Neville Goddard on Mark 9:23

Executive Summary

Neville Goddard interprets the biblical statement “All things are possible to him who believes” as a fundamental truth about the creative power of human imagination. He teaches that the “Him” to whom all things are possible is not an external deity but is, in fact, your own imagination. This inner power is identical to God and the indwelling Christ. Therefore, the ability to believe and persist in an assumption is the key to bringing any desired state into your experience.

Key Concepts

• The being to whom “all things are possible” is your own wonderful human imagination.
• This internal power is identical to God, Jesus Christ, and the awareness of being, or “I AM.”
• The very power of believing is God himself operating within you.
• If a desired outcome does not materialize, it is not due to a limitation of the power, but to a personal “lack of belief.”
• The challenge is to believe in your imaginal act even when it is denied by your reason and physical senses.

Detailed Explanation

In his teachings, Neville Goddard redirects the meaning of Mark 9:23 away from the conventional worship of an external God and toward the discovery of an internal power. He explains that the statement “All things are possible to him who believes” is a declaration about the supreme potency of your own imagination. This is the power that creates and sustains the universe, and it resides within every individual as their capacity to imagine.

Neville equates this creative power with multiple divine names. He identifies it as God-in-man, the indwelling Jesus Christ, and the great “I AM.” To believe that “I AM is He” is to accept that your own consciousness, your imagination, is the one and only creative power. When you understand this, you realize that the “Him” mentioned in the scripture is yourself—specifically, your imaginative self.

This interpretation places the responsibility for creation squarely on the individual. If an imagined state fails to objectify itself as fact, the cause is a “lack of belief.” The primary obstacle is the conflict between the imagined reality and the evidence provided by one's senses and rational mind. The work, therefore, is to persist in the assumption of the wish fulfilled until it is accepted as true by the subconscious mind, thereby overcoming the denials of the outer world.

Important Quotes

“All things are possible to him who believes.”

— Imagination

The power of believing is God himself. So, God-in-man is man’s own wonderful human Imagination.

— Imagination

Related Concepts

• Imagination: This concept is central, as imagination is identified as the “Him” to whom all things are possible.
• I AM: Believing that your own “I AM” or consciousness is the creative power is the key to successfully applying the principle in Mark 9:23.
• Law of Assumption: The practical application of this verse is to assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled. One must “imagine the state desired, persist in that imaginal state, and it will come to pass.”

Common Misunderstandings

• The power is external: The most significant misunderstanding is to believe the power resides in a god outside of oneself. Neville is clear that the mind must turn inward, not outward, because God-in-man is human imagination.
• The power can fail: It is a mistake to think the principle is flawed if a desire doesn't manifest. The source material states that any failure is a result of the individual's “lack of belief,” not a limitation of the creative power itself.

Practical Applications

The primary application is to test the principle for yourself. You are called upon to discover the creative being, Jesus Christ, within you. The method is to define a desired state and then imagine it as already real. You must persist in this imaginal act, living in the feeling of the wish fulfilled, even when your senses and reason present contrary evidence. By successfully persisting in your assumption, the imagined state will eventually become a tangible reality.

Frequently Asked Questions

According to Neville, who is the 'Him' in 'All things are possible to Him'?

The 'Him' refers to your own wonderful human imagination, which Neville identifies as the indwelling God or Christ.

If all things are possible, why don't my desires always come true?

The source material explains that any failure is due to a 'lack of belief' and the difficulty of persisting in an assumption when your reason and senses deny it.

What is the relationship between believing and God?

Neville states that 'the power of believing is God himself.' When you are truly believing, you are exercising the power of God within you.