With intense humility unto God, pleading with yearning for a desired aspect is termed as a ‘prayer’. A prayer includes respect, love, pleading and faith. Let us see why should we pray to God.
In our hectic daily life we lose our mental peace. And that peace is obtained through praying. Praying bestows us with the strength of faith and God’s blessings. Prayer is a sadhana that is devoid of restraints. Let us see when, where and how should we pray and whom should we pray.
An individual who performs sakām worship offers sakām prayers, while an individual who performs nishkām worship offers nishkām. He who offers a sakām prayer gets entrapped in Māyā (Great Illusion), while he who prays in a nishkām manner moves towards God-realisation by overcoming Māyā.
O God ! Help me do good things and keep me always away from bad things. Please teach me to respect all the elders and the revered. Let me feel love and respect towards my Nation and Dharma.
O Mother Annapūrṇā ! Let this food that is offered at your feet be consumed by me with a bhāv (Spiritual emotion) that it is your ‘Prasād (Holy sacrament)’. Let me get Shakti (Divine Energy) and Chaitanya (Divine Consciousness) through this Prasād
Let this Holy festival / Religious festival be celebrated through me in a bhāv filled state, during which I will constantly remember your virtues and leelās (Divine plays)
It is inappropriate to pray and seek God’s help in doing things that can be decided by taking decisions with the help of the intellect or use our kriyamāṇ-karma appropriately. This is because it uses up our sādhanā. Seekers should not pray for solutions to their problems of day-to-day life.
O God ! Let my chanting get done with bhāv and be continuous by your grace. Let me get Shakti and Chaitanya through chanting by your grace.
O God ! Let my journey be completed without any obstacles. Let a protective sheath of your grace be constantly around me throughout the journey
