The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Dr. Joseph Murphy had been sitting on my shelf for quite a while before I picked it up.
It was originally recommended to me by my friend, Amos Bracewell in 2012.
You may recall that Amos was a guest on DAWCast: Music Entrepreneurship, my previous podcast, and when he came and stayed at my home in 2011/2012, he left another book by Joseph Murphy with me entitled Believe in Yourself (affiliate link), which I also reviewed.
Since I was on a book buying spree, and I was excited about delving into some new material at the time, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind was one among many books I ended up ordering.
Fast-forward to 2015 and I finally got around to reading it.
I’d like to share with you a few things I learned from this book.
1. You Receive Answers To Prayer Because Of Mental Acceptance About What You Pray
Murphy proposes that your religious affiliation is not what makes prayer effective. Rather, it is based on your ability and willingness to accept what you pray.
You subconscious accepts what your consciously accept.
You subconscious accepts what your consciously accept. Click To TweetAnother statement that expands on this idea is this one: “the subconscious mind is subject to the conscious mind.” What Murphy is saying is that you can train your subconscious mind to believe what you can accept on a conscious level.
2. Your Subconscious Mind Has The Answer To All Your Problems
This statement makes perfect sense if you don’t have any problems with the idea that your subconscious mind = God.
Even if not for that, though, it speaks to the power of the subconscious mind. You don’t need to go looking outside for the answers you seek – Murphy is saying – you can look inside, and pose questions to your subconscious.
The answers may not come immediately, but your mind is always working on problems you submit to it even when you’re doing other things, and it will eventually present to you a workable solution.
3. Faith Is The Only Universal Healing Principle Operating Through Everybody
I believe the implication here is that faith is created by accessing and harnessing the power of our subconscious minds. Illness, physical ailments, and even traumatic experiences can be healed by repeatedly submitting thoughts of healing to our subconscious minds.
Can we be healed by any other means? According to Murphy, no. Faith is the universal healing principle. Of course, I don’t think he would discount the importance of medicine and other orthodox cures, but I have to guess that in this case he is referring to instances of healing that have occurred in so-called “healing services”, churches, or religious gatherings.
4. Prayers Are Answered Scientifically
What Murphy is suggesting is that there is a formula to prayers that are answered. He explains that “science” means knowledge that is coordinated, arranged and systematized, so the idea here is that we can cooperate with our subconscious minds to see more of our prayers answered.
If anything, the entire book sheds light on how little attention and thought we give to our subconscious minds, and what fantastic tools they are in helping us achieve ends that we desire to see in our lives.
5. Don’t Compel Your Subconscious Mind To Accept Your Idea By Willpower
Although Murphy does talk about presenting positive thoughts and images to our subconscious minds, he is also quick to caution us that we can’t force things. We have limited willpower. It continues to diminish throughout the day. Can you imagine how tiring it would be to force yourself to think the same things and visualize the same images all day long?
I think the idea is that we can plant seeds and nurture them, but we shouldn’t be constantly uncovering the soil to see how our seeds are doing. We must keep pulling the weeds and watering the seed, and while that may require a daily investment, it shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes.
6. What Goes In Your Mind Determines Your World
Regardless of whether you subscribe to Murphy’s theology, I think this is something we can all agree on. What goes into your mind is hugely important. If you choose poorly, you’ll assimilate bad attitudes, behaviors, and thoughts. If you choose well, you’ll begin to see positive changes within yourself.
What world do you want to live in? Have you thought about it? If you aren’t sure what you want to achieve in your lifetime, it makes it much harder to select input that will assist you on your journey. If you are fully in alignment with your objectives, choosing the right input becomes much easier.
7. Man Punishes Himself With His False Concepts Of God
We create our own misery. No one else does it for us. I think I know exactly what Murphy was saying here. I can attest to the fact that my false concepts of God led me down a path of misery.
In 2014, I went through a period of depression. Once, the path ahead was obvious. Suddenly, that path disappeared and I could no longer see what was ahead. I cried out to God, but to no avail. My prayers kept hitting the ceiling. And, in retrospect, I feel it was my false ideas of the divine that were responsible for my bouts of depression.
Mysticism is the belief that something outside you controls your life. Recognizing that you are in control and you can rely upon your subconscious mind for the answers you seek is empowering. Right or wrong is not something you can check against a book. You already have a sense of right or wrong. So, to fit yourself into someone else’s ideas is to try to put a square peg in a round hole.
Final Thoughts on The Power of Your Subconscious Mind
I take notes with every book I read, and when I put together a review like this one, I pick and choose a few points that I want to talk about.
I have described these ideas in my own language and from my own perspective. So, the author may or may not agree with what I have had to say (in this case, Joseph Murphy is no longer with us), but hopefully I have done a good job of explaining the value that I uncovered in my reading.
Also, I don’t pretend to be able to unpack 369 pages worth of insights into 1,200 words, so if my review has piqued your interested, I would suggest checking out the book for yourself.
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