Prayer: Communication with God

What is prayer?

Prayer in an integral part of all religions across the world. It is a form of devotional service and communication with God. When we say our daily prayers we are expressing our commitment and devotion to this supreme power. It is a way to relate to, and creating a rapport with an object of worship whom we have appointed. It is a direct way of relating to this holy being and an opportunity to spend time with God. Believe in the power of prayer for yourself and for others. God is omnipresent. He’s the creator, protector and destroyer. When we want to know someone we understand we should spend time with them. Therefore prayer is a means to understand God’s ways of the way he deals with us. We look for guidance through this relationship.

Importance of Praying

Prayer is important because it calms us. It brings peace within us and helps to keep our thoughts pure. Prayer is important because it’s therapeutic and helps us gain stability and tranquility when you feel you are spinning out of control. Therefore it helps us make better decisions.

Through this process we learn to heal our emotional wounds, find solutions to tough decisions. Our beliefs become so strong that we look for resolutions to our dilemmas through our communication with God. We should never underestimate the power of prayer as God understands our prayers even when we can’t find words to say them. We ask for protection for ourselves and our loved ones with immense faith in the holy one.

It is through this communication we look forward to fulfilling our wishes and desires. We make confessions seeking forgiveness of our known or unknown mistakes.  It’s a chance of praising, appreciating and thanking the Lord for all that we have achieved.

According to the Hindu culture prayers are performed for many reasons and various ways.

Some ways of praying are chanting of mantras and japs, anjalis, ashtakam, bhajans and kirtans. There are other elaborate rituals to please God seeking blessings and assistance.

The few reason why prayers are performed are:

• Fulfilling wishes
• Gaining victory against enemies during wars
• Overcoming death and adversity
• Seeking forgiveness and
• Purifying oneself from one’s karma

There are various occasions when prayers of different kinds are performed like birth of a child, marriage ceremony, death, seeking good harvest, entering a new place of residence, seeking blessings and success in exams, business ventures and even jobs.

How would you start your day with a prayer?

Start your prayer by thanking God for all the goodness and blessings showered on you. Praise the Lord for the beautiful life. Request him to walk with you and guide you through all the difficult situations. Seek forgiveness for anything wrong you may have done intentionally or unintentionally. You should pray sincerely with a humble heart and have faith in God.

Thus, we have various reasons to make prayer a part of our daily life.