Meaning of Prayer

-‘Prayer’ plays an important role in our lives. In the society, many wrong notions have come to exist, about this word. Therefore, it becomes very necessary that its correct meaning is made public. To understand its correct meaning, please think over the following issues:

– Are there any sort of limitations in the subject matter of prayer?

-To whom should we pray?

-should we do nothing, after making prayer?

– What should we do, to ensure that our prayers are effective, soon?

After trying our best, to ask for help from another competent being is called ‘Prayer’. The person who prays, should also try to attain the desired thing himself, just as if, a prayer is done to get wisdom, then, the person doing such prayer should himself do enough for the attainment of intelligence according to his capacity. Only that prayer is accepted, which is done after exerting himself to the fullest.  Like, others do not help that person, who asks for money, but, shirks from using his own money, prayers made to God are not heeded to, if doer of prayer does not exert himself to his fullest to get the desired thing.

– To whom should we pray? – First of all, we should understand the importance of what we want to pray for. After that, we must have sufficient reason to believe that to whom we are going to pray have the ability to fulfill that prayer. Example – It will be our big mistake if, we are expecting help of Rs.1000/- from a person, who has the ability to give Rs 100/-, only.

There is no one, more powerful than God. It is appropriate to pray to God even for material things. By praying to Him, God can never save us from the fruits of our actions. But, on the basis of our prayers, we become capable of enduring miseries endowed on us because of our bad deeds, with ease. On the basis of prayers made by others, our miseries cannot lessen. This is against the principle of ‘Fruits of Actions’, according to which the fruit is received by the one, who has done the action.

– Fruits of our actions cannot be changed by prayers made by others. No doubt, prayers made by others can inspire ourselves to act in a good or bad way. Everyone believes that the results of our actions cannot be changed by the actions of others, then, how did the belief that prayer by others can reduce our sufferings happen to stay?

The benefit of praying for the good of others is that the heart of the person, doing the prayer, becomes more pure. It should be thoroughly understood by us that we can do good, in spite of the bad wishes made by others. 

 

-Why does it happen that even after praying to God with all our heart, we do not get the desired result or it happens after a very long time? In fact, God accepts those prayers, only, in accordance with which, we have performed our earlier actions. This means that God cannot accept our prayers, according to which we have not acted. But, as soon as we have done the right amount of action in accordance with our prayer, our prayer is accepted. Therefore, it is appropriate that our storehouse of actions be filled with virtuous deeds, so that, whenever we make a proper prayer, it is immediately accepted.  

-It is common to hear that God listens to those prayers, only, that come from the heart. In fact, prayers emerge from the heart, only after exertion of sufficient effort, according to one’s ability. Let us understand this thing with an example. Suppose, you have been asking the people the correct way to go somewhere. You have tried to know the right way from many people according to your ability, but you are tired of their misrepresentation. Now, when you ask someone the right way, after getting exhausted, that asking for help will, surely, come out of your heart.

The things mentioned here can be checked with analytical mind.

-Prayer leads to the attainment of the desired help, but also, it gives rise to a feeling in our mind that there is some other being, which is more powerful than us and which can help us. Such a feeling destroys our ego and generates humility in us.

-Are there limits to praying? The first limitation– the purpose of prayer should not be to harm anyone, but to benefit others. The second limitation – there should never be a desire to go against the laws of creation in our prayer. For example, praying for the resurrection of a dead person is meaningless, as it is against the laws of creation.

-We can never be free from our sorrows, by the prayers of others.

If, by the prayer of others, we could be freed from our miseries, then, there would be no point in believing that we do get the fruits of our every action. The removal of the sufferings of others by praying is the belief of a culture, which does not understand the truth of the law of karma. According to the law of karma, when the desire for the good of another comes out of obtaining some kind of satisfaction as a result of actions of that other, then that other person earns virtue, the pleasant fruit of which, he will get in future.

-Because, the importance of intelligence is more than our body, then, the effort, which is the outcome of both our physical and mental labor becomes more advanced. Prayer is also one of such efforts. This effort is meaningful, only when our body, intellect and mind join hands.

When we pray for the good of others, our own ego is destroyed and we move towards real progress.