You and I are going to have a good heart -to
-heart talk about nerves. Your nerves and my
nerves. And you want to know something? There
never was a time when more people talked about
their nerves than today. When I go into a miracle
service, I find that not only a half dozen prayer
requests from folk saying, please pray for my
nerves, but I find literally scores of both men
and women requesting prayer for a nervous condition.
Someone saying I am near a nervous breakdown.
Please pray for my nerves. And so, for two days,
you and I are going to look this thing directly
in the face regarding our nerves. First of all,
before I begin, I want to call your attention
to a familiar verse in God's Word as found in
the 23rd chapter of Proverbs. The seventh verse.
Oh, sure. You know it from memory. You've heard
sermons preached on it. I have preached on it.
One of the very first sermons I ever preached
was on this portion of the Bible. And yet, I
admit to you that only recently I have discovered
that these words are so profound that the human
mind has not yet been able to comprehend the
full extent. of its meaning, that seventh verse.
For as a man thinketh, so is he. There was a
day when I was young and inexperienced, dumb,
had not lived too long. I thought I understood
those words perfectly and was foolish enough
to use them as a text in a sermon. Today, I hesitate
to even preach on that one verse of scripture.
It's so profound. I wish I understood it fully
that I might give it to you. As a man thinketh,
so is he. I am convinced with all of my heart
that the mind can absolutely rule. can govern
the body. All right. Now back again to our little
talk on this thing of nerves. Little lady, prepare
yourself for a shock. Gentlemen sitting there,
you are disturbed over the nervous condition
in your body. I'm going to say something that's
going to be very surprising to you. There is
nothing. Absolutely nothing the matter with your
nerves. The trouble is elsewhere. In that moment,
I think I saw a woman just get up from her chair
and almost take issue with me. That's right.
There's nothing the matter with your nerves.
Not really. Your trouble is elsewhere. Now just
stay with me before you draw your own conclusions,
and let's examine the nerves. We find that each
nerve is a thread of living tissue, and that
these little fibers connect the brain cells with
virtually every cell in the body. They resemble
the electric wires in your telephone or radio,
except... that they are composed of soft tissue
instead of metal. And each one consists of a
central core surrounded by a membrane, thus resembling
the wire in its insulating covering. Some of
these nerves carry impulses from the brain to
the various organs and tissues while... Others
carry messages from these to the great central
office. The nerves are only a means of communication.
They do not govern anything. The nerves in your
body do not govern anything. of communication.
Since this is their duty, and since they only
carry messages in one direction or the other,
just as do the wires that connect your telephone
with the main office, it is wrong to speak of
these conditions of which you are complaining
as nervous. In fact, if the nerves really become
damaged from any cause such as an accident or
disease, We have a definite paralysis as the
result. These so -called nervous troubles are
not of nervous origin. To find their source,
we must trace them back. Now then, if we follow
a nerve from its beginning, perhaps at a cell
in the skin, we find that it ends in a brain
cell. But we must not jump to the conclusion
that these disagreeable bodily conditions are
due to trouble at that point. When these little
central organs are affected, we also have some
definite form of paralysis, either of motion
or sensation, determined by which group is involved.
And these brain cells are definite organs that
play a part in the body function. But they are
not the real beginning of the trouble. The brain
has been well likened to the central office of
a telephone or telegraph system. We might go
a little further. Each brain cell appears to
be a minute telephone apparatus. through which
messages are sent to the different parts of the
body or through which cells are received from
the stomach or the liver or the finger or toes.
So far, we are dealing merely with a mechanism
that we're using all the time. But remember,
it is purely a mechanism and should be so recognized.
Now, in all these so -called nervous conditions,
the machinery is found to be perfect. And so
the trouble must be back of that. Here we come
now to that unseen worker within, the mind. The
mind which governs the central office. It's the
mind that uses this wonderful mechanism to control
the body. Therefore, we see immediately that
the mind controls... Your body controls my body.
We must realize that any of these so -called
nervous conditions, from which the simplest case
of fidgets to the most pronounced... hysteria
is caused by some state of mind that is interfering
with the orderly control of the affairs of the
body. If we understand this point, we shall at
once see how to deal with these conditions. That's
the reason I'm taking you into this thing in
the most minute details. It's the only way you
can be helped. No doctor can help you when it
comes to this thing that you call nerves. You
have to govern the thing yourself. You have to
control your own mind. And it's your mind that
governs this thing that you call nerves. Now,
here we go. Still with me? Oh, sure. This will
mean much to you if you follow me both today
and tomorrow. Your hand trembles, and you say
that you are nervous. For some reason, you are
not exercising a normal control over the muscles.
There's a state of indecision. A state of indecision
in your mind. That's right. This state is in
the mind, not in your nerves. In other words,
so -called nervousness is a partial loss of control
or an irregular control in the central office.
And the central office is your mind. When this
becomes complete, we had a condition known as
hysteria. We all know people who become hysterical
on the slightest provocation. Oh, the very minute
that something happens to them, that upsets them.
They become hysterical. They begin to shake.
They begin to tremble. They simply let their
feelings take charge of them. And they give up
all self -control. This, then, gives us the clue.
Nervous diseases are not nervous at all, but
are varied degrees of emotional outbreaks. That's
it. Now, let us follow this a little further.
If you can imagine... A train dispatcher sending
a rapid succession of contradictory orders over
the wires. You can see what would happen. Traffic
would be disrupted. At places, it would stop
entirely, for engineers would refuse to move
until the old man made up his mind what he wanted
done. Sure. Now listen. Your stomach are some
other organ in your body. behaves in just exactly
this same way if you allow a similar condition
to possess you. The cells of your stomach are
intelligent, and they are accustomed to obeying
orders. If the orders cannot be understood, the
digestion may stop entirely. Now, what do you
do? You blame your nerves. You send down a dose
of pepsin instead of getting back to the real
trouble. The upset mental condition. And start
correcting your mental condition instead of blaming
it on nerves. When your nerves had nothing to
do with that upset stomach whatsoever. It was
the distress of mind. Therefore, the thing to
start correcting is the mind. Do you see it?
Oh, I do hope you're following me. This may mean
much to you. We know definitely what will interfere
with the normal action of the subconscious. Any
negative state of mind, such as a strong dislike
or a hatred or maybe a habit of condemning others
or an intolerance or any other idea of this kind
will have this result. A woman very recently
made an admission. She said, you know, I was
on the verge of a nervous breakdown. And she
said, I hate to admit it, but I can lay my finger
right to the cause of that nervous breakdown.
My mother -in -law. I believe that. I believe
that if you are living in the same house Mentally,
oh, you may never have said anything audibly,
but mentally, you cannot stand that person. Every
time they open their mouth, every time they come
into your presence, you can scarcely tolerate
them. If that continues, and if the two of you
continue living in the same house, you're going
to find out. that you'll soon be saying to someone
near to you, my nerves are shot. I'm on the verge
of a nervous breakdown. You'll start going to
your doctor for help. Your doctor cannot give
you help. It's something that medical science
cannot do for you. Because the real cause is
in your mind and your mind is governing your
body. That's right. Fear acts in exactly the
same way. Fear acts thus. And since all these
negative thoughts are founded on fear, we may
say that fear, known or unknown, is the cause
of trouble. You may mention worry. Worry is an
expression of fear and a very common one. And
so, the rule also holds good for worry. We find
that most nervous patients are victims of worry
because they fear some evil, some harm. All these
fears and negative thoughts may have been acquired
through years of wrong thinking or they may be
suggestions from others that the mind has accepted,
which is very apt to be the case with nervous
children. And so it just comes to this. If you
are nervous or if you think that your nerves
are on edge and that you are ready to fly to
pieces, you are really afraid of something. Your
fear reaction to things, to people, to conditions,
starts the train of negative emotions that upsets
your subconsciousness and so causes your troubles.
And this state should be remedied at once. For
if it continues, it may lead to very serious
functional or organic troubles later on. But
don't forget. That nervousness is an alibi for
fear and a very convenient one for many people
who develop a spell every time they are called
upon to make a decision or to do something outside
of their ordinary habits. The reason is the fear
of doing or deciding and the nervousness is the
excuse furnished Buy the subconsciousness for
not doing what is required. Oh, I wish I could
go on and on with this thing. I feel it's so
important to literally thousands of people. Become
an open channel for the inflow and the outflow
of divine love. Let it radiate to everybody.
And soon you'll find that something has happened
to your nerves. Father, make this real to hearts.
May our mind be stayed upon you and give us that
complete confidence in a power that is greater
than our own. For thou hast promised that thou
wilt keep him in perfect peace. whose mind is
stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.
We claim that promise, and we commit ourselves,
our minds, unto thee.