PRAYER AND DEVOTION

Q. Should we pray aloud to God ?

A. Pray to Him in any way you like. He is always sure to hear you. He can hear even the footfall of an ant.

Q. Is there really any efficacy in prayers ?

A. Yes. When mind and speech unite in earnestly asking for a thing, that prayer is answered. Of no avail are the prayers of that man who says with his mouth, 4i These are all Thine, O Lord !' and at the same time thinks in his heart that all of them are his.

Be not a traitor to your thoughts. Be sincere; act according to your thoughts; and you shall surely succeed. Pray with a sincere and simple heart, and your prayers will be heard.

What you think, that you should speak Let there be harmony between your thoughts and words. Otherwise, if you merely say that God is your all in all while in your mind you have made the world your all in allr you cannot derive any benefit thereby.

To approach a mighty monarch a man must ingratiate himself with the officials who keep the gate and guard the throne. So, to reach the Almighty Lord and obtain His grace, one must practise much devotion, serve many devotees, and keep for long the company of the wise.

Do not let worldly thoughts and anxieties disturb your mind. Do everything that is necessary in the proper time, and let your mind be always fixed on God.

There is little fear that a ship will drift or run into danger as long as its compass points due North. So the ship of life steers clear of every danger, if the mind, its compass needle, is always turned towards God without oscillation.

How to pray is the next question. Let us not pray for things of the world, but pray like saint Narada, Narada said to Ramachandra, " O Rama, grant that I may be favoured with Bhakti (love, devotion and self-surrender) for Thy lotus-feet.' " Be it so, Narada, said Rama, "But will you not ask for anything else? Narada replied, " Lord, may it please Thee to grant that I may not be attracted by Thy Maya, which fascinates the universe." Ramachandra said once more, " Be it so, Narada, but will you not ask for anything else? " Narada replied, " No, Lord, that is all I pray for.'

If you cannot settle whether God has form or not, then pray in this way: M O Lord, I cannot understand whether Thou art with form or without it. Whatever mayst Thou be, have mercy on me. Do reveal Thyself unto me."

One may attribute the various forms and aspects of God that are current in society to imagination, and may have no faith in them. Yet God will shower His grace on a person if he believes in a Divine Power that creates and directs the world, and prays with a distressed heart, " O God, I do not know Thy real nature. Deign to reveal Thyself to me as Thou really art.

God is extremely attentive, my boys. He has heard every time you have prayed to Him. He will surely reveal Himself to you some day or other, at least at the time of death