place. Thereafter, new and more beautiful clothes appeared very fast in my closet!

It was as though a “magnetic influence” had gone to work for me. A friend who knew nothing of my empty closet, quietly came to me and said, “I have some money I wish to share with you. When I prayed about what to do with this particular amount, the only thought that kept coming to me was that I should give it to you, perhaps for some clothes. You appear well-supplied with clothes, but the thought persisted and so here it is with my blessing.” That started the flow of substance which then came to me from here, there and everywhere. Some articles I had written had not been accepted and so in a doubtful but hopeful mind I had revised them, weeks earlier, and re-submitted them. Now they were accepted and I was paid. Several people saw items while shopping and thought, “That looks like Catherine.” They purchased them for me as gifts. In each instance, it was items of clothing I had been mentally imaging as hanging in that closet! One friend back home went on a shopping trip there. We had not corresponded in some time, so she had no conscious way of knowing about the empty closet. Nevertheless, packages arrived with gifts of clothing for me resulting from her shopping trip. She wrote later, “I just kept ‘getting the feeling’ you could use those various items, and somehow I could not resist getting them for you. I shall be very happy if you can use them.” I learned quite a lesson from this experience. None of this happened until I freely released the clothes I had sent my sister. A gift that is not freely released after being given is not a gift at all. If you cannot give freely, don’t bother. But if you do give, be sure you graciously release what you have given. Otherwise, no good has been done; no vacuum has been formed.

Use the Substance at Hand

Another way of invoking the vacuum law of prosperity is by using your present visible substance without withholding it, thereby making way for new prosperity to flow to you. However, you have to do this in a certain attitude of mind in order to produce rich results.

When there does not seem enough prosperity on hand to meet present needs or when you seem blocked in attaining greater prosperity, take control of the situation; take control in your thoughts and feelings. Rather than feeling helpless, defenseless, or sorry for yourself, declare to those financial appearances: Peace, be still.

Take your wallet, checkbook or other tangible evidences of financial supply in your hands and declare concerning them: You are even now filled with the rich bounty of God who supplies my every need now. Then is the time to fearlessly and boldly use the substance they contain as far as it will go in the present situation. If there are bills to be paid, do not wait until “enough money” comes in to pay all of them, but go right ahead in faith and pay those you can. That is breaking the substance on hand and sending it forth, so that it can multiply.

Look Up! Toward Prosperity

Establishing and maintaining a prosperous attitude just as though your bounty was already completely visible is important at this point. This is not the time to talk lack, to withhold, or to practice stringent economy. Instead, this is the time to use up to the last of your financial assets to the last penny–if necessary. If you withhold, talk about financial lack at this point, it will cost you double. Instead, look up mentally and give thanks for the substance you already have to send out. Then boldly send it forth with a rich flourish and a rich blessing. Joyously declare: This is the bounty of God and I send it forth with wisdom and joy. When you “look up,” regardless of appearances to the contrary, you are always provided for!

Perhaps the person who taught me the most about this phase of the vacuum law of prosperity is a quiet, unassuming housewife who constantly “looks up,” boldly sending forth the money in her pocketbook with a rich flourish. Unfailingly, she is provided for in opulent ways.

Several years ago she became interested in beautifying the church in which I was then serving. Quietly, she came to me and suggested various improvements she would like to make, assuring me that she had “private funds” to do this. It was months later that I learned the “private funds “she had were her own grocery money, which she generously used for some lovely items for the church.

In that way she began to send forth with a rich flourish the money she had. As she continued to “look up,” her every private need was met. New channels of supply opened to her and her husband in most unexpected ways, so that for the first time in her life she employed a maid, received gifts of a new car and a monthly allowance.

As for the church redecoration, it “snow-balled” and many rich gifts then came, all because one housewife dared to quietly “look up” and use the substance at hand boldly, fearlessly, richly–even if that substance was her own grocery money. It overwhelms me even now to realize what faith she has had in the vacuum law of prosperity, and what rich results she continues to experience. She has often said that she has had no financial need that has not been met, since she began forming a vacuum.

Put Your Best Foot Forward

Another way to “look up” regardless of financial appearances is to put your best foot forward. Wear your best clothes; ‘look your best’. Live as richly as possible on what you already have. I recall once needing new clothes for a conference I was required to attend, but there seemed no money on hand for new clothes. When I prayed about the matter, I got the feeling that I should begin wearing my very best clothes in order to help me feel rich. Every day for almost a week I wore my best dress, over and over. One day a gift of money was sent to me for some services I had rendered in the past. Of course, I immediately shopped for the desired new clothes.

When you have released, let go, and formed a vacuum for new prosperity, that is the time to do whatever you can to effect the rich feeling, the rich atmosphere, the rich look with your present substance. Mention the apparent lack or vacuum to no one. Speaking of economic lack and limitation keeps many people in the poorhouse financially. Never think of yourself as poor or needy. Do not talk about hard times or the necessity for strict economy. Do not think how little you have, but how much you have.

As you form a vacuum and let go of what you do not want; as you use your present visible supply to meet the immediate needs as best you can, not withholding it; and as you live as richly as possible in the face of appearances–the rich results will begin to come forth. Almost mysteriously, new channels of supply will appear to meet your needs. You will discover other financial assets in your midst, of which you were previously unaware, to meet your needs. Other people will unknowingly do things to add to your supply, too.

In quietness and confidence is your strength when there is a need for greater prosperity, if you dare to “look up,” bless, and break the substance at hand in whatever ways seem best. Always ask for divine guidance concerning the practical as well as the spiritual ways in which you may form a vacuum for new prosperity when these financial needs loom upon you. Don’t get panicky; this is just further opportunity for you to prove that the invisible laws of prosperity can produce visible, satisfying results. This is just your initiation in the power of prosperous thinking.

If you learn how to form a vacuum for new good early in your conscious development of prosperous thinking, then you do not panic at financial challenges, but know you can and shall meet them victoriously and be much richer in the long run for having learned how to use the invisible laws of supply to meet visible needs.

Often when you are forming a vacuum by using what you have, you find that the amount on hand is sufficient; that too much is wasted or spoiled; and that that amount which at first seems small or even insufficient, becomes adequate as you use it fearlessly. It even seems to supply you during that period when no more substance immediately appears, if you continue to use it fearlessly, and in the faith that every need is being met.

Make Room for Your Good

We all want better financial conditions and we should have them. Here is the way to obtain them: Do not talk about financial lack, but begin thinking in terms of the rich, universal abundance that is everywhere. Then learn to let go, to give up, to make room for the things you have prayed for, worked for and so strongly desire. As you give up and cast away old ideas, attitudes, old possessions, and put in their place new ideas of prosperity and progressive achievement, your conditions will steadily improve. You always want something better than you now have. It is the urge of progress. Just as children outgrow their clothes, you outgrow former ideals, broadening your horizons of life as you advance.

There must be constant elimination of the old to keep pace with this growth. When you cling to the old, you hinder your advance or stop it altogether.

Why not dare to form a vacuum now, and invite that complete prosperity and success which you have so yearned to experience and which is divinely meant for you?