Prayer - Mahatma Gandhi

Prayer
03. MAN CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT PRAYER
(From "Weekly Letter" by M.D.)
As food is necessary for the body, prayer is necessary for the soul. A man may
be able to do without food for a number of days—as Macswinney did for over 70
days— but, believing in God, man cannot, should not, live a moment without
prayer. You will say that we see lots of people living without prayer. I dare say
they do, but it is the existence of the brute which, for man, is worse than
death. I have not the shadow of a doubt that the strife and quarrels with which
our atmosphere is so full today are due to the absence of the spirit of true
prayer. You will demur to the statement, I know, and contend that millions of
Hindus, Musalmans and Christians do offer their prayers. It is because I had
thought you would raise the objection that I used the words 'true prayer'.
Hypocrisy of Lip-prayer
The fact is, we have been offering our prayers with the lips but hardly ever
with our hearts, and it is to escape, if possible, the hypocrisy of the lip-prayer,
that we in the Ashram repeat every evening the last verses of the second
chapter of the Bhagavadgita. The condition of the 'Equable in Spirit' that is
described in those verses, if we contemplate them daily, is bound slowly to
turn our hearts towards God. If you would base your education on the true
foundation of a pure character and pure heart, there is nothing so helpful as to
offer your prayers every day, truly and religiously.
Young India, 15-12-'27, p. 424
(From a prayer speech: July 14, 1945)
Prayer is even more essential for the well-being of the soul than is food for the
maintenance of the body. It becomes necessary to give up food on occasions in
order to benefit the body. But prayer may never be abandoned. If we provide
food for the body which is perishable, then, surely, it is our primary duty to
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