From the point of quantum physics it has already been proven that thought affect matter.
They did it in a double slit experiment with two groups of people located thousands of miles from each other and the experiment. They were told to think and visualize about the double slit experiment at certain times and the readings were taken. It would be quite a long comment if i went to all detail but behavior of atoms changed while control groups thought of them and tried to visualize it in their thoughts from behaving like waves to behaving as particles.

So power of thought is not a philosophical topic anymore. It really has an impact on physical world on a elementary particles level. You can read about it more here if you are interested. Wikipedia