Praying is the easiest and best way to take shelter from God
We, souls, are intrinsically small, quite ignorant, unsafe and mostly helpless. God is omnipotent, omniscient and controller. God is quite prepared to guide and help, but we have to pray for His guidance and help. God won’t do it on His own, because that will encroach upon our free will. So, what is the wise thing to do? Just pray. It is as simple as that. Not praying is not really an option. Otherwise, we will begin to speculate and, yes, worry. Why does one not pray? There are two main reasons.
One is ignorance about its benefits. The other is a feeling that one doesn’t need God’s help; I can manage. We don’t till we get in trouble. We can pray anytime; God doesn’t mind. Strangely, we request favours from so many, but not from God, who is the source of everything. (The Bhagavad-Geeta 10.41) Praying is a positive act. This is linked with our desires, which define us. Did you not know that all worship is praying only? All schools worldwide start with prayers. Prayers are of three types. One is for what we feel we need. (9.22) The second is for the protection of what we have like health. (9.22) The third and most important is to protect us when there are good times.
Lord Krishna has commended those who can tolerate ‘sukha’ just as one tolerates ‘duhkha’ (2.14, 2.38 and 12.13) Because all big mistakes are generally made in happy times only when one feels that one cannot do any wrong. This is when lust raises its ugly head the most. The mind becomes super active prodded by senses. (15.7) God can help as only He can. But before doing that ego has to be curbed. We have to accept that someone can be superior to us and to such an extent that we must take His shelter. This is how we get started. You begin praying and start becoming deserving of favours by God, because praying is a spiritual act, as it links us with God. Does being connected with the rich and powerful not bring some benefits? Then, God owns all that we see.
Yes, it is all His; we get it to use for a limited period only. Then, we are relocated. Now I will list what all we can pray for. This is not an exhaustive list, but it will be a good beginning. The first must be for guidance because direction is all important. Who is better placed than God, who is omniscient and knows past, present and future also. The second on my list is help from God. Who again is better placed than God – the omnipotent?
Don’t we get in trouble helplessly? God can help. (18.58) The third must be for ‘shakti’ (strength) of five kinds, which are inner strength (Atma Bala), intellectual strength, mental strength, physical strength and strength to be able to tolerate. We need all of them, especially the toleration part because we must tolerate what cannot be avoided. (2.10) Aren’t we living in ‘duhkhalaya’ (place of miseries) (8.15) Material wealth is on everyone’s list. This is possible if we remain in contact with God. (18.78) Not only wealth but success is there to be had if we pray and pray sincerely for all our ‘dharmasangat’ (according to ‘dharma’) activities. (18.78)
The conclusion is that praying is the easiest and best way to take shelter from God. And as we receive what we crave for, and we can thank gratefully. What this will do is make us deserving of more rewards from God. Life will be nicely set. Keep praying.
(The writer is a spiritual teacher; views are personal)
