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Do you know what is the most important lesson in the whole Bible? Do you know what principle was considered so vital that God is said to have used it on three of the six days of creation, and it is repeated no less than six times in the first chapter of Genesis alone? Just this:

“Everything Reproduces After Its Kind!”

Go back over the miracles of increase in the Bible. What do you find? When the widow of Zarephath gave Elijah her oil and meal, what did she get? MORE OIL AND MEAL, did she not? Not gold, or riches, but INCREASE AFTER ITS KIND.

When another widow begged Elisha to save her sons from bondage, he asked—“What hast thou in the house?” And when told—“Naught save a pot of oil,” it was the oil he increased, was it not?

When the multitude lacked for bread and the Apostles asked Jesus what they should do, He did not turn the stones into bread, or bring forth gold with which to buy. No, He asked—“How many loaves have you ?” And when told five, and two fishes, He based His increase upon them.

You see, it all comes back to terms of electrical energy, for what is energy but power, and what are personality, skill, ability, riches, but different forms of power? If you want to increase your stock of these, what must you do? Put them to work, must you not? Put them out at interest, as in the parable of the talents. No energy ever expanded until it was released. No seed ever multiplied until it was sown. No talent ever increased until it was used.

You want more power, more riches, greater ability, a wider field of usefulness. How are you going to get them? Only by putting out at interest that which you have!

And the way to do this lies—NOT in working for riches as such—BUT FOR INCREASE IN THE FORM OF ENERGY YOU HAVE!

Now, what have YOU in the house? What seed can you plant, what service can you give?

In Weekly Unity some years ago, there was the story of a mother who had been well-to-do, but had lost everything and was now hard put to it to provide food and clothing for her small boys. It was near Christmas, and she was bewailing to a friend the fact that she could buy no gifts for her children, much less remember old friends and relatives.

The friend smiled. “Money is not what you need,” she told her. “Can money buy the gifts that live in your heart? If I were in your place, I should stop repining and, instead, seek the guidance of your Inner Self.”

The mother took the advice, and one night, as she dropped off to sleep after having prayed for guidance, she saw a beautiful tree, lighted with tapers, and beneath each light hung a small envelope. As she looked more closely, she saw that the names written on the envelopes were those of friends and relatives to whom she longed to give.

Opening one of the envelopes, she found a piece of blank paper and she seemed to hear a voice saying: “Write, and let that which you write bear witness of Me. As you write, give from your heart the treasures that are stored there in My name. I will fulfill every blessing according to your word.”

The mother woke, and going immediately to her desk, began to write her blessings. She wrote words of life and wholeness for an aunt who had been bound with rheumatism for months; words of courage for an uncle who was having a difficult time with his farm; words of guidance for a young cousin who had seemed to lose her way a bit. Inspired by that Inner Self, she wrote ten blessings that night.

She had never thought that she could write, but her own heart thrilled at the beauty of the words that came to her, and she was lifted up by their power and simplicity. “Don’t ever again say you have nothing to give,” one of her friends told her later. “I never received so richly in all my life.” And throughout the years, the blessings that this mother gave out have continued to bear fruit.

“Give me gold,” prayed Levesco, “that I may be helpful, not helpless. Give me gold that I may taste the pure joy of making others happy. Give me gold that I may see the beauties of this world in moments of leisure. Give me gold that I and mine may be secure in our declining years.”

A worthy prayer, indeed. But prayer alone is not enough. You must plant the seed before you can hope to reap the harvest. You must give before you can get.

“DO THE THING,” said Emerson, “and you shall have the power. But they who do not the thing, have not the power. Everything has its price, and if the price is not paid—not that thing but something else is obtained. And it is impossible to get anything without its price.

“For any benefit received a tax is levied. In nature nothing can be given—all things are sold.

“Power to him who power exerts.”

Russell Conwell, the famous lecturer, who built the Baptist Temple in Philadelphia and founded Temple University, was in the beginning merely the pastor of a very poor flock. His congregation consisted of working people, and many of them were in need. So he was continually offering prayers for money.

One Sunday, it occurred to him that the old Jewish custom had been to make a gift or offering first, and then pray for what you wanted. So he announced that the following Sunday, he would reverse his usual method of procedure. Instead of offering his prayer first, he would first take up the collection, and he wanted all who had special favors to ask of God to give freely as an “Offering.” We quote the result from “Effective Prayer”:

“The question was asked afterward if anyone who made a special offering on that particular day had not been answered, and there was no exception in the mass of testimony to the efficiency of each prayer that day, The recitals of the marvels which followed that prayerful offering were too startling for general belief. The people had complied with the conditions, and God had answered clearly according to His promise. They had brought the tithes into the storehouse, and the Lord had poured out the blessings as an infallible result.

“Cases of sudden and instantaneous recovery of the sick were related by hundreds. One poor man whose child was insane prayed for her recovery. That afternoon when he went to the sanitarium, she met him in her right mind.

“A lady sold her jewelry and brought the proceeds as an offering as she prayed for healing from sciatic rheumatism. She fell going from the Church, and arose to find the rheumatism gone.

“One old gentleman involved in a ruinous lawsuit brought all the profits of the previous week and deposited them as he prayed for a just outcome. Within the week, the suit was withdrawn.

“A woman with an overdue mortgage on her home determined to risk all on one prayer, and gave all she had as she prayed. When plumbers came to repair a leak the following week, they discovered a loose board in the floor under which her father had hidden all his money. The sum was more than enough to pay off the mortgage in its entirety.

“There were probably fifty such cases.”

You have to sow before you can reap. You have to give before you can get. And when you sow, when you give, you must give freely, with no strings to it. As Jesus put it—“Except a kernel of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it beareth much fruit.”

You remember the old-fashioned hand-pumps that are still to be found on many farms. To start them, you had to pour in a bucket of water, in order to create a vacuum and thus be able to draw water from the well. The same principle applies in using a siphon. You pour in water to drive out the air and create a vacuum. Once the vacuum is formed, your water flows, and you can get unlimited quantities of it without having to give more. But you get none from pump or siphon until you first give some.

You must give to get. You must sow the seed you have before you can reap the harvest. You cannot merely lend it. You must GIVE it, freely and fully. “Except a kernel of wheat fall into the ground and DIE,” said the Master. Except your seed of riches be given freely and fully, you get nothing from it. “But if it die, it beareth much fruit.” If it be dead to you—if it is gone beyond hope of return, then you can look for a harvest.

“He that findeth his life shall lose it,” said the Master on another occasion, “but he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it.” He that gives all he has in the service of his fellows shall find that in so doing, he has planted seeds which will bring him a harvest of happiness and plenty.

You have probably read the story of Charles Page, as given in the American Magazine a few years ago. Page was then a millionaire oil operator in Oklahoma, but a few years before he had little or nothing, and his wife was so sick he feared he was going to lose her as well. The surgeons at the hospital had given up hope for her, so as all other avenues seemed closed, Page turned to God.

“Oh, Lord,” he prayed, “don’t take her away from me. I just couldn’t bear it.”

The words rang in his ears—and they had an empty ring. As a prayer, it seemed to fall flat. Why should the Lord interfere for him, if the only reason he could offer was that he couldn’t bear it? Plenty of husbands just as devoted as he had lost their wives. Why should the Lord specially favor him?

The thought came home to him with the power of a blow. What had he ever done that the Lord should go out of His way to help him? What reason had he to look for special consideration from above? None! He’d been a decent enough citizen, but no more so than the average, and kneeling there he couldn’t recall a single thing he had done which would entitle him to ask favors from the Lord.

The thought appalled him. What chance had he? Must he then lose the one dearest to him in all the world, just because he had never done enough to be worthy of keeping her? No! No! That was unthinkable. It wasn’t too late. He would start that very minute. What was it the Master had said? “Whatsoever ye do unto the least of these My brethren, ye do it unto Me.”

The next morning a poor widow was in transports of joy to find under her doorsill money enough to carry her safely through the winter.

But that evening inquiry at the hospital elicited the information that Page’s wife was no better. For a little his faith faltered. Then, as he thought back over the reason for his act, it flamed up anew. Why had he helped the widow? Not because he was interested in her welfare, not even because it was the right thing to do, but because he was trying to buy off the Lord. Thinking of it in that light, it sounded ridiculous. He got down on his knees again.

“I ain’t makin’ a bargain with You, God,” he promised. “I’m doin’ this because it’s the right thing for me to do.”

This time it seemed to him his message carried. He felt strangely cheered and relieved. His prayer had gone through.

Now comes the remarkable part of this incident. His wife, much to the astonishment of the surgeons, took a turn for the better, and within a comparatively short time was well!

From that day to this, Charles Page has never failed in his Covenant with God. Times there were when everything looked black. Times when it meant a real struggle to find the Lord’s share. But his faith never faltered. He knew if he did his part, he could depend upon God for His.

For a long time, he gave a tenth of all his earnings. Then he increased it to a fourth. Later to a half, and finally to all except what he needed for personal and family expenses. He has given away literally millions.

“But don’t get the idea,” he warns, “that I’m telling you how to get rich. It’s the giving, not the getting, that is important. Personally, I believe that it’s only playing fair to tithe, or give a part of your income to God. But it must be a gift, not an investment. Do you get the difference? If you tithe in the right spirit, you will get your reward just as sure as a gun’s iron; but the reward may not come in the form of money. Often it’s something far better than money . . .”

“What you keep to yourself you lose,” wrote Munthe. “What you give away, you keep forever.” And Irene Stanley expressed much the same thought in her little poem—

“You have to let go of the rung below

When you reach for the round above.

There is no other way to climb, you know,

You have to let go of the rung below.

Each upward step brings more of the glow

And warmth of the Sun of Love,

You have to let go of the rung below,

When you reach for the round above.”

You see, God incarnates Himself through you. But He cannot be shut up. He must be given out, expressed. You put Him into everything you do, whether towards failure or success. You are inseparable from the creative force. You are part of the fountain head of supply.

What then must you do to win riches and success? GIVE ! Give freely of what you have.

“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again ”—Luke 6:38.

Does that require too great faith? You do not marvel at the farmer who freely throws all his seed into the ground, knowing he will never see it again, but must depend upon its fruit for his increase. He shows perfect faith. Should you show less ?

Remember the first Law of Life, the law that was considered so important that it was repeated six times in the first Chapter of Genesis:

“Everything increases after its kind ”

Do you expect that law to be changed for you? Do you expect to reap without sowing? “There is that scattereth and increaseth yet more,” said that wisest of ancient sages, King Solomon. “And there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.

“The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that water-eth, shall be watered himself.”

You see, Life is logical. Life follows definite, fundamental laws. One of these laws is that you reap as you sow, that “He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed.”

For all motion is cyclic. It circulates to the limit of its possibilities and then returns to its starting point. Thus any unselfish expenditure of energy returns to you laden with gifts. Any unselfish act done for another’s benefit is giving part of yourself. It is an outward flow of power that completes its cycle and returns laden with energy.

Everything we get, we pay for—good or bad. Personal gain comes through impersonal service. Personal loss comes through selfishness.

As Emerson puts it—“A perfect equity adjusts its balance in all parts of life. Every act rewards itself

Any act of ours that injures another, separates us from God. Any act of ours that helps others, brings us closer to God and Good. One may think that his cheating of another is a sccret between them, but by his cheating, he has shaken the trust of another in human brotherhood and damaged his idealism. Isn’t that a definite affront that is going to stand between him and God when the one who cheated tries to enlist God’s help in enlarging the activities of his own life?

Wouldn’t it have been better to say to himself: “God gives me all my money. Surely He has given me enough for all the needs of my business, or if He hasn’t already given it, it is on the way. If I need more, He will give me more. So I am not even going to think about trying to make ‘easy money’ by taking advantage of others. God provides me with plenty, and I am going to run this business as if He were always here beside me.”

One on God’s side is a majority. You are always together with God. So make Him an active partner in your business. Look to Him for its needs, give the same loving service you feel that He would give. Then cast off all worries, all fears, and put your business lovingly in His hands. When the future looks dark, when problems confront you, just say to yourself:

“God lights the way; no more I grope,

Nor stumble on in troubled hope.

I sow no seeds of care and strife;

But those of love, and joy, and life.

No more I strive to plan my lot;

The Father fills my cup unsought.”

What is the Unpardonable Sin? What but damming the sources of God’s supply. What but trying to shut up the God in you, trying to keep Him from expressing Himself.

When the giant monsters of antiquity ceased developing, and depended upon their size and strength and fierceness, they perished. When the vast Empires of China and Greece and Persia and Rome stopped reaching out and tried merely to hold what they had, they died. When the rich man or big business of today stops giving service and merely hangs on to his fortune, he loses it.

You cannot stand still. You must go forward—or die. There is a God in you seeking expression- You cannot keep Him shut up. You must give Him channels through which to express Himself, or He will rend you and come out of you.

What would you think of a man who spent years in developing great muscles, then tried to keep them great by not using them, by not wearing them out? You’d call him a fool, wouldn’t you, because everyone knows that the only way to develop muscles is to use them, the only way to keep them strong is to continually exercise them.

What everyone does not seem to know is that all of life works in the same way. You cannot hold on to anything good. You must be continually giving—and getting. You cannot hold on to your seed. You must sow it—and reap anew. You cannot hold on to riches. You must use them and get other riches in return.

The Unpardonable Sin is to stand in the way of progress, try to stop the cycle of life.

You must give to get. You must sow to reap. The unprofitable servant in Jesus’ parable was not the first or the only one to be cast into outer darkness where is weeping and gnashing of teeth, from burying his talent. The ones who became rulers over many things were those who freely used what they had—who started riches flowing!

So when a “talent” is given you, don’t try to hide it away or bury it. Don’t dam up the channels of supply with the few dollars you have, and thus prevent the unlimited riches of God from flowing to you.

Set up your generator, which is the service you have to offer your fellowman. Turn on the steam by giving to it all the power, all the skill, all the intelligence you have. Then start the flow of riches with your faith by cheerfully pouring into the channel of service all that you have. That means buy the things that are necessary to your development and that of your family. Pay your just debts, though it leaves you without a cent in your purse. Put your dependence—NOT on the few dollars you have in hand, but on the great ocean of supply above and about you. Use the few dollars you have to create the vacuum which shall poke a hole in the bottom of that ocean, and start the unending flow of riches pouring into you.

You remember that jesus once likened the power of God to the leaven in bread. You put a tiny yeast cake into a great pan of dough and it affects the whole mixture. It makes it GROW. Apparently it INCREASES the quantity of flour, milk, eggs and other ingredients—certainly it makes them bulk to several times their original size.

That yeast is the “God in you” that you put into your circumstances, your affairs. Put it into fears and worries, and it will increase them until they can hardly be borne. Put it into your expenses, and it will make them ever greater. Put it into love and life and good work, and it will bring these back to you increased a hundredfold.

“Let’s have a league of optimists,”

writes Elizabeth Swaller in LET’S HAVE IT,

“To boost the world along.

We are so weary of the thought

That everything is wrong!

“We’re surfeited with talk of lack,

Depression, gloom and fear.

If we but think of brighter things,

Good times will soon be here.

"' Tis time to turn and face about

And court conditions fine.

By boosting, I shall prosper yours,

And you will prosper mine.”

Put your yeast into optimistic thoughts, into kindly words, into loving acts of service. Remember, the hardest part of anything is the start. If you want something, pray for it—then START doing, being, giving—whatever is needful to set the yeast acting. You don’t have to make the dough expand when you put the yeast into it. The yeast attends to that. All you have to do is to give the yeast a chance to get in its work!

So if you want to receive something of good, show your faith by GIVING of what you have. Put a little yeast into your affairs. It doesn’t matter how poor you are, how much in debt, how weak or sickly. You can always give something. But remember that everything increases after its kind, so give of what you want to receive. Sow the seeds of the harvest you want to reap, whether it be love, energy, service or money.

And PRAY! Nearly 2,000 years before Christ, it was said in the Vedas that if two people would unite their psychic forces, they could conquer the world. Then carne Jesus, to put it even more definitely: “Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything thac they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven. For when two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

In one of his books, Russell Conwell tells of a little group in his church who were in such straitened circumstances that they decided to get together and see if, by uniting their prayers, they could not improve their finances.

So they met at the house of one of their number who happened to be a bookbinder by trade, and decided that each week the whole group would unite their prayers to solve the difficulties of some one member.

The bookbinder was the first one chosen. He owed a great deal of money, and had no means of paying his debts. So that evening, the group prayed that he might receive help in meeting his obligations. It was then agreed that at noontime every day until the next meeting, each member would stop whatever he was doing, and spend a minute or two in silent prayer that the bookbinder’s needs might be met.

The meeting was on Tuesday evening. The next day after lunch, as was his custom, the bookbinder dropped into a publishing house nearby for a chat with some friends. He met there a man from Washington who told him that “for the first time in his life, he had forgotten his train,” and must now get back home on some urgent business, without placing a contract which he had intended to give to a New York bookbinder.

The bookbinder suggested that he also was in that business, and possibly could help him, but the other objected that the particular class of work he wanted could be done only in New York. Upon the binder persisting, however, he explained his needs, and being convinced that they could be filled right there in as satisfactory a way and on more reasonable terms than in New York, he not only gave the binder the contract, but advanced enough money to more than take care of his difficulties!

The binder hurried to the other members of his group and told them of his good fortune. His problem was so completely solved that he felt they ought to start work at once for some other member, because all were so badly in need. All felt so elated over their success in helping the binder solve his problem, that they chose the most difficult case of all as the next.

This was a jeweler who had grown so old and forgetful that his business was in a deplorable condition. Bankruptcy seemed so sure that his son had moved out of town to avoid sharing the disgrace.

Two or three days after the group started working on the jeweler’s problem, the son came to town for a day to attend a funeral. On the return trip from the cemetery, he fell into conversation with one of the other mourners, in the course of which the latter mentioned that he was looking for an expert in clockmaking to superintend a new factory he was erecting in another city.

The son told him his father was a master of that art, but no good at managing finances. The upshot of it was that the jeweler applied for the position, at the same time explaining his present financial difficulties. The manufacturer liked his letter, went over the whole situation with him, and ended by taking over the store as a retail outlet, paying off the old debts, and forming a business connection with the jeweler which prospered both amazingly.

An old lady who owned a small notion store was next. Soon after the group united in prayer for her, a fire destroyed the store next door to her. The owner decided to build bigger than before, and offered her not only an attractive price for her store, but an interest in his business, which paid her enough to live in comfort the rest of her days.

Every Member of that Group Became Prosperous!

Do you, too, want something very much? Then give— and pray! Get yourself a small toy bank—a paper one will do. Each day put something into it, even though it be only a penny, Give that money to God. Give it to Him at the time you put it into the bank, but leave it there until it amounts to a dollar or more. Then use it for any good charitable purpose that presents itself.

Don’t give it to some panhandler. Try to use it where it will do the recipient some good. Use it to help him to help himself, as in buying some book for him that will show him the way out of his difficulties.

And as you give, pray! Pray not only for yourself, but for others.

Every morning at seven, we shall pray for protection for our own family, and for all students of this Course who will join with us in “uniting their psychic forces” by “agreeing as to the thing they should ask.” For this prayer, you cannot do better than repeat the Ninety-first Psalm.

Every day at noon, we shall pray for abundant supply for all of those among our readers who will join with us in praying for the whole group. For this prayer, hold in your hand any money you intend to give that day for any good purpose, and any checks or money you intend to use to pay bills, and say with us:

“I bless you . . . and be thou a blessing. May you enrich all who touch you. I thank God for you, but even more I thank Him that there are billions like you where you came from. I bless that Infinite Supply. I thank God for it and I expand my consciousness to take it in. (Here try to see in your mind’s eye a Niagara of money flowing to you and to all who are praying with you. See yourself and all of us bringing in a great net full of money like the nets the Apostles pulled in bursting with fish.) I release that Infinite Supply through all my channels and the channels of all the students of this Course just as I freely , release the money I hold in my hand, giving it where it will do the most good. The Spirit that multiplied the loaves and fishes for Jesus enters into this money, making it grow and increase and bring forth fruit an hundredfold. All of God’s channels are now open and flowing for us. The best in ourselves for the world—the best in the world for us.”

Then PREPARE for prosperity. When the Israelites of old were suffering from drought, and begged the Prophet Elisha to help them, what was the first thing he told them to do ? Fill the valley with ditches—prepare to RECEIVE the water that they asked for I

You see, prayers and affirmations are not for the purpose of influencing God. He has already done His part. All of good is always available to each of us. Our prayers and affirmations are for the purpose of bringing our own minds to the point where we can ACCEPT God’s gifts! We don’t need to work on conditions—we need only to work on ourselves. The only place we can cure our lacks and our troubles is in our own minds! When we have done it there, we shall find that they are cured everywhere.

“Whatsoever things ye ask for when ye pray,” the Master assured us, “believe that ye HAVE RECEIVED them, and ye shall HAVE them.”

That is the basis of all successful prayer, whether for the healing of our bodies, or for material benefits. Once you convince your Higher Self, which is the God in you, that you HAVE the thing you want, it will proceed immediately to bring it into being!

But how, you may ask, can I convince my Higher Self that I have riches or any other good thing, when my common sense tells me that I am in debt up to my ears and creditors are hounding me day and night?

You can’t—if you keep thinking and acting DEBTS. But here is a psychological fact: The Higher Self accepts as fact anything that is repeated to it in convincing tones often enough. And once it has accepted any statement as fact, it proceeds to do everything possible to MAKE IT TRUE!

That is the whole purpose of affirmations—to bring the God in You to accept as true the conditions that you desire, to the end that He will then proceed to bring them into being. It is a sort of auto-suggestion. You keep saying to yourself that you ARE rich, that you HAVE the things you desire, until the constant repetition is accepted by the Higher Self and translated into its physical equivalent.

Debts? Don’t worry about them. Remember that the shadow of growing grain kills the weeds. Keep your mind on the good you want and it will kill off the evil you fear, just as the turning on of light dispels darkness. A farmer does not have to hoe the weeds out of growing wheat, any more than you have to sweep the darkness out of a room. Neither do you have to worry about debts or lack. Put all your thoughts and all your faith in the riches you are praying for, and let them dispel the debts.

But don’t worry if you can’t summon such faith right out of the blue. Most of us have to lead up to it gradually. Start with Coue’s well-known affirmation—“Every day in every way we are getting richer and richer.” Use that to prepare your Higher Self for the stronger affirmations. Then, when your faith has grown stronger, claim the thing you want! Affirm that you HAVE it— and insofar as possible, ACT AS THOUGH YOU HAD IT!

Write it in your heart that each day is the best day of the year, that NOW is the accepted time, NOW is the day of salvation. Then thank God for the good you have been praying for, believe that you HAVE received and give thanks.

Remember this: God’s will always works when you offer no resistance to it. So pray—and then LET His good come to you. Don’t fight the conditions about you. Don’t try to overcome the obstacles in your path. BLESS them—know that God is in them—that if you will LET them, they will work WITH you for good. Have faith not only in God, but in people and things. Don’t look for a miracle to happen. Don’t expect an angel from Heaven to come and open the way. Know that God works through ordinary people and things, and it is through them that your good will come.

So bless THEM. Serve them as you would the Lord, doing each thing that is given you to do as though you were the greatest genius. And all day long, as the thought occurs to you, keep repeating to yourself—“Every day in every way I am getting richer and richer,” or whatever it is that you desire.

A prayer for health and happiness, to be used at ten in the evening, will be given in the next Lesson.

There is something about praying for others that oftentimes does one more good than praying for oneself. You see, you cannot give anything to others without first possessing it yourself. When you wish another evil, you draw that evil to yourself first and you usually get a part of it. When you bring good to another, you bring it through yourself, and you share in it.

Remember the experience of Job in the olden days. Despite his lamentations and prayers, he lost all his riches, and his afflictions remained with him. But then misfortune fell upon his friends as well, and in his sympathy for them, Job forgot his own ailments and prayed for his friends. And it is written that—“The Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave him twice as much as he had before.”

“For who upon the hearth can start a fire,

And never warm the stone?

Or who can cheer another’s heart,

And not his own?

I stilled a hungry infant’s cry,

With kindness filled a stranger’s cup,

And lifting others,

Found that I was lifted up!”