Here is my blog that was published on April 10, 2015, as a guest article for Sherri Cortland (www.sherricortland.com) on Examiner.com:

Most of us spend much of our waking hours deeply in thought. We think about the things that confront us on a daily basis, we recall events from the past, and we contemplate the future. But most people regard their thoughts as a private conversation they have with themselves—something that has no effect on the world around them.

But my spirit guide Albert, who took me on a series of out-of-body adventures to explore the universe, as described in my book, Dancing Forever with Spirit, told me that thoughts are like waves of energy that fan out from our minds and affect all other energy and mass in the universe. Do our thoughts prod God into action, I have often wondered, or do they have a force of their own?

I know most organized religions have always extolled the virtues of prayer as an appeal to God to provide relief from pain and suffering or to achieve a goal—like passing an exam, finding a good job, or connecting with an ideal mate. In this paradigm, our thoughts are not instruments of change themselves but are merely a way of communicating our desires to God, who has the power to deliver the desired result if He sees fit. This is in keeping with their belief that God controls and manipulates all the events in our lives, and we must pray to God to get the results we want.

But Albert dismissed this belief as an invention of the holy men; a tool they could use to control the masses. Albert made it clear that the Source does not manipulate events on Earth or interfere with the free will actions of humans, which means that prayer and worship will not prompt the Source to interfere with our lives.

So if our thoughts/prayers will not cause the Source to act on our behalf, how do thoughts affect our reality on Earth?

Albert says that thoughts affect your reality because they create your perception about the events you encounter every day. When things happen to you, your mind will perceive them to be either good or bad, sending out thoughts that will foster either positive or negative emotions. If you prefer to live a happy life, then you must focus your thoughts on being happy regardless of what you encounter. On the other hand, if you let negative thoughts rule the day you will spend most of your life mired in gloom and despair.

Your thoughts can also affect your reality when you communicate with other people. Humans can consciously and unconsciously project their thoughts toward others to persuade them to choose a certain course of action. Some people are very adept at selling things or convincing others to do as they wish. They are able to do so mainly because they can beam powerful thoughts, often unconsciously, to persuade others to do want they want. The people who receive these thoughts usually respond without being consciously aware of these thought projections. Thoughts can influence a recruiter to hire you for the job, persuade an art judge that your painting deserves first place, or convince someone you would make a perfect life mate. In these situations, the reality of both the sender and receiver of these thoughts has been affected by the decisions that are made in response.

Because thoughts are energy they can manipulate matter and affect the events in life. A focused thought is more powerful than a scattered thought; much like a laser beam of coherent light waves is more powerful than the incoherent beam from a flashlight. But not all of your thoughts on Earth that seek a particular outcome are manifested, because they are often cancelled out by conflicting thoughts from other people.

And, according to Albert, when your thoughts are in direct conflict with the goals sought by your soul, your desires will be put on hold until your soul is satisfied that what you seek will not send you on a wrong trajectory. The unfortunate reality on Earth is that your desires will not likely be fulfilled, no matter how often you send out positive affirmations to the universe, unless your soul is onside.

Repetition and focus, however, can make your thoughts more effective on the Earth plane. Since every thought is a wave of energy, repeated waves of like energy can merge to become much more powerful than an isolated thought. The most effective way to achieve the results you desire is by repeating positive affirmations and visualizations over and over until you get what you want.

As you go about your daily lives, remember that the thoughts that swirl around your mind are really conversations with the universe—so be careful what you think.