In simple terms prayer means communicating with Guru/God. Prayer or Puja can be Direct or Indirect/ Actual or Mental. Offering of actual objects like kumkum, flowers, naivedya, fragrance, lighting diyas etc to an idol / murti/ picture /form etc constitutes pratyaksh puja. If same object(s) is offered mentally in imagination to God, this will constitute apratyaksh or manas puja. Constant remembrance of God / Name of God (Naam Jaap) is said to be the most effective prayer.
2. Prayer means conveying your thoughts, beliefs, fears, aspirations, needs to God. Most often, we pray to God for expressing our gratitude or to seek favour with a belief that HE is bestower of everything we need. We believe that God has a vast unimaginable and replenishable reservoir of unlimited divine powers and boons. We pray with awe. We pray in fear. We pray when we want some material object/ position/ service etc. We pray when we want things to go easy for us. We pray when we are sick. We also pray for forgiveness from God. We pray when we want thorns in our life to turn into colorful petals. Some people pray without any reason because praying becomes a habit with them. However, such people are very rare.
3. In actual, we pray when we realize that things are not in our control. When we bend down our head in prayer, we surrender our ego at the feet of Lord. At that moment we admit that we are nothing but helpless in front of his Supreme divine power. We admit that he is magnificent. We admit that Lord is our fortress where we are absolutely safe. When we agree to receive from someone it implies that we have surrendered our ego, it reflects our humility. This means that we have realized we are incapable of manifesting what we are seeking.
4. Pre-requisites for Prayer - Of course there is no dearth of people who are seen asking for favours from fellow human beings with a belief that they can fulfil their needs. However, instead of asking for favours from fellow beings, we must pray to God who gives to each and all. Great Saint of Shirdi, SaiBaba, often said ‘Sabka Malik Ek’(God is One) and his mantra to win over God was ‘Shraddha’(faith) and ‘Saburi’(patience) which will help us in crossing any hardship in our life. Faith and Trust in God comes automatically if we Love God in thoughts, words and action. Patience to wait for the outcome of my prayer to manifest takes away the sting of suffering. This we often lack so much. Most of the time faith and patience swing like pendulum depending upon our present life situations. Needless to mention most of our prayers are towards materialistic gains and less towards spiritual blessings. Another prerequisite for puja is purity of mind, heart, body and soul.
5. What should we pray for - When I sit down to pray often I am confused what should I ask for. SaiBaba said so many times that HIS treasury is full and people can take whatever they want but people ask for worldly things only whereas HE/God/Universe wants to give more.
6. So many times I have tried to imagine and feel what I would do if Lord appeared to me and asked me what my wish is?????? I would be totally speechless in front of HIM. I would have nothing to ask for. If I found the Lord than there would be nothing left to seek. For God is our final destination.
7. Bible says seek the Kingdom of God which is within you. I believe that if I seek the God himself, Kingdom will automatically follow but then there will be no need for Kingdom anymore. The thought itself is so awesome. I doubt if I am deserving enough to reach that stage. Only God knows what my qualifications are.
8. Sometimes, devotees don’t pray with humility but make demands. However, it is felt that we should refrain from making demands from God for it is considered as a demonic virtue.
9. Wise people say that God knows what is good for us and HE will bless us with the same, time and again, at the most right and appropriate moment.
10. Benefits of prayer - Over the years I have come to understand that I pray to reach that hidden and unseen sanctuary of peace and silence within me where the Supreme God resides. With my eyes closed or open, I utilize my prayer time to talk to God just as I would talk to a respectable elderly person. I convey my fears and insecurities, my needs and seek HIS guidance to turn my thoughts and actions towards a positive direction so that I can meet HIM as soon as possible. They say understanding ways of God is very complicated and incomprehensive. I feel that it is possible to understand God provided he showers his Grace onto us. For that we have to reach that highest pinnacle of humanness and be qualified. Power of prayers is so strang that with Grace of God everything becomes possible. It is said that even a single prayer can avert a War-like situation into peace. A mind in prayer is always surrounded by a pious aura and sends out positive vibrations in the Universe.
11. The Divine Universal Power- the Spirit is within soul hidden in our body. This means that we should not consider us separate from HIM. GOD listens to all our spoken and unspoken thoughts and words. So many times I wonder if I have that finesse that will enable God to reside in me!!!!!!
12. Prayers are very powerful - When we pray from depth of our heart, our wish is fulfilled. But our faith shakes when our prayer remains unanswered. We feel God is not looking at us. We either blame ourselves or God. It rarely occurs to us that if our prayer remained unfulfilled than it must be for our own benefit. Sometimes not having something is better than having that thing. If you look back in your life, you will find that most of the time the biggest grace of God came to you when things did not happen the way you wanted. When a bad time comes in our life, it awakens us to so many inner and outer realities of life. Struggling and finding a way out of our hardship is a blessing that God has bestowed on us by not fulfilling our wish because God loves us and wants us to develop our faith, patience, character. So many times we get what we want but that same blessing separates us from God further because once we get what we want, we forget to pray again till another adversity starts to loom its head in our life.
Therefore, if we are spiritually sound, we will not be affected if the prayer does not yield the desire result. Most of us feel that once our material desires are fulfilled and we retire from family obligations we will pray for spiritual grace. However, I feel that we should not wait till old age to ask for such an important blessing. All through our life along with our material needs we should pray to God for guiding us in the righteous direction. We should atone for our mistakes and pray to God to give us enough discrimination so that we do not make such mistakes again. Lot of people confess their sins to Lord and seek his pardon. How relieving that must be.
13. Faith or Trusting in God means that if wish is not fulfilled we should understand that it must be for our own good which we are unable to understand in given circumstances. We are children of God. HE would give us all that that we need and much more at the appropriate time provided we are qualified for receiving the same. A sincere and heartfelt prayer will take us to the final destination – to attain nirvana (liberation from cycle of birth & death) and become Godlike.
Vandana Ritik
2. Prayer means conveying your thoughts, beliefs, fears, aspirations, needs to God. Most often, we pray to God for expressing our gratitude or to seek favour with a belief that HE is bestower of everything we need. We believe that God has a vast unimaginable and replenishable reservoir of unlimited divine powers and boons. We pray with awe. We pray in fear. We pray when we want some material object/ position/ service etc. We pray when we want things to go easy for us. We pray when we are sick. We also pray for forgiveness from God. We pray when we want thorns in our life to turn into colorful petals. Some people pray without any reason because praying becomes a habit with them. However, such people are very rare.
3. In actual, we pray when we realize that things are not in our control. When we bend down our head in prayer, we surrender our ego at the feet of Lord. At that moment we admit that we are nothing but helpless in front of his Supreme divine power. We admit that he is magnificent. We admit that Lord is our fortress where we are absolutely safe. When we agree to receive from someone it implies that we have surrendered our ego, it reflects our humility. This means that we have realized we are incapable of manifesting what we are seeking.
4. Pre-requisites for Prayer - Of course there is no dearth of people who are seen asking for favours from fellow human beings with a belief that they can fulfil their needs. However, instead of asking for favours from fellow beings, we must pray to God who gives to each and all. Great Saint of Shirdi, SaiBaba, often said ‘Sabka Malik Ek’(God is One) and his mantra to win over God was ‘Shraddha’(faith) and ‘Saburi’(patience) which will help us in crossing any hardship in our life. Faith and Trust in God comes automatically if we Love God in thoughts, words and action. Patience to wait for the outcome of my prayer to manifest takes away the sting of suffering. This we often lack so much. Most of the time faith and patience swing like pendulum depending upon our present life situations. Needless to mention most of our prayers are towards materialistic gains and less towards spiritual blessings. Another prerequisite for puja is purity of mind, heart, body and soul.
5. What should we pray for - When I sit down to pray often I am confused what should I ask for. SaiBaba said so many times that HIS treasury is full and people can take whatever they want but people ask for worldly things only whereas HE/God/Universe wants to give more.
6. So many times I have tried to imagine and feel what I would do if Lord appeared to me and asked me what my wish is?????? I would be totally speechless in front of HIM. I would have nothing to ask for. If I found the Lord than there would be nothing left to seek. For God is our final destination.
7. Bible says seek the Kingdom of God which is within you. I believe that if I seek the God himself, Kingdom will automatically follow but then there will be no need for Kingdom anymore. The thought itself is so awesome. I doubt if I am deserving enough to reach that stage. Only God knows what my qualifications are.
8. Sometimes, devotees don’t pray with humility but make demands. However, it is felt that we should refrain from making demands from God for it is considered as a demonic virtue.
9. Wise people say that God knows what is good for us and HE will bless us with the same, time and again, at the most right and appropriate moment.
10. Benefits of prayer - Over the years I have come to understand that I pray to reach that hidden and unseen sanctuary of peace and silence within me where the Supreme God resides. With my eyes closed or open, I utilize my prayer time to talk to God just as I would talk to a respectable elderly person. I convey my fears and insecurities, my needs and seek HIS guidance to turn my thoughts and actions towards a positive direction so that I can meet HIM as soon as possible. They say understanding ways of God is very complicated and incomprehensive. I feel that it is possible to understand God provided he showers his Grace onto us. For that we have to reach that highest pinnacle of humanness and be qualified. Power of prayers is so strang that with Grace of God everything becomes possible. It is said that even a single prayer can avert a War-like situation into peace. A mind in prayer is always surrounded by a pious aura and sends out positive vibrations in the Universe.
11. The Divine Universal Power- the Spirit is within soul hidden in our body. This means that we should not consider us separate from HIM. GOD listens to all our spoken and unspoken thoughts and words. So many times I wonder if I have that finesse that will enable God to reside in me!!!!!!
12. Prayers are very powerful - When we pray from depth of our heart, our wish is fulfilled. But our faith shakes when our prayer remains unanswered. We feel God is not looking at us. We either blame ourselves or God. It rarely occurs to us that if our prayer remained unfulfilled than it must be for our own benefit. Sometimes not having something is better than having that thing. If you look back in your life, you will find that most of the time the biggest grace of God came to you when things did not happen the way you wanted. When a bad time comes in our life, it awakens us to so many inner and outer realities of life. Struggling and finding a way out of our hardship is a blessing that God has bestowed on us by not fulfilling our wish because God loves us and wants us to develop our faith, patience, character. So many times we get what we want but that same blessing separates us from God further because once we get what we want, we forget to pray again till another adversity starts to loom its head in our life.
Therefore, if we are spiritually sound, we will not be affected if the prayer does not yield the desire result. Most of us feel that once our material desires are fulfilled and we retire from family obligations we will pray for spiritual grace. However, I feel that we should not wait till old age to ask for such an important blessing. All through our life along with our material needs we should pray to God for guiding us in the righteous direction. We should atone for our mistakes and pray to God to give us enough discrimination so that we do not make such mistakes again. Lot of people confess their sins to Lord and seek his pardon. How relieving that must be.
13. Faith or Trusting in God means that if wish is not fulfilled we should understand that it must be for our own good which we are unable to understand in given circumstances. We are children of God. HE would give us all that that we need and much more at the appropriate time provided we are qualified for receiving the same. A sincere and heartfelt prayer will take us to the final destination – to attain nirvana (liberation from cycle of birth & death) and become Godlike.
Vandana Ritik
Heritage of Shirdi Sai
New Delhi
New Delhi
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