Say a Little Prayer

We all pray. We pray to our God, the Almighty, or to different gods and goddesses, gurus, shrines, or saints, depending on our faith and type of belief.

The reason for praying may differ from person to person or from sect to sect, but the main force behind the prayer is the belief in God through one of the faiths. Those who believe, they pray. Some pray regularly, while others do it occasionally. Some do it daily, one or more time, while others do it weekly or so. Some do it for few minutes, and some for hours. Some do it with a wish, some without it. Some do it for mental peace, while others as duty imbibed by their society or family. Some find reason in it while some do it without any cause or desire, because their parents said so or they fear the supernatural. But being even one percent devout makes one pray at some time or the other.

Prayers are listened by God (in any form), and He protects those who pray, give them peace in this world or even in the other world, if one believes in that too.

But, is just praying good enough to reach anywhere near God, or to be a real believer in any sense? Can one really be rewarded with mental peace or salvation by just praying? Pray at one moment and cheat someone, even a trusted one, at the very next moment. Pray many times a day and deceive people throughout the day. Is such a prayer of any use?

Prayer has to be preceded by faith and followed by deeds: faith, as much as one can have, and deeds, as per one’s religion or belief, which does not give license to any cheating, sin or vices.

But in actual world, the opposite happens. Baring few saints or saintly people, most of us do hollow prayers. Many criminals also pray, thinking that God will bail them out and forgive their crime. Most of us do the same; pray a number of times and than sin as per our convenience. Some cheat in their business or work, more than what the business ethics allows, others do it with their friends and relatives. Some cheat on their spouses or siblings, while others fool their parents and so on. Some cheat for minor gains and some do it for their selfishness. The cheating can be monetary, of trust (business or personal) and even of the feelings.

Whatever the crime or cheating one does, the end result is same, the prayers, irrespective of the type or intensity of faith, go waste. Because such deeds after the prayer do not confirm to the truthfulness and purity required by any faith. We fool ourselves, looking for personal salvation or mental peace in prayers, if we do not follow them up with correct deeds, and instead go on cheating and sinning. The mental peace will stay an illusion and salvation a distant dream.

Prayers are important, but equally important are the follow up acts of a person, the limitation of greed and selfish outlook towards life. If one controls these, the prayers will be more like prayers rather than a self imposed unyielding ritual. Faith is necessary for anyone to pray. Faith, that whatever one prays for will be granted. It is there in every religion. And if one has that faith, than one does not pray for any gain. One does not need any. The peace and salvation is guaranteed. The personal greed and selfish demands from God or society vanishes. But very few have that much of faith. For others, the correct deeds help. They automatically make the prayers heard.

So say a little prayer and follow it up with the acts sans vices, distrust or cheating, especially towards those who trust or love you.

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