Prayer is the easiest and best way to seek protection from God
We, souls, are by nature small, quite ignorant, unsafe and usually helpless. God is omnipotent, omniscient and ruler. God is fully willing to guide and help, but we must pray for His guidance and help. God will not do it on His own, because that infringes on our free will. So, what is the wise thing to do? Just pray. It’s that simple. Not praying is not really an option. Otherwise we’re going to speculate and, yes, we’re going to worry. Why don’t people pray? There are two main reasons.
One of them is ignorance about its benefits. The other is the feeling that you don’t need God’s help; I can. We only do that when we get into trouble. We can pray at any time; God doesn’t mind. Strangely enough, we ask favors from so many, but not from God, who is the source of everything. (The Bhagavad-Geeta 10.41) Prayer is a positive act. This is related to our desires, which define us. Didn’t you know that all worship is just prayer? All schools worldwide start with prayers. There are three types of prayers. One of them is for what we think we need. (9.22) The second is for the protection of what we have, such as our health. (9.22) The third and most important is to protect us when good times come.
Lord Krishna has praised those who can tolerate ‘sukha’ just as one tolerates ‘duhkha’ (2.14, 2.38 and 12.13). Because all great mistakes are generally made only in happy times when one feels that one can do no wrong. This is the moment when lust most rears its ugly head. The mind becomes super active, stimulated by senses. (15.7) God can help as only He can. But before you do that, that ego must be curbed. We must accept that someone can be superior to us, to the extent that we must seek His refuge. This is how we get started. You start praying and start earning favors from God because prayer is a spiritual act because it connects us to God. Doesn’t being connected to the rich and powerful bring certain advantages? Then God owns everything we see.
Yes, it is all His; we can only use it for a limited period of time. Then we are moved. Now I will list what we can all pray for. This is not an exhaustive list, but it will be a good start. The first should be for guidance, because direction is the most important thing. Who is better placed than God, who is omniscient and also knows the past, present and future. Second on my list is help from God. Who again is better placed than God – the Almighty?
Aren’t we helplessly getting into trouble? God can help. (18.58) The third should be for ‘shakti’ (strength) of five kinds, namely inner strength (Atma Bala), intellectual strength, mental strength, physical strength and strength of endurance. We need all of them, especially the tolerance part, because we have to tolerate what cannot be avoided. (2.10) Are we not living in ‘duhkhalaya’ (place of misery) (8.15) Material wealth is on everyone’s list. This is possible if we stay in touch with God. (18.78) We can achieve not only wealth but also success if we pray and pray sincerely for all our ‘dharmasangat’ (according to ‘dharma’) activities. (18.78)
The conclusion is that prayer is the easiest and best way to seek protection from God. And as we receive what we crave, and what we can gratefully give thanks for. What this will do is make us earn more rewards from God. Life will be beautifully arranged. Keep praying.
(The writer is a spiritual teacher; opinions are personal)