For most of us prayer means going to God or a higher power once in a while with a wish-list of the things we want, problems we would like fixed, illnesses cured, etc. The more urgent the need, the more fervent the prayer.
Quite often it becomes the last resort when all else (read human endeavour) has failed. During festive o

ccasions our prayers are drowned by all the pomp surrounding the occasion and in our day-to-day lives, we are so busy that prayer gets low priority. In fact, it becomes either a matter of routine or we just do some quick catching up as we pass a place of worship en-route to our destination. Most of us have thus lost sight of the very purpose of prayer — to establish a constant and deep connection with the divine. Little do we realise that those few minutes of communing with God can work wonders for our stress levels and for us as human beings.
In contrast how many times a day do we check our Facebook accounts or our inboxes? The luxury of being able to turn over our problems to someone up there after doing all that needs to be done is something we don’t allow ourselves out of ignorance. The wish-list is perhaps not even necessary — for God knows what we want.

How does one pray?
This is something that foxes most people. We read from the scriptures or sing His praises or listen to stories of His grace and blessings or chant His names or write a mantra — there are many approaches. But a one-on-one conversation is perhaps the easiest and most direct way of communicating with the higher power and most likely the one that we miss out on. Little do we realise that it is pretty much like catching up with a friend.
A relationship based strictly on I-ask-and-you-give terms is not likely to be on a very sound footing. Worse still, while we are quick to ask for what we need in prayer, we also tend to forget to say a prompt thank you for favours granted. Therefore, all prayers should begin with an offering of thanks. Even when we seek favours, much depends on what we ask for. Don’t ever ask for your enemy to be bumped off, instead pray that he may see reason.
One of my favourite prayers was the one I learnt as a student from the principal of the convent I studied in — an Irish nun, Sister Josepha — and it went thus, “God bless my mummy and daddy, aunts and uncles, friends and relations. God bless my teachers, God bless the children of my class and all the children of my school and dear God please bless me.”

Be affirmative in prayer
As the scriptures of all religions tell us, whatever one asks for in prayer will be granted if one has faith. Joyce Meyer, well-known evangelist, says that if we pray about something and then keep worrying about it, we are mixing a positive and a negative. “The two cancel each other out so that we end up right back where we started — at zero. Prayer is a positive force, worry is a negative force. As long as we are worrying, we are not trusting.” That said, a few prayers may not get answered. What we need to realise is that if we didn’t get what we wanted, it probably wasn’t the best thing for us.
A prayer composed by Robert Schuller goes, “Thank you God for dangers that teach me to be brave, for suffering from which I learn patience, for pain which teaches me tenderness, for false friends whose lack of trust causes me to prize my true friends, for illness which teaches me to treasure my health as a gift.” Trying times he observes are times to try more faith.
In sum, wherever, whenever and however you might pray, still yourself and truly connect to the divine.