Is there a conflict between what Mormons believe and the principles of the law of attraction? For me, that is an easy question to answer because; I think not only are there no conflicts between the two, but they are actually the same, just worded differently.
For example, in the classic law of attraction book “Excuse me, your life is waiting,” author Lynn Grabhorn says that the way to attract anything into your life is to determine what it is you want and then imagine what. It would feel like you already had it. The Mormon Church, like all other Christian churches, teaches that God will bless us with the desires of our hearts 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 all of a sudden everything you want will just appear. But a key component of the law of attraction is “acting like” you already have what you want. This is perhaps best explained in the scripture Mormons like to quote that says “faith without works is dead.” Taking inspired action is both a gospel principle and part of the law of attraction.
My favorite biblical example of Christ teaching people to “act as if” is the story of the jumpers who cried out to Christ and asked him to heal them. His instructions to them were to show themselves to the high priests. Why? Because it was the custom of the time that when someone regained health after being seriously ill, he had to have the High Priest certify him as “clean” before he returned to society out loud. So Christ was telling the jumpers to go ahead and do what they would do if they were healed. He was telling them to “act like” they were healed. They acted and 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 help to me as a life coach. One thing Mormons teach is that time is meaningless to God. Think about it, if God knows right now everything that has happened and everything that will happen, then the concept of “time” certainly changes.
And playing with “time” is one of the best techniques I know of for applying the principles of the law of attraction. This worked wonderfully with a client I was working with who was so stressed out by a major crisis in her life that it was making her physically ill. I couldn’t see HOW this crisis could be resolved. So I told him that I didn’t know HOW the crisis would be resolved either, but I was sure that it would indeed be resolved over time. So I asked him to imagine that he could travel 2 weeks into the future and imagine how it would feel to have the problem completely solved. That didn’t work out for her so she asked if she could go 2 YEARS in the future! And when she envisioned herself 2 years in the future, she reported that she felt completely at peace. I told him to focus on that feeling and trust (or have faith) that his feeling of peace would manifest itself in reality. And in 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 maybe 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 teaching that WE attract what we want into our lives leaves God out of the process. I don’t think that’s 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 the way we designed them, does God really care if he gets all the credit?