Why pray

‘Why one should even pray while God knows all our needs?’, was the common question asked by many, including me. I have written several songs on this topic and written one article: ‘Demanding God’.  The following the summarises my response which I mentioned in that article:

For me, prayer is not simply ‘demanding’ our need in life to god. It expresses more of our relationship.  Of course, God knows our needs and She has already arranged them for our legitimate needs and sometimes serves some extra sweet—as the famous saying goes: God not only provides our daily bread but also provides an extra slice of cake.  So God knows what we need; but She also enjoys when we ask for others things which we think need for us.  If deciding our needs is God’s right, demanding (what we think we need) is also our right which God respects and accepts.  So nothing wrong is presenting a list to god about all our desires.  It is like a child giving a list of things that she wants for her birthday with the innocence of a child might expect her parents to give all those gifts. But her parents finally decide about the gift and they know how to convince her about not receiving other gifts.  But this asking/demanding part is crucial for the relationship between parents and child—god and bhakta.

When the same question was asked by another bhakta, I sent the following response:

[06/04, 8:31 pm] Dayanand Bharathi: No one will disagree with you on this point when one develops this kind of personal relationship with God.  For me even this relationship which I call as bhakti is nothing but celebrating that relationship which some might call as worship. Long before I wrote a short poem:

Not asking you to give (through prayer) 

This one or that one in life

Whatever you want me do as per will

Give me your grace to accomplish only that.

Now the question is: is this not again a prayer seeking his grace.

In any relationship we share our needs and thoughts with those we feel free. So for me this is not another prayer but sharing my thoughts and needs to him, like a child sharing its need to its parents, or a husband to his wife etc.

Once we understand this relationship “NORMAL” part of life, the same is with God. 

I expressed similar thoughts in several of my bhakti Theology songs. One Tamil saint called Manikka vasagar in one of his songs [Thiruvasagam] says:

You know all my needs 

You will provide them all

You are rare indeed

For Brahma and Vishnu 

To fathom 

You alone called me 

To serve you 

You  alone voluntarily 

Bestowed GRACE 

If there’s anything 

For me to seek 

I too will seek only this 

But according to your 

Free will to bestow.

Regarding god answering our prayers I believe in this:

HE ANSWERED all my prayers. But a BIG NO is the answer that I received for more than 99 percent of my prayers.

Then  NO is also an answer