The Power of Prayer

The Power of Prayer

When we recite Vishnu Sahasra Namam or say 'Namo Narayanaya', we are
saluting to the Supreme Lord with reverence and love. Even if the chanting
were mechanical, it does not matter much, as the verbal expression is
endowed with potency. Let us not doubt as to whether God hears our prayers
or not. He does and enters the scene only at the appropriate time that is
best for us.

A person usually looks up for God when he is in rough weather. Unable to
bear the pangs of life, he relies on a power higher than he does. Trials and
tribulations give him wisdom, strength and devotion. When my Guru, Sri
Narasimha Swamiji, was admitted in the General Hospital at Madras for a
fracture of the thigh bone, after an accidental fall in 1953, he had
converted his ward into a miniature Sai Mandir. He tolerated the pain with a
smile!

There is nothing wrong if a prayer starts off for one's own betterment, as
in course of time it covers his family members and later extends to his
fellow beings in society, as he begins to perceive the Lord dwelling in all
beings. Look at the gigantic Banyan tree and the sprawling branches it
spreads, as it grows. Prayers made for others, their happiness and
well-being, goodwill and peace to the world at large, are appreciated and
quickly responded to, by God, in the form of granting the devotee an
expanded awareness.

Surrender to God is the toughest thing to accomplish. If a person says
outwardly that he has surrendered to God's will but in day-to-day life
quarrels with everyone on petty causes, he has not understood what
'surrender' means. Look at others with God's eyes, is the instruction. We
must develop an euonymus vision in all our activities, under all
circumstances. We may fail repeatedly in this arduous task, as the old
'samskaras' would raise their ugly hoods quite often, but let us strive to
rise every time we fail.

Curbing the ego, therefore, forms the basic discipline when we tread on the
path of spirituality. An egotistic man is possessive and cannot bow his head
when he comes across personalities endowed with wisdom. Unless he cultivates
a loving attitude towards existence as a whole and shares a part of what he
has with others, he soon abandons his efforts in a huff.

One need not be a man of letters to pray. In God's vision, there is no low
or high - a prince or pauper is held in the same esteem. Patience and
perseverance of a high order are needed in cultivating this art. Let us
chant His name as Hanuman kept on chanting Rama's name always.

http://www.saileelas.org/magazines/saipadananda/april2002.htm#ThePowerofPrayer