Prayer, its Nature & Technique - Kirpal Singh

THE ESSENTIALS PRAYER DEFINED OF PRAYERIn the Gospel of St. Matthew we have:Ask and it shall be given you; seek and yeshall find; knock and it shall be openedunto you:For everyone that asketh receiveth; and hethat seeketh findeth; and to him thatknocketh it shall be opened. 25In actual experience, however, we find that mostof our prayers do not bear any fruit. We have,therefore, to study the question critically as towhat type of prayer is acceptable to God, andhow that prayer is offered, and why all prayersare not accepted. For success in prayers there arecertain essential prerequisites:(i) Faith in God is the root cause of success.We may deceive ourselves and those around us,but we cannot deceive the inner power — God.In offering prayers, we run a great handicaprace. We are not true in our thoughts, words anddeeds. There is, in fact, no harmony among thethree. We depend too much on our own cunning,maneuvering and scheming. We have noconfidence in God and His powers. Our prayersdo not arise from the depths of our soul. Farfrom being an anguished cry, we mechanicallyutter a few words of hurried prayer. It is just doinga lip service to God which is not even skin deep.No wonder then, that these perfunctory and ceremonialprayers for form’s sake go in vain and23