THE POWER OF PRAYER

Many of you, I'm sure, are confused about the underlying philosophy of prayer. Consequently, often your prayers are not answered. Here, I attempt to provide some insights into the success of prayers.

“Prayer is power and strength, a power and strength that influences God, and is most salutary, widespread, and marvellous in its gracious benefits to man. Prayer influences God. The ability of God to do for man is the measure of the possibility of prayer.”

When we Pray, chant, meditate, and do Ardas, we are creating a vibration. That frequency vibrates to the supreme frequency and makes a connection. When that happens, prayers are heard. Guru tells us that prayers are heard Where does the power come from? Conviction. We have the power. When you surrender yourself, and humble yourself to make that request, you are acknowledging that you need help. You acknowledge that there is something beyond you that can cover, protect, and clear the way.

The power of prayer is the power that comes to us when we realize that God can be our point of reference during all the confusions of our daily lives, the steadfastness of God rather than the incomplete, fragile inconstancies of ourselves. It's the power that comes when we're able to be centred, anchored in a belief and rooted in a Truth, which is stronger and deeper than the day-to-day truths we struggle with.

Why We Pray

To begin with, we must understand as to why do we pray? There are basically 12 reasons for prayer:

1.      We pray to depend on God for help in distress.

2.     We pray for asking God for enlightenment.

3.     We pray for communion with God through single-minded devotion.

4.     We pray for asking for peace from God when the mind is restless.

5.      We pray for surrendering ourselves to God completely.

6.     We pray to God for giving us the ability to comfort others.

7.      We pray for thanking God for his blessings.

8.     We pray for expecting God to decide what is best for us when we are in a dilemma.

9.     We pray for making friendship with God.

10. We pray for melting the mind and ego in silence in God.

11.   We pray for requesting God to give strength, peace and pure intellect.

12.  We pray for asking God to purify the heart and make us abide in Him forever.

Two Parts of a Prayer

What the above 12 reasons convey to us is that a prayer has two parts: one is soliciting a favour from the Almighty and the other is surrendering ourselves to His will. While the first part is practiced by most of us daily, the second part is the real and goal because it implies dedication. Dedication means feeling the light of God within your heart. If your heart is devoid of divine light, you will not be happy, cheerful and successful in your lives.