THE SPICE CALLED PRAYER
Prayer can be defined as a reverent petition made to God,a communication with God. Prayers can be of different types. You can pray in a church, temple or even at your own home. No matter where you pray, the ultimate aim of everyone is to talk to God about their sorrows and happiness.
We need to look at prayer with deeper thoughts. Prayer isn’t just closing your eyes, folding your hands and speaking. Prayer is a much more meaningful part of religion. We all need to pray, God himself demands us to pray. Prayer is defined as an act of God, a god or another object of worship, such as in devotion, confession, praise, or thanksgiving. When most people pray, they just say the same prayer, like the Lord’s Prayer for example. Saying the same prayer isn’t really such a bad thing, it’s more about the meaning and the time that you spend praying. Prayer shouldn’t just be looked at as a routine or habit, but as more of a love poem to express one’s self to God.
The prayer that we pray should be the one that comes straight from our hearts. Prayer shouldn’t be a job or a planned out speech. God doesn’t look at how good a prayer is, he doesn’t judge by quantity either. A short prayer can be just as, if not, more meaningful as a large one. God looks at the thought and meaning of the prayer. A prayer that comes straight from the heart is what God appreciates. We need to pray for different things in life. God tells us what to pray for and what not to. He tells us to pray for everything that we need, spiritually and physically.
We can pray to God for almost anything except for absurd wants. God tells us to pray to no one else but Him. When we pray God wants us to acknowledge to him our needs and misery, hiding nothing, he wants us to pray for everything on our minds coming from our hearts.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa used to say that one should develop total faith in the existence of god, as that is the foundation of spiritual life. If one is a non-believer, the loss is not god’s but the person’s as he is frittering away the opportunity of a human birth, which is meant for attaining liberation and happiness.
Mather Teresa says, “I used to pray that God would feed the hungry, or do this or that, but now I pray that he will guide me to do whatever I'm supposed to do, what I can do. I used to pray for answers, but now I'm praying for strength. I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things.”
St. Francis of Assisi prayed this way:Lord make me an instrument of your peace, where there is hatred let me sow love, where there is injury, pardon, where there is doubt, faith, where there is despair, hope,where there is darkness, light, and where there is sadness, joy.
Traditional Buddhist Prayer: May all be free from sorrow and the causes of sorrow; May all never be separated from the sacred happiness which is sorrow less; And may all live in equanimity, without too much attachment and too much aversion, And live believing in the equality of all that lives.
Prayer or worship is considered to be an integral part of the Hindu religion. The Hindu devotional Bhakti movements emphasize repetitive prayer. Stemming from the universal Soul or Brahman, prayer is focused on the personal forms of God, such as Shiva's Avatar, Vishnu, or Vishnu's Avatars, Rama and Krishna.
Salat, ritual Islamic prayer, prescribed five times daily:For each of the five prayers - pre-dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset, and night.
God is ever ready to help His devotee and the way to reach him is through prayer. If a time is set aside for prayer everyday it will get ingrained like any other habit and in course of time devotion will take deep root. Initially the distraction of family life may be disturbing but if one pursues with effort there will be steady progress and success will be in sight.
Why do we need to pray? The below benefits make usunderstand the significance of praying:
Gives Confidence – Prayer helps a lot of people to stay confident. Through praying, they feel as if someone is out there to protect them from all the miseries and sorrow. This will give them a hope to live and move ahead in their lives with more confidence.
Gives a Sense of Morality – Ethics is very important to be a responsible individual. It prevents people from doing immoral things. Prayer steers everyone in the right path. People who pray will have a better understanding of what is right and wrong.
Brings Peace in Life – Prayer is one of the best methods to bring peace in a person’s life. Rather than quarrelling with others, people will realize the importance of harmony to have a healthy and fruitful life. In short, prayer helps to carve out a better character in a person.
Helps in Healing – Different people have different types of problems and worries in their lives. Regardless if you are physically or mentally troubled, prayer helps to heal your body and mind. It encourages people to stay optimistic in life.
Imparts Wisdom – People who pray tend to be more mature and wise compared to those who do not pray. They will also understand the true meaning of life.
Helps to Forgive – People always find it hard to forgive those who have hurt them. It is not always possible to forget and move ahead in our lives. Prayer makes people more forgiving. It evokes a realization in people that there is no use in carrying forward the revenge and bitterness towards other people in your life. It helps people to come out of their sorrows and forgive those who were partly or wholly responsible for them.
Becomes Responsible – Praying is one of the most important factors which makes a person responsible. We all get distracted at times. Praying helps everyone to stay on track and perform their tasks properly. Also, different religions have different types of holy books. All these books have stories with morals and advice which make people realize the importance of doing their jobs and other tasks at the right time. Hence, people will become more responsible and refrain from postponing their tasks.
Boosts Energy – Knowing that there will be someone to help us in all points of time is definitely an energy booster. It helps people to lead their life happier and peacefully. Prayer, to be precise gives more energy to people. It will also help people to become successful in their life.
Creates Empathy – It is important to understand the emotions and feeling of other people. If not, we may unknowingly create a bitterness or enmity with others. Praying makes people more patient. Hence, they will take proper time to understand what others are going through. Empathizing with people will help to create a better bond between them which indeed brings peace to our lives.
Reduces Stress and Anxiety – One of the major factors which harms our health is stress. Prayer encourages people to eliminate this stress and concentrate on our deeds. It tries to make people understand that there is no point in being overly anxious over your past actions. Hence, prayer helps people to stay healthy.
Reduce Disappointment – We all would have felt disappointed at some point in our life. Due to this disappointment, some people hesitate to try again or move ahead with their tasks. Praying helps most of the people to come out of this despair. It makes people realize the importance of hard work. Hence, people who pray will have more patience to try again and succeed in their life.
Next Week: The Spice Called Motivation.
( High Profile Eminent Writer )