The Power Of Prayers
Not long ago, one of my cousins was going through a rough patch in her life. I remember her calling me crying in the middle of the night. While talking to her, I sensed a strong feeling of sadness and empathy covering me. As an elder sister I tried all I could in the moment to listen, console and reassure her to believe in a positive outcome but I strikingly remember what she asked me after that, she said, “I don’t know how to pray. Can you pray to God and request him to make everything okay?” We shared a few minutes of silence when she said that. In that silence I only thought of her innocence and helplessness.
With an overwhelmed throat and a shaky voice, I told her that there’s no particular way to pray to God. No rulebook or guideline exists in this universe that tells us of a particular way to pray because there is none. Praying to God is unconstrained and every individual has his or her own unique way of connecting to the almighty implying that all ways are equal and true.
In fact, connecting our soul to the divine is a very intuitive and personal practice. Each one of us has a distinctive identity of our own. The truth is that no matter how similar our habits, choices and paths might seem with others, in reality they can never be the same. Because lets be practical, we entered this world alone and will exit it alone too.
The connections we make and the events we witness in our life are at times inevitable for our soul to escape from as they are there to teach us the lessons that we are meant to learn. And unless we learn from them, the discomfort will stay. The moment we observe, learn and make amends, the obstacles miraculously vanish.
Honestly, I have witnessed so many people around me recovering from difficult situations and illnesses because they showed faith in the power of their soul and placed genuine efforts to heal the situation by trusting the universe to make everything right. And guess what? Everything does turn right when your heart and soul takes over!
I explained to her what I meant when I said that there’s no proper way of praying and no one has the authority to judge your way of interacting with God because in God’s home there’s always space for everyone to fit-in. There are no judgments there and definitely no lack of love. You have all the right to carve your own actions.
As Indians, we have an instinct to join our hands while praying. It’s a gesture that comes naturally to us and is also a way for us to show respect when we are greeting someone. You must’ve heard of Namaste. Namaste is actually a Sanskrit phrase which means “I bow to you.” It is a form of greeting where we join our hands, similar to how we join them while we’re praying. This joining of hands is not merely an act of respect but it also has a long mythological history behind it.
Legends stated that it denotes union of Shiva and Shakti- the communion of feminine and masculine energy within us. It is also believed that the namaste gesture was taught by Lord Shiva (also known as Nataraja- king of dance) to sage Bharata, the master of dance suggesting that the interests and wishes of whomsoever it is shown to coincided with those of the poser and the level of hands should always be at the level of the chest and not below or above. Only priests are allowed to raise their folded hands above the head as they conduct saintly rituals.
If we look around, a lot of religions across the world follow this greeting and pay importance to the hands while praying. Even Christians join their hands when they pray. For them, it is a way to focus on God, surrender to him and submit to his will.
If we think of it, then it is very much true as when we fold our hands, we leave whatever we’re doing and remind ourselves that God is in control of everything. We signal our brain that we’re going to sit still in order to hear what God has to say to us. As a matter of fact, in the old testament of Bible there are different ways explained on how Christians hold their hands while praying. Some open their hands while praying to receive healing while some lay their hand on hand as a sign of respect.
Likewise, in Buddhism the eight fingers are equivalent to eight petals of the lotus where the devotee visualizes the deity being seated in the core of the hand. This wholehearted devotion helps the devotee to surrender to the deity easily bringing him closer to spiritual wisdom.
Similarly, for Muslims praying or dua is an important task of the day. They believe in the power of using the hands by clasping them, placing them on their knees or raising them in honor of God and trusting his guidance.
Our universe has as many beautiful traditions and religions as the uncountable number of droplets in the sea. Each tradition lies on the foundation of the connection with the divine through its own beauty of charm and customs which we all should collectively respect. But can you guess what else we should respect? Our own existence!
No matter where we’re born, or what religion or traditions our lineage has been following since centuries, if our soul beats to a unique tune then we must not disregard it. Yes, we should always pay respect to our ancestral traditions but we should do the same for all traditions, no matter if our family background is linked with it or not.
Because the purpose of every religion is to bring us closer to the divine and why would we want to miss an opportunity to learn a different approach to connect with God? I find it extremely unfair when someone shows respect only towards their side of belief and are not open to embrace other beautiful aspects that the world has to offer.
Our soul talks to us every single moment. The only problem is that we blur the voice by stuffing our mind with wandering thoughts of useless scenarios. Once we sit still, we’ll realize that all the answers that we’re desperately looking for outside of us are actually present in us.
Once we listen to our soul, it will flawlessly guide us to follow our real self and the unique ways we have to live life. This is also how our soul will guide us on how to pray. Please never think that you need to do the same things that others have done before. You are allowed to make and follow your own prayer ritual. This ritual must only be based on your inner voice. If your instinct tells you to fold your hands, do it. If it tells you not to involve any body part at all and sit still, then do that.
Sometimes, closing our eyes and observing silence is a prayer in itself. Sometimes reciting a mantra that you believe in is prayer, sometimes pouring your heart out by crying or writing on a piece of paper is prayer and sometimes meditation is prayer.
Prayer has no one definition; it is a word that is open to many descriptions and meanings. Precisely, it is a way of speaking with God and you must know that communication can happen with and without words. Never think twice before praying, your instinct will automatically tell you what to do. And never feel let down or change your route if someone else doesn’t stand by it or scorns it.
We all are equal in God’s world and there’s no discrimination or category in his space. In fact, God always grants our wishes and filters out the negativity in his own phenomenal way. As long as we wish the best for ourselves and others, our wish will always be manifested into our reality as God always listens, no matter what time it is or what language we’re speaking.
What God really wishes in return is unwavering faith and patience and that’s exactly what I asked my sister to do. Instead of asking others to pray for her, I asked her to pray for herself; to believe in her power and truth.
That night she prayed (in her own pure way) and left everything to God and slept. Of course the state didn’t change overnight but it gradually did turn and there finally came a time when all her worries vanished and she came out of the situation stronger and wiser than before.
Her reflection revealed a version that had strong faith in the power of her existence. A version that had unshakeable confidence of always being connected with the divine. All she needed to access that link was to tap into her own true inner energy. This energy is easily accessible with prayers.
Everyone should get into the habit of praying on a daily basis as praying not only brings us closer to God and our soul, but it also helps us to appreciate our blessings and remain grateful for all that we have. The more we stay in this pure prayer energy, the happier our reality will be and we will manifest more abundance in our life.
Through this personal anecdote I only wanted to highlight how subjective praying is and how we are highly capable of shifting our reality on our own. By the way, have you ever wondered why in movies when a serious life-threatening crisis occurs, the doctor very sternly declares, “We’ve done our best but now he/she needs your prayers for a miracle to happen”.
Mostly, in the next scene the patient recovers but I never witnessed anyone in the audience questioning or appreciating the role and power of prayer in healing circumstances, how it worked and what was so powerful about it. Does it actually work? Is it really so powerful? The answer is an out-and-out yes.
Prayers always work. They change our energy, aura and life. And sometimes what we see in the movies is exactly what happens to several people in real life. It’s the ultimate shift and once we get in touch with our true self, there will be only miracles aligning in our life.
Prayers do work. Never doubt that!
Also Read: How to manifest for others: https://happilymanifested.com/manifest-for-others/
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