From Your Lips To God’s Ears: A Perspective As A Sikh

Till a prayer is merely a ritual of reciting a prescribed religious syllabus, it remains a wishy-washy, wishful thinking. Until a prayer is motivated by a self-centred, obstinate wish, it remains an illusion. Till a prayer is used as a mirror for a blind passion, it remains a delusion.
Unfortunately, most of us misdefine prayer and its purpose in one or more of the above terms.
Following numerous delusions, illusions, and wishy-washy wishes, my experience revealed to me that a real prayer begins when one closes their eyes with hands folded and speaks with God – it could be a mumble, a whisper, or a thought in a silent mode.
The communication, which is just between the devotee and the Supreme being, is the threshold where ‘wishes might begin to come true’. However, help depends upon whether this chat was only lip service or a sincere reaching out to God.
For example, I wish for a red flower, since I love flowers and the colour red. While praying, I become desperate to hold the red flower in my hand as I want it so badly. My folded hands become a clench, and my eyes begin to hurt from closing so intensely. The white knuckles and frown on the forehead are manifestations of obsession. My body tenses up when my thought is torn between realising not yet holding the flower and scepticism about its reality. This creates a negative intensity, and prayer loses its divine spirit. Prayer thus becomes childish pestering. I am an old-fashioned parent and think that a slap on the wrist won’t hurt the child. Maybe God too is an old-fashioned parent. When this happens, we become grumpy and either blame the religion or God himself, but never ourselves for desiring inconsequential material.
So, how to get the process of praying right? I can only share my own experience.
The first step I take is to examine my wish I pray for receiving.
Is a red flower an absolute necessity in my life, or is it a game-changer for me?
The answer might come back as: I might demand having a red flower so crazily because I love nature, especially through the innocent beauty of flowers. But when my craze calms down, I realise that any colour of flower is good enough so long my vase on the table looks nice. Consequently, the adamance of having only the red flower softens down.
However, something else inside me resists my own wish. I realise that the flower that I so stubbornly wanted is actually happy on the branch in the garden – in the lap of nature, that I proclaim to love so much. Like any mum wouldn’t approve of snatching her child off its lap, Mother Nature too disapproves of my desire.
If I want to appreciate natural beauty, I should make an effort and go into the garden to plant seeds and pray for splendid blossoms, or grow a flower in a pot myself and desire for it to spread its fragrance inside my entire house.
I find that whenever I introspect on my wish and begin to believe in it myself, the prayer delivers its blessings. Thus, instead of pestering God for a red flower, I now ask for seed, a pot, and time to groom the first sprout to grow into a beautiful flower of my making, but with the guidance from the Supreme being, the Nirankar.
What this means is that if desire is ethical, have a plan to achieve it. Prayer begins where introspection completes. Thence, a prayerer invests categorical belief in the prayer. Your action is done, and now God’s act commences. After all, God helps those who help themselves.
Now, as always, an example from the world around us. With reference to the recent man created floods in Panjab and Pakistan by the Hindu Tavi regime as a payback time, Sikhs have been ceaselessly helping themselves with un-divided belief in Waheguru for help. Despite no help from the Government, except for the photo shoot stunt, Sikhs from all over India are pouring in help with food, water, clothing, etc., for all the victims, regardless of their religious affiliations. God’s blessings can be seen in their determination, focus, smile and upbeat spirits, which Sikhs call Chadhdi Kala.
My prayer is for not just the victims in Panjab, but anywhere in the world who are facing unjust persecution. Amen!