Why do I Pray

Prayer is not just about religion.

Why is it important to pray?

Prayers are often conflated with religion. But there is another dimension to praying that we often don’t realize.

Prayers are intentions. They have a great impact on our mental patterns. They create objectives. They give a direction to our thoughts. It is important to pray because it anchors the mind, however brief or impermanent that may be.

Prayer is not a wishing well though. People pray for various reasons, so it is important to understand how it works.

How Prayers Work

Thoughts create the grounds for action to ripen. Only action -- words, deeds -- can change a state. Hence, any goal needs intention.

When we want something, it is because of a cause. Any desire that arises because of a craving, results in suffering. This craving happens because of attachment with a solid self.

This solid self itself is a projected image, which we create because of various reasons. Chief among them is our survival instinct. Others are left-over imprints of identities and inherited tendencies.

These desires define our conditioned existence. No matter how hard we try, this conditioning can never be fully overcome, as this body itself is the result of conditioning. Understanding this conditioning is the unbuttoning of those robes which we call ‘I’. Awareness gives us more control, more freedom. It takes a lifetime to understand oneself.

Suffering is thus inevitable. So what does prayer do?

There can be a wrong intention, an incorrect prayer, a desire which will increase our suffering. For example, if you pray to get more wealth because you have a craving for material possessions, this prayer will result into suffering.

But if we are on the path to awareness, to understand the causes through which this self arises, prayer is a powerful tool to keep us on that path.

Prayer helps us to ground intentions which arise without falsehood. Praying creates good conditions for the actions which arise out of those desires. Prayer helps us to train our mind.

A good prayer

When a desire is generated without a solid self, it will not lead to suffering like sadness, anger, envy, apathy when we fail in achieving it.

Thus, a good prayer will always accept whatever life gives us, without giving up, affirming to keep working on to fix problems created by our conditining.

A good prayer will own outcomes without judgement on situations outside of us. It will take us away from blame.

A good prayer will acknowledge our reliance on others, on this world. Away from isolation. Away from ego. It will bring us closer to reality.

A good prayer helps us be mindful of this moment. To accept it without any reservation. To bask in the glory of this existence.

A true prayer helps us live. It is fearless, joyous.

For me it is often rooted in acceptance, gratitude and compassion. For example,

Let us accept the world as it is

Let us be grateful for our place in it

Let us see the chains that bind us

Let us unfurl them

Let us see our choices

Let everyone accept their suffering

Let’s rejoice in existence

Let us be free.

Thanks for reading Hand of Clay!