Unanswered Prayers

I wonder many times that why we all turn away from God when our prayers are not answered. It seems like a business deal that we make with him which when not fulfilled takes our trust away. During that time we even forget the times when the most unasked blessings happened and when we got better than what we asked for. After all what is it that makes a prayer effective and 100% granting is the question that everyone asks. The answer to this is acceptance of what we get. We are unappreciative about many prayers that are not answered and of those that went bad. When we love someone we want him/her as a life partner and nothing else. Every moment there's one prayer "Oh God! Please give him/her to me!" at this time three things can happen.

1. Prayer granted:

We are happy and go our way to make another prayer following a ritual that made this one come true so fast.

2. Prayer not granted:

We are disappointed so may be we say that God is not hearing us because he doesn't love us or our Karmas are being accessed or that He is partial to who He give and many more allegations.

3. Prayer answered but something went wrong:

Here again our aim is marked straight to God as He is a tease, He gives and then takes away because He wants to show how mighty powerful He is. Now He is a challenge. Say for example if you got the person you wanted but later he/she because of some reason walked out of the relationship, then there is a sadness that would lead to many questions all aimed toward Him. My question now is that is it always His fault and that are unanswered prayers always depicting the negatives of Him?

Let’s analyse the prayer process from everyday point of view.

What is a prayer after all?

A prayer is a request that we make to the Lord and ask for its fulfillment. This prayer has no boundaries because some people even pray for the worst of others or for their personal benefit. All in all a prayer is the communication that we have with God and during this communication it is us who speak and HE hears.

Is there a format to a prayer?

Yes, there is- the prayer should be said by heart with full belief that He can give whatever there is we want and also that the results should be accepted as is with gratitude and respect whatever they may be. I have seen many times not exactly getting what we need is the first part of the big process towards answering the prayer we made. I know someone who made prayers to get a promotion that he waited for. He somehow had faith but I guess not very stable. Opportunities came and he applied but never got through any, infact he was critiqued on many points that did break his confidence. After failing on every interview at the provincial levels he lost the very hope. One day his boss was let go suddenly and now there came a posting for the National level. His wife asked him to apply, but his answer was, “I couldn't get the provincial level and you think I would get National level!" After a lot of pushing and reinforcements he applied and many days passed until he heard anything. To his shock he was called and not only this he did even pass the first two levels of the interview. Remember he was badly critised so he had a lot of homework that he completed with a lot of learning. This man went for his final interview and he got it. Criticism made him as sharp as a razor and he cut all the hindrances that came his way. He could not get provincial level but this man made it to the National Level God had save the best for him, I guess! HE blamed God for no reason! His prayer was answered almost after two and a half years from when it was made. It was too early for him to think before.

SO BE PATIENT, WAIT AND ACCEPT!

Is there a time frame to your prayer?

No, God takes His time as there is learning that needs to be done admits it all. We don’t get our children everything the moment they demand. We set some goals and the receipt of the gift is based on the completion, isn’t that true? If we can’t fulfill the wish as it is not good for the child we give something else in return. We sometimes can’t fulfill it due to our means, so we get something accordingly.

Sometimes the thing demanded is dangerous for the child to have, which he may not be aware of – in that case we refuse it for example, I find parents who buy their children a Ferrari on there very first day they get their licence or on their 16th birthday are buying a licence to kill or get killed. It is a great car with great speed but that speed in the hands of an inexperienced driver is not only deadly to the driver but for other drivers also. Every fulfilled prayer comes with a responsibility and only our Father knows if we are ready for it. Do we ever analyse the other side of the prayer that we made- maybe that it is better that way?

Generally not, we want what we want and we will want togged it at any price. Isn’t that right for most of us. I have known people who want boys and only boys with no girls. It is a shame but true.When they get the boys they feel they are the luckiest of all and that now there is nothing more to life. When kids grow they take there own way and in this family’s case the boy lost track and went the wrong way. Now the same parents blamed God to have given them a boy. They said that if this is what was to happen He should have left them childless. Now you tell me there was an answered prayer and after so many years there is a blame coming for it. Was getting a girl

better, may be they would have brought her up better or do we blame our karmas and destiny again?

Story:

A story was told to me during my mediation sessions one day by my Guru Sadashiva who resides inside me and does talk to me. He told me that there was once a lady who led a good life and always worshipped Shiva.One day she asked for a diamond necklace that she wanted because she wanted to wear it and possess it. She generally never asked for much so Lord Shiva thought

“I can’t give her that but I can give her a $100000 instead as lottery winning.”

He did give her the money. She was happy for a while but even with that money she could not buy the necklace of her dreams. She asked again this time Lord Shiva gave her husband a big promotion. She was happy but not contented after all she wanted what she wanted. One day she again went to the temple and asked God to give her this gift for all her love and affection for her as she felt deprived without it. This time God could not do anything to please her as he had given her way more that she could have dreamt for just so that she would forget about her demand. He granted the wish. She won the Necklace in a fashion exhibition that was held in the city. She was excited and knew how everything happened. The same night there was a big party at the City Town Hall where all the rich and famous were invited along with her husband. She went to the party wearing that necklace, the latest and the most expensive one. That night due to some emergency her husband had to leave and so she decided to walk home, after all how could she miss any moment of showing off. On the way home she was caught by two men who robbed her and killed her. They cut her throat to get the necklace and then dumped her body in the lake where it was found the next day. After she died and went up she blamed God to have given her the reason of her death. To that God smiled and said, “My child,now you see why I was not giving it to you all this time. I knew it would write the last day of your life.” To this the lady commented, "that is fine but at now stop those men and send my necklace to my family.” God laughed and said “you still did not understand what you lost!”

This story makes us look at the moments when we may have thanked God or credited our good luck when we did not do or complete or accomplish what we wanted. We all have had those moments- those moments of unanswered prayers that came as a blessing.

What will happen if all the prayers are answered?

Just like we spoil a child by always listening and getting him everything this world would become a home of spoilt brats who would not only be ruthless but also selfish. We are all His children and he can’t spoil us. He knows what would happen with the grant so He tries to hold to protect, He does not do so to get back to us or punish us.

Is it important for all the prayers to come true?

No, sometimes not getting what we wanted is the blessing. Say your prayers with faith and try to ask to accept the results that the prayer will hold. We can only pray we can't push- Prayer is a request and requests need to be made humbly with the promise to acceptance because you never know when and what will change. Pray for a happy and healthy time with humbleness to receive. I have seen many ups and downs in life but all I could share is that HE is listening and HE is the father who knows what is good for his children.