We’ve read your fair share of self help books and follow enough “go getters” to have heard every single affirmation known to man or woman but there are still those that resonate and really rings true every time we hear or, even better, practice them.

“Ask and ye shall receive.” Yo, it’s biblical. The self help coach really didn’t come up with anything genius here. The Lord God said it and Jesus reiterated. If you ask, you shall receive. Now, it gets a bit more complicated than just asking for after all “faith without work is dead.” You have to put in the work.

Now, when you put in the work and all things don’t happen in our favor thats when we hit a bump and can slump into a depression or a questioning of, “why me?” You are putting in the work but nothing hits. The monetary success just isn’t there. It is then that we ask if we are open to receive the things that we have asked for. Does perceived failure  put you in a state of self-doubt? Do your negative thoughts take over? If they do then you simply are not aligned with your destiny and the universe will not secure for you what is yours. Your monetary success may never happen because you are in fear and doubt mode. You may also be in a mode where you hold on to the little bit of money that you do have for fear of losing any more.

The good Size Orman teaches in “The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom” that when we grasp onto money too tightly, we are not open to receive or even notice ALL that may be trying to flow your way. Now if that is not a Sunday Sermon then I don’t know what is! It is almost instinctual to grasp or hold on to the things that we feel that we are losing but money is set up in an entirely different way. Sure teaches that money is a living entity and responds to energy. Money responds to how you feel about it, yourself and how you feel about others. If you feel powerless and worry about money then money will not flow towards you. If you feel powerful and you’re in control of your money and have enough to be generous with it, then money will flow naturally towards you. Money flows!

How do you keep yourself open to receive money? Educate yourself about money. You are in control. Release your anxious grasp on money by GIVING. Only then you will be open to receive it.

Size Orman’s Quick Thought Nuggets on Giving:

1. Those who donate regularly (to your favorite charity or money that you may provide your parents) had an abundance of money, more than they really needed.
2. The better people felt about themselves, and the more they kept their hands open to receive by relinquishing money, the more financial situation improved.
3. Thoughts of poverty are bonds of poverty.
4. We experience prosperity, true financial freedom, when our actions with respect to money are dharmic, or righteous, actions- that is, actions of generosity, actions of offering.
5. It’s the impulse to give that puts you in touch with the best part of yourself and the principles of abundance that are alive in the world.