Art of living: The power of prayer

Chennai

Prayer is a vital tool to improve your life. When you feel the obstacle is too much to handle, deep prayer can work miracles. What you can do, you do. What you cannot do, you pray for it! Whatever you do, know that the higher power has the final say and you can tap that power through your prayers.

Prayer doesn’t mean just sitting and chanting some words. It’s about being in that serene, calm and meditative state. That is why, in the Vedic tradition, before prayer comes dhyana (meditation) and there is dhyana after prayer. When the mind is focused, the prayer becomes far more powerful.

To whom you pray is not important. Whereas religion puts words to the prayer, and adds symbols and rituals to it, the prayer itself transcends them. It happens in subtle level of feelings and the feelings transcend words and religion. The act of praying itself has the power to bring transformation.

Be sincere in your prayers. Do not try to outsmart the Divine. Usually you give the time that is leftover; when you have nothing else to do, no guests to attend to, no parties to attend to, you go to the Divine. This is not quality time. Don’t be in a hurry to get what you seek from the Divine. When your intention is to get a boon from God, you are in a hurry. But when you know your own God, you are not in a hurry to get something out of God. You hurry to get something that throws you off balance and makes you small.

True prayer, however, is just the opposite of wanting to possess. It’s about honouring and offering everything to the Divine. Honouring brings devotion and it leads to surrender. Devotion brings a healing touch to the life. Devotion and faith is the central core of prayer. A true prayer can’t happen without devotion and faith. Having faith is to realise that God’s protection is there for you. Devotion is an inner flowering. Unless you are lit in devotion to the Divine, your life will remain restless. In devotion, longing will arise in you. And when there is longing, true prayer happens by itself.

The writer is the founder of Art of Living Foundation and can be reached at www.artofliving.org