Prayer

This weekend was my time to learn more about the prayers and its effect not because I had adversities in my life but because I had sublime mindset to research and find out why is it important, what is the right way and how does it help.

“Great indeed is the efficacy of prayer. It opens the gate of one’s inner temple to let Ahura Mazda in.” ~Zarathustra

“Be constant in prayer, and give charity and worship with the worshipful. And seek help with patience and prayer, though it is indeed hard except for the humble.” – Prophet Mohammed

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.” – Jesus Christ

When we ask God, we need to rise to His level. Asking God for something is perfectly all right. Words must be said and, the thoughts must correspond to the words. It is true enough that the Divinity knows all. But He requires that true words be said. The mother may know that, to maintain life, the child requires food. But milk is given only when the child asks for it. Some may ask, “How do we know prayers work? He can only give us what, according to Him, we need or what we deserve. Is it not? Will the Lord like to give us all that we ask for, in our prayers to Him? Under such circumstances what is the user of prayer?”

What is prayer all about? Prayer is the subtlest and most sublime thread that links the human soul with the Divine Spirit. It establishes a relationship between the individual and the Infinite Supreme. It is the winged arrow of human feeling that coalesces with the Divine Love of God. All religions expound the glory of prayer. Every saint took recourse to prayer in his spiritual growth. There is no great human upon earth who did not offer prayers at the recognition of the Divine Hand guiding him. To many, however, prayer becomes merely a repetition of hymns or words. Heart-felt sincerity is lacking. Most often, if we are honest enough to admit it, we pray to impress others. Real prayer does not depend upon how many beautiful words we have selected to repeat or whether we have a good accent or not. Prayer depends upon the purity of our feeling and the intensity of our yearning.

Therefore, prayer requires the possession of a feeling that is free from ego, a feeling that is not corrupted or tarnished by greed, anger, hatred, pride and other gross sentiments. It is true that every religion has definite prayers that are revealed by the great sages and saints, encompassing in them lofty ideas and thoughts. However, if you repeat them mechanically without entering into the beauty and grandeur of the meaning and the feeling that are encompassed by those words, we are merely depleting the energy of our speech.

For the acquisition of the Grace of the Lord and the resulting Awareness of the Reality, the quality of peace is the prime need. Every aspirant is aware how Draupadi received the Grace of the Lord, through her righteousness and her piety. Though her husbands were mighty heroes and famous monarchs, she sought refuge in Lord Krishna feeling that all others are of no use. Prahalada sought refuge under different circumstances. He surrendered all at birth to the Lord; he knew that the Lord was ever by his side and that he was ever by the side of his Lord; so he had no need to call out to him for protection. Prahlada was unaware of anything except the Lord; he could not distinguish between one function of the Lord and another. So how could he pray for protection? For all such God-intoxicated and dedicated souls, prayer is unnecessary. But for a majority of people prayer is necessary to keep us on the right path, the path that leads straight to God.

When we pray, it is important to feel that we are hundred per cent dependent on God and He will look after us and save us from harm and injury. When we go to bed, we need to offer thankful homage to Him for guiding and guarding us throughout the day. Activity must be dedicated to God, the highest good. Then it will provide health of body and mind. Whenever and wherever we put ourselves in touch with God, that is the state of meditation. Prayer must be united with practice. We should not pray for one thing and practice another. The words we utter, the deeds we do, the prayers we utter, must all be along the same path. One-pointedness is all-important. Prayer first needs honesty, the acceptance of what one really is, of sincerely acknowledging that one is in need of Divine help.

Whenever I sing devotional songs in my spiritual center, I get carried away by delving into the meaning of the bhajans resulting in me forgetting the next word or even rhythm. Many of the bhajans I sing when I am alone at home for the past 10 years because I know I would be lost leading a bhajan in tears of joy. My favorite prayers to get out of bed and before going to bed are:

“Oh Lord, I am born now from the womb of sleep. I am determined to carry out all tasks this day as offerings to Thee, with Thee ever present before my mind’s eye. Make my words, thoughts, and deeds sacred and pure. Let me not inflict pain on anyone; let no one inflict pain on me. Direct me, guide me, this day.”

“Oh Lord! the tasks of this day, whose burden I placed on you this morning, are over. It was You who made me walk and talk and think and act. I therefore place at Thy Feet all my words, thoughts, and deeds. My task is done. Receive me, I am coming back to you.”

 

Dear Smt.Jayasala:

Thank you for your wonderful and very comprehensive response about your thoughts on prayer. I agree with you that human tendency has become instant gratification for every effort including prayer. Prayer should be viewed as a sense of gratitude of feeling of emotions seeking something earnestly with heart with a belief that He has the power to grant it. At the same time, if it is not granted, we should not loose faith and we need to continue to work to become a deserving person more than blaming the prayer.

Prayer has to be a spontaneous expression of emotion and it can't be performed as a goodwill or as a status of a religious person. If everything that we possess are something that we hold as a trustee given by the Lord, what is there for us to offer to the Lord other than our pure heart?

Sri Sathya Sai Baba eloquently explained that offering the body as pathram (leaf), heart as flower (pushpam), mind as fruit (phalam) and tears of joy as water (thoyam).

Viswa

 

I am very humbled by your kind words. But I have to tell you that it is your devotion that manifested with such magnificence in your words for everyone of us to see as the guiding light. Your response explained better what kind of devotion one should have while praying.

Viswa