The Law of Attraction: Is the Universe Trying to Replace God?

I have a red flag inside me that starts waving whenever someone says that the universe brought them something. I want to tell them that it was actually their loving and generous heavenly Father, not the universe. I don't want some impersonal universe trying to replace a personal God. It bothers me.

But, are the two mutually exclusive?

The Lord Jesus taught us in Mark 11, "That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith."

That is a command: 'Be thou cast into the sea!' It is not a prayer. There is no petitioning of your heavenly Father, no intercession, no fasting; just a simple command in faith. It seems to leave God out of the equation, but it doesn't.

So, how does the mountain get moved in the sea? Could it be that God has created the universe to operate according to principles and laws? Could it be that we are to ask for certain things, but we are not supposed to ask for other things? Could it be that some things are in our realm of control?

Again, the farmer may pray that the Lord blesses the work of his hands, but many farmers simply plant corn and reap the benefits because they are operating according to the laws of growth and harvest.

Perhaps Napoleon Hill, et al. , was not seeking to replace God the Father, perhaps he was trying to explain natural laws that were put in place by God the Giver?

The Universe Will Give It to You

One of the most New Age-y concepts of success is the Law of Attraction. First promoted by Napoleon Hill, and made famous by the movie The Secret, the Law of Attraction seems to imply that if I think about something long enough, it will come to me.

Well, that's partly true. Consider the following scenarios:

If you install solar panels on your new home, will the universe bring you electricity? If you install a water wheel on the river behind your house, will the universe bring you power? If you sit under an apple tree long enough, will the universe bring you an apple? f you're a pretty girl, and you go to a dance, will somebody eventually ask you to dance?

The universe, God's creation, is as giving as its Creator is. Gravity brings things to us. The four winds bring things to us. If we set a trap and wait, we can catch the food and clothing that creation brings our way.

So, perhaps that Law of Attraction is not as New Age-y as it appears at first glance. The major proponents of this Law, all say that you can't just sit back, you have to work along with creation or it won't happen. Isn't that what a farmer does? He has a vision of a field of corn, and he sets out to make it happen? Eventually, the laws of creation fill up the empty earth with acres of corn.

I just keep thinking that the millionaires and billionaires who teach the Law of Attraction (Robbins, Assaraf, etc.), can't all be wrong. Perhaps their understanding is flawed because of the New Age-y verbiage that is associated with this idea? If somebody taught that departed tree spirits brought apples down from apple trees, would that make gravity any less real?

Or could the vocabulary simply be wrong?