RELIGIOUS AND OCCULT SPIRITUAL RULE: Do not be overly specific about what you want!
 
People say you must use prayers or spells or affirmations to project for abundance and love and happiness and joy in your life.
 
They always advise you to keep the blessings you want reasonably general. They say the universe or God or your deep mind know what is best. That is actually a cover to make you think it has worked when it has not. The fact that prayer and magic can be "verified" and shown "effective" in this way proves that anything could. Why else do some people swear by carrying a rabbits foot for magic?

Another trick is to see any good things that follow a prayer or spell to get something you never got as a result.
 
It is said that if you are too specific about how you want some goal to manifest, you are making a mistake. This is actually trying to restrict your power and limit yourself and your needs. It is better to project the end only for the end is what matters. Why expend energy on trying to project for the means?
 
This again is about preventing you from noticing that it is mere chance if your fortunes and moods seem to improve.
 
"To try and make X fall in love with you next Sunday is a mistake. If you were really confident in yourself, you would instead use your powers to bring a wonderful person into your life when the time is right and not just for the hell of it." This is merely trying to blame you. That is vicious. If you have the powers, you can order X to love you on Sunday and forever and that is that.
 
"Affirmations or prayers or magic spells that are too specific are affirmed to fail or be weak. You may think you feel safe with such but you cannot. You don't know enough to be sure that X falling for you on Sunday next is the best for you. We all like surprises and we don't deep down want to have a power that can order things like that! Never be too specific for you are only affirming for what you only think you want not what you really want. The best things will come to you in the best time at the best time. If your affirmations seem to fail, remember that they never fail. Ever. Positive affirmations always bring you what is best for you and often what is best for you is not what you expected!All affirmations are ultimately different forms of one command, 'Bring the best to me.' "
 
If you really can bring the best to you then you should be able to command what you want in detail and program it to be the best.
 
All who go on about the power of prayer or the power of anything know fine well what they are doing when they try to blind you from seeing the truth about how the alleged power is a misperception. And their rule about being general when praying or whatever is about creating that misperception.

People who pray are careful to ask for what may or should happen anyway.  People do survive terrible situations.  Bad people start to behave for all sorts of reasons.  It is arrogant to think your prayers help anybody.  And it is arrogant to refuse to take responsibility if you try to help somebody the wrong way or use prayer as a substitute for doing something. 

Another way of avoiding to admit how useless prayer is to tell people that there is a difference between praying for something beyond our control and praying for something within our control. God supposedly does not help those who can help themselves.  Moses was told to stop praying and get down to action by God in Exodus 14.  But there is a difference between being on your knees and praying with action.  Anything can be a prayer.  Cleaning the toilet can communicate your love for God.