Prayer and its Purpose
We all Pray, but why do we Pray?
When we pray, what do we Say?
'I have a problem Lord, I seek from you this…'
Is this the reason, why Prayer is?
We belong to some religion or the other when we are born and most of us pray. It is natural for us to put our religion as a part of our life credentials. Just like we put our name, our surname, and our nationality, we also put our religion, whether or not we believe in it. Thereafter we may even change it. But as we live through life, we must pause to understand who is the God that we pray to and what we say in our prayers.
Prayer has a purpose. As life unfolds, we face so many problems, and when a problem becomes unsolvable, we take it to our God. We see this happen most often when a doctor gives up hope for somebody who is critically ill and very dear to us. Then, we turn to God. We fold our hands in prayer and cry. We even beg God to save the life of our dear one and to relieve their pain and suffering. Not only do we pray to God to save a life, we even turn to God when there is a pandemic, a disease, a business loss, a family feud, or an anticipated result.
Faith and hope in our God, keeps us seeking and even begging from God, 'O Lord, please bless us with a son.' 'May my child get the first rank in class.' We perform prayers to please God, and request God to fulfil our desires and wishes. Most prayers fall under the following two categories: either we go to God when we have a problem, or we pray when we seek something from God. But some people don't forget God when their wishes are fulfilled, and problems are solved. In fact, they make it a habit to make 'Gratitude Prayer' a part of their daily life. Some people thank God before they eat a meal or before they start any important work in life. Very few people pray to God because they love God. These people, sincerely, have a deep longing for God. It is this small group of people that go further, beyond religion in quest of the Divine and they find eternal peace.
Isn't it strange that most of us don't really know who is the God we pray to and what we say when we Pray? We grow up divided by our religion and we believe that our God is the most powerful God. People get so obsessed and attached to God, that they start believing in a statue and fall in love with that physical form of God. As kids, we grow up with mythological stories, but somehow, we don't get over them and continue to believe in our fantasy God, without using our intellect to build a connection with the Divine that is not only present within but exists all around us.
While it is very good to pray to a God with name and form, our love for God should make us climb the ladder to heaven as we overcome our ignorance and realize, the several truths about life and our relationship with God.
Prayer has a deep purpose. It is communication with God. It helps us build a connection with the Divine, as we not only talk to God from the depth of our heart but we also pause and wait to listen to the sweet and silent voice of God. Effective prayer thus, is a two-way communication.
Unfortunately, most of humanity doesn't understand what they say when they pray. How many people actually understand the true meaning of the scripture of their religion? How many of us really know how to interpret what the word of God truly is? While we understand the concept of religion and prayer, we learn about love and kindness; we become compassionate and live with virtues; we often mumble prayers without actually understanding what we are telling God.
In many Eastern religions, just like it is in many monotheistic ones, we sing bhajans and mantras, spiritual hymns and songs, to praise God. But we get carried away by words that express the physical beauty and the worldly powers of God. We don't evolve in our prayers. We have learnt to by-heart tunes and lyrics but what do all these fervent recitals mean?
The real purpose of prayer is to build a Divine Union with the Creator. It is to take us closer to God as we understand the Divine and realize the presence of our Lord within. As long as we continue to imagine God as someone who wears a fancy attire, who appears in magical and mystical ways, we will never make prayer a means to realize God. As long as our prayers are meant to invoke miracles, we will continue to live believing in the stories that were meant to introduce God to us, but we will not go beyond. No doubt, as young children, we need to be told tales, as our capacity to understand is limited. But isn't it time for us to stop and understand the true meaning of prayer, to realize that God is one power? Our immaturity makes us fight with people of other religions, and even wage wars. If only we could discover the true purpose of prayer and realize that we are all children of one God, our life would be far more peaceful. While we may live in different countries, following different cultures, speaking different languages believing in different religions, the God of this universe is one. Our prayers may be different, but the one we pray to is the same.
Prayer is meant to build this beautiful relationship, not only with God, but with all the children of God who are none other than God manifesting as you and me.
IN A NUTSHELL