One of the greatest paradoxes of this world is that an overwhelmingly large number of people offer prayers to God. An equally large number, however, also doubt the efficacy of prayers most of the times. How to explain this is an issue that has been bothering both the knowledgeable as well as the ignorant.
Well, there are no easy answers in black and white as the whole idea of God is clouded in a haze of grey. Doubts, confusion, skepticism and even complete disbelief in a small number of cases. But coming back to the basic question — do prayers workIJ From philosophers to psychologists to even medical doctors have all given their views. The difficulty is that even those views are covered with fuzziness.
Does this mean that prayers are a result of the smartness of human mind which tries to take a chanceIJ Chance that what if God really exists and listens to prayers and dispenses as per his likes and dislikes. In the philosophy of religion, this viewpoint is a suggestion given by Pascal to those who have doubts about God. But Pascal never doubted God. He only gave a reason for the skeptics and agnostics.
The question of efficacy of prayers is thus a crucial one in the idea of God. What is a prayerIJ Well, there can be many views. A demand, an expression of gratitude, a quid pro quo and even a tête-à-tête with God on issues private and public, divine and mundane. It is all about personal inclination, personal belief. But there is one essential thing in prayer. It is addressed to a private God, the idea of which human beings have created through their cognitive ability.
Erroneously we try to take it to the public platform and confusion persists. God is an entity with whom those praying have a personal relationship and who seek all sorts of wishes to be fulfilled. Thus, the assertion about efficacy of prayer will depend on how well the wishes have been granted. Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why doubts about efficacy of prayers arise and by extension lead to doubts about the idea of God.
For most of us, God seems to be like an ever-intervening variable capable of affecting outcomes of life. This is not so. God is an article of faith and expecting God’s intervention after every prayer may be some kind of an illusory belief that can and does lead to psychological problems. Prayers at best are some kind of a soliloquy, a monologue expressing the affiliation of a human being to the creator. This doesn’t mean that prayers are ineffective or they cannot work.
Prayers do work, but on a different plank.
It all depends on personal faith. This faith influences the mind which influences perception. But expecting transactions to be affected by prayers is rather too farfetched. The God-man affair cannot be one of give and take.
Famous ascetic and saint, Devraha Baba of Varanasi, always told the people visiting him that if you get what you ask from God, it is good, but if you don’t get it, it is even better. The idea is that sometimes God may have different plans for you. This is the basic premise of positive psychology. But the essential element in all prayers is faith. It is faith that makes prayers work. So if prayers are not answered, don’t blame God.
The writer is a professor of management and public speaker. He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com