Do you pray? Chances are you do, otherwise, you would not be reading this book. But, do you really know the Divine Power you pray to? Most people know their God by name but where is the God that we pray to? While we pray to ‘our’ God, others pray to ‘their’ God, and this makes us ask the question, ‘How many Gods exist?’ There are hundreds of religions in the world and if we add up all the Gods of all the religions, there would be millions of Gods. Since we pray to a God, it is very important to know that God before we discover the true meaning of prayer. Therefore, in the pages that follow, we will not only investigate what prayer is, but also ponder on the reality of God.
Based on their belief system, followers of various religions go to several holy places of worship. Christians go to churches, Muslims to mosques, Hindus to temples, Sikhs to gurdwaras, and many others go to monasteries and synagogues. But they all go for one purpose–to pray. It is said that over 80% of the world, over 6 billion people pray. But not many know what prayer truly is. Not only are we praying to different Gods and uttering different prayers, we don’t really know what effective prayer is! Is our God listening to our prayers? Where is our God in reality? We are quite unsure about all this but somehow, we are sure that our prayers will reach the Divine.
Different people pray differently. Some remove their footwear, some go on their knees and some raise their hands towards the sky. There are numerous methods of prayer and the irony is that everybody thinks their prayer is right. Followers of a religion are not only confident about their God and prayer but are sometimes so obsessed that they make it their objective to convert people to their religion and their way of prayer.
Why do we pray? There are various reasons why we close our eyes and speak to God. The most common reason is that we have a problem and we want God to solve our problem. Sometimes, we fold our hands in prayer, not because of a problem, but because we want God to fulfil a wish or desire. Most prayers fall under these two categories, although there are a few people who pray in gratitude or who pray just to praise the Lord. There are many people who simply pray and it seems like they pray because they are told to pray. Of course, they must pray because if they don’t, then their God will be displeased! They are made to live with this fear and thus, prayers are often not just inspired by faith, but also by fear.
Despite the fact that we are not clear about the concept of prayer, prayer is very important. It is communicating with God. It is showing our love for the Divine, the Creator. Unfortunately, we don’t understand all of this because we grow up believing in mythology. We are told about Santa Claus and about different Gods who ride on different animals. This kind of prayer is fine for young children who would, otherwise, not understand God and prayer. But it is strange that as we grow up, our theological beliefs remain the same—we continue to believe in all that we believed in as kids. Somehow, we just never grow up when it comes to our prayers and God.
There is no doubt that God exists. In my earlier book I wrote, ‘We don’t know who God is, where God is, what God is, but God is.’ There is no doubt that a Creator exists. God is beyond human comprehension but that, in no way, can dispute the existence of a Divine Power.
We are so programmed and taught that we must fold our hands, close our eyes, and do dozens of other things, that we don’t stop and question any of these practices. It is considered blasphemous to question any religion even though it may be out of love for God. If one investigates the history of religion, what will we discover? The people who questioned and did not agree are the ones who branched away to create their own religion, a subsection of the earlier one or even an altogether different one. Have all these religions ultimately helped to realize God and discover true prayer? Unfortunately no!
Religion is only a kindergarten to spirituality. It only teaches us the ABC about God. It makes us pray but doesn’t help us understand what we say. After all, there is a life purpose for us human beings who live on earth. Most religions by and large, agree that we must return to God. The goal is one though the paths may be many. But there are so many myths, rituals, dogmas and superstitions that the common man is lost in his religion. He wants to reach God, but he doesn’t learn to climb the ladder to heaven. Of course, we must believe in God and move forward with prayers that are full of faith, hope, trust, and enthusiasm. But is that enough? Our love for God must take us on a quest that will help us overcome ignorance and lead us to self-realization and God-realization. However, the way to God is prayer. It is communicating with the Divine. It is understanding the truth and wiping away the darkness in which we live. God is not a distant being, living in a faraway planet. It is unfortunate that we don’t realize this in our prayers. It is time to stop and reflect. It is time to discover who God truly is, to realize Divinity in our Soul. It is time to question prayers that we so often utter without realizing what we say. Life is short, and we must discover the true meaning of prayer before the journey is over. Of what use is it to pray if we don’t understand what we say?