Questions and Answers

Questions and Answers

I would like to know whether I should pray for something I want or whether I should just pray for God's Will to be done.

To pray for God's Will to be done is the highest form of prayer. But a beginner finds it almost possible to pray to God sincerely to fulfil him in God's own way. So when the seeker is just starting out, it is advisable for him to pray to God for whatever he feels he needs most, whether it is patience, purity, sincerity, humility, peace and so forth. Then God will give the seeker a little peace, light and bliss, which are the precursors of something infinite that is going to come into his inner being. Once the seeker has received some peace, light and bliss and they have become established to some extent in his inner being, at that time he will have some confidence in God's operation and also in his own life of aspiration.

When one is making very fast progress or is a little advanced, he feels that there 'is some reality within himself and that this reality is not going to disappoint or desert him. Then he feels that God is fully aware of what he desperately needs and is eager to supply him with those things. When a seeker feels this kind of confidence within him, that is the time for the seeker to pray, "Let Thy Will be done." At that time he can sincerely say, "God, I want to please You only in Your own way."

Prayer is best expressed in my clay-to-day life when my prayer has become a spontaneous, self-giving surrender to the Will of God.

How can we pray effectively?

To pray most effectively, your prayer should be outwardly inaudible, but you may form a sentence of a few words that will convince your aspiring mind. The heart is already aspiring, but the mind needs to aspire. So it is better for the prayer to take the form of words.

You may form the sentence by writing it on the tablet of your heart. Then try to see it there. Once the words are written, you can return many times to see them. If you want to repeat the sentence, good, but it is not necessary. When you repeat your prayer you have a choice. Either write it once on the tablet of your heart and read it again and again, or continuously write the same thing—whichever gives you more joy.

How can we make our prayer most intense?

You can make your prayer most intense by using your gratitude-heart. While you are praying, you should feel that the prayer is coming from your heart, and you have to feed the prayer with gratitude. If you do not nourish the prayer with your gratitude-heart then your prayer will not be intense. Nothing divine will be intense unless and until you are grateful to the Supreme. At every moment your gratitude-heart must feed your inner cry. This will intensify your prayer, your aspiration, your dedication and all your spiritual qualities.

When I pray, I kneel down devotedly and secretly. When I meditate, I lift up my heart soul fully and perfectly.

What is the best way to pray for others?

First, before you even start praying, you should invoke the presence of the Supreme. When you invoke His presence, He will definitely come in a subtle form. You will not see Him in a human body, but you will be able to feel His presence. Inside God's presence, try to see and feel the person for whom you are praying. If you can invoke the Supreme's presence and feel inside His presence those for whom you are praying, that will be the most effective way of helping them through your prayer.

But before asking the Supreme through your prayer to help someone, first ask Him whether you are supposed to pray for that particular person. If you get a message or inner feeling that you should pray for that particular person, only then should you do it. Suppose somebody is very sick and you want to pray to God to cure him.

You have to know that perhaps God wants him to have this experience right now for his own inner development. You have to know that God has infinitely more love for that particular person than you or any other human being could possibly have. If you ask God to cure him, you may only be opposing God's Will. But if you pray for oneness with God's Will, then God may say, "You have become one with My Will. Now I will be happy if you ask me to cure the person."

Do you pray sometimes?

To be quite frank with you, I do not pray; nor do I have any need for meditation, although I do meditate. After one has realised the Highest and become consciously one with the Absolute Supreme, one has no need to pray or meditate. But I have a number of disciples, so I meditate for them as I used to meditate for myself many years ago. When I meditate on them, prayer is automatically there because, in trying to help them in their spiritual awakening, I am invoking God's infinite blessings, light and compassion to offer to them.

They say that prayer is the daughter of suffering. But I say that prayer is the mother of delight.