Chapter 5 - Efficacy of Prayer

From the very ancient times, in every country and in every age, there have been two classes of people: one class believes in the efficacy of prayer and insists upon all, declaring that prayer to God is absolutely necessary; while the other class denies that God ever hears our prayers and thinks that prayer is unnecessary and useless. Those who belong to the former class are known by different names, such as, theologians, religionists, theists, dualists, and so forth; and the latter includes all the philosophers, agnostics, sceptics, scientists, and the advanced thinkers of ancient and modem times.

Nowadays, along with the spread of scientific knowledge, the minds of the educated classes have generally become more or less sceptical regarding the efficacy of prayer; they do not believe in prayer; on the contrary, they believe that all those who think that their prayers are heard by God, are but ignorant fools; they ridicule them calling them superstitious. But in spite of all the ridicules and sarcasms of the agnostics, sceptics, philosophers, and scientists of modem times, we find in this world hundreds and thousands of theologians and dualists, who do pray to God and believe that their prayers are heard. Nearly all forms of religions with their various creeds, sects, and denominations, and all the scriptures of different nations unanimously uphold the necessity and efficacy of prayer.

The majority of the followers of these religious creeds shutting their ears to the remarks of the scientists still go on with their old habits of praying, and repeat those prayers which they have learnt from their childhood; and whether they believe that God listens to their saying or not, they do pray, because it is extremely difficult to do away with the impressions received in childhood. If a child’s mind be impressed with the idea that God punishes those who do not pray at all, then that impression will linger for a long time, and may remain even when the child grows old and becomes famous in the world as a great sceptic or agnostic; and when he is left alone, or when he is facing some danger or adverse circumstance, he falls back on that idea and cannot resist the impulse to repeat prayers, which spontaneously come up to his mind.

All kinds of ordinary prayers presuppose an absolute faith in certain religious doctrines and dogmas, or in the authority of some scripture or some prophet or saviour and start with a belief in a personal God, who is considered to be the Creator and Governor of the universe, who is all-powerful, who can do whatever He chooses, who bears the cries and supplications of the human heart, who feels for and sends help to mankind,, just in the same manner as an earthly father would lend a helping hand to his suffering child. In short, ordinary prayers depend entirely upon the conception of a personal God with human attributes and human feelings. The stronger the belief in a personal God with human feelings and attributes, the more fervent grows the prayer of the believer. The more human the conception of God is, the greater is felt the necessity of prayer.

Jesus the Christ believed in the efficacy of prayer, so did Mohammed. We find amongst the orthodox Christians, the Roman Catholics, for instance, who pray to God for help whether it be physical or mental, just in the same way as they pray to their saints or to the spirits of the dead, we have heard that, in a certain Catholic Church in New York City, there were hundreds of Catholics who prayed to God for good husbands for their daughters. They think ought they to pray to God for all the trifling matters of human life and they cannot get along without prayer. So also the Protestant Christians and the Mohammedans pour forth all the supplications of their hearts for obtaining supernatural help even in the trivial matters of their everyday life. They think that it is a great sin not to pray to God every day.

During the Boer war in South Africa, which was a war between different nations, the Churches of the rival and hostile camps prayed for victory and each believed that God would send victory to it. During the late war in Europe too, all the churches were reverberating with prayers for victory and many people think that God heard their prayers and sent victory from heaven.

A Protestant Christian will pray once a week or perhaps. once a day. But a Mohammedan prays five times a day. He must obey the calls to prayer at the appointed hour leaving aside all other works for at least five minutes. Amongst the Buddhists, prayer is an essential form of their devotion. Although Buddha himself did not believe in a personal God with human attributes, nor teach his disciples to pray to any supernatural Being, still his followers could not restrain their minds from praying to Buddha himself, whenever they wanted any kind of help which they could not expect to get from any earthly being. Thus, in course of time, there grew amongst the Buddhists a strong belief that prayer is one of the most necessary items of devotion and worship.

The Buddhists in Tibet invented the labour-saving prayerwheels. In Tibet not only in temples but on road-sides, marketplaces, and prominent localities, they have public prayer-wheels which are turned by the hands of the passers-by, or by water-power or by winds. The Parsees or the Zoroastrians, and the Hindus in general believe in the efficacy of prayer, and they pray with earnestness, sincerity, and faith.

Thus we see that although the number of students of modern science who are atheistic, agnostic, and sceptical is increasing, still the masses everywhere believe in the efficacy of prayer—in the efficacy of the conscious and subconscious cries from human hearts and that God hears the prayers and fulfils them through His divine grace. The cry for help spontaneously comes out of the human heart, whenever we are in need of certain things and we feel that these things cannot be obtained through ordinary human efforts. Amongst ourselves, we find, when a man is conscious of his own weakness and helplessness, he first of all seeks help from outside, such as his friends, relatives, or neighbours; but, when he fails to get it from them, he cries out in despair, appeals to his Maker, and asks for His favour and mercy. As a baby cries out instinctively, as it were, with a loud scream to draw the attention of its mother, when it needs any help, so, when a man instinctively cries out for supernatural help, we say he is praying. Thus, a man is said to be praying, when, seeking for supernatural help, he pours forth the supplications of his heart with earnestness and sincerity by uttering the praises of his Maker and bending his knees with the expression of humility and gratitude, in order to draw the attention of his Heavenly Father. Such a man believes that by appealing to God through prayer he will receive the help he needs.

There are different kinds of prayer. We may pray for material benefits, whenever we are in need. When we are suffering from any severe illness which no human power can cure, we pray to God for our speedy recovery. When we are placed under adverse circumstances and find no one else to help us, we seek supernatural help and cry out; and that cry is our prayer. Often, when we have performed certain acts and do not know what results we are going to reap, or, when we face some impending dangers, we pray to God for the removal of these dangers, or for the fulfilment of our desires in such a way as will make us happy, or will make us realize what we want. Therefore, extremely adverse circumstances have the power to arouse that attitude of the human mind which spontaneously bursts forth in the form of a prayer.

Sometimes we pray for something, and, when we get that thing, we do not like it. Prosperity often makes us unmindful to prayers. When we have got everything we need, we do not feel the necessity of prayer. The form of prayer which consists in asking of God: ‘Oh Lord, give me this, give me that,’ is like the prayer of a beggar to a wealthy person for food, clothes, and other necessaries of life. The moment a beggar obtains everything he needs, and feels satisfied, he does not care to come to that wealthy person anymore; and as, in course of time, he forgets the donor and giver, so a man who prays to God for material benefits and comforts, forgets Him, when his circumstances are changed. This kind of begging is the lowest form of prayer.

There is another kind of prayer. When a man, after violating any of the commandments of God, written in a scripture, which he believes to be the word of God, remembers the punishment that is awating [awaiting] him for such a violation, he gets frightened. Then he begins to repent for his acts, and through fear of punishment, he appeals to the mercy of the Lord, who has fixed the punishment for the violation of His commands, with a strong conviction that, if he could draw the attention of God, He, the Maker of laws, would surely, through’ mercy,, make his case an exception to the general rule. This kind of prayer is like the crying of a criminal before the court of justice for mercy. This earnest appeal to the divine mercy for pardon and forgiveness is called a prayer. It is another form of begging. The violation of the commands of God generally proceeds from moral weakness and from temporary forgetfulness of the law by which God inflicts punishment and suffering upon the evil-doer.

There is still another form of prayer which is a mere expression of gratitude and thanksgiving for what we eat, drink, and enjoy in our life. This prayer proceeds from the idea that the Heavenly Father, having created us out of nothing, takes proper care of us, provides us with food, and gives us all pleasures, comforts, and enjoyments of life, just as an earthly father does for his son. As a son ought to be grateful and thankful to his father who after begetting him feeds him, takes care of him, and gives him pleasure in every way; so we ought to be thankful and grateful to our Heavenly Father for all blessings we have received of Him. All of us are quite, familiar with this form of prayer, as it is largely practised in the Christian communities. This form of thanksgiving and expression of gratitude is, of course, much better than the other two forms of prayer, which are nothing but simple begging for material benefits or for exemption from punishment. Thus we can understand clearly how prayer depends upon the conception of a personal Creator with human attributes. If we did not believe in a personal God who feels and suffers for us, there would be no necessity of praying to Him either for favour or through thankfulness.

Now let us consider the arguments of those who do not believe in the necessity of prayers. In the first place, they deny the existence of a personal God with human qualities. They say that such a God with human attributes does not exist, except in the minds of those who believe in Him. It is an anthropomorphic conception. We create an image, project our thoughts, and then worship Him; thus it is the projection of human qualities and the personification of human ideas which depend entirely upon human minds. Consequently, according to these thinkers, such a human God was Created by the imagination of the uncultured and supersitious human minds. They say that in this universe nothing can happen without a cause; there is no such thing as supernatural agency. Everything that is called supernatural is, in fact, natural. The phenomena of the universe are produced by natural causes and governed by natural laws. God, if He exists at all, cannot be persuaded by prayers, flattery, or sacrifice to change the laws of nature which are uniform and eternal; if we try to persuade God, it is only a mistake, it is a superstition. God cannot change the laws. There is nothing in the universe which happens through the whim of a personal God. So the belief, that God hears our prayers or that prayers will bring us this or that, is, according to these thinkers, simply a superstitious belief of uncultivated persons, who do not understand the laws of nature. They say that ignorant people generally mistake the fulfilment of their prayers for the effects of natural causes governed by natural laws.

Our longings and emotions have nothing to do with the external events of nature. When we cannot trace the proper cause of a certain event which occurs in nature, and when any such event happens to coincide accidentally with our desires and longings, then by mistake we ascribe its cause to the verbal expressions of our desires and longings.

All scientists and philosophers, sceptics, and agnostics reject the belief that God answers to our prayers by producing miraculous events in nature. The time for miracles has passed away; there is no room for miracles in this world which is governed by the law of causation. Science has proved that the phenomena of nature are linked together with that eternal law of cause and effect. Nothing can be produced without that law, and physical events are produced only by physical causes, which are entirely independent of mental conditions, or their verbal expressions which we call prayers. Events of nature are produced and governed by the laws on the physical plane; nothing can change that.

Moreover, these scientists who hold the belief in the theory of evolution, deny creation out of nothing by some extra-cosmic Being, and try to explain the origin of prayer, by saying that, in ancient times, the uncultivated minds of savage tribes believed in the existence of a personal God, who produced this world out of nothing by His will and performed miracles, in order to con* vince people of His greatness and make them believe that He was the governor and ruler of the universe; consequently, whenever these people wanted to see any miracle, they prayed to Him, expressing their gratitude and uttering the praise of the almighty God. That is the cause of all these beliefs in prayer. But now, owing to the advancement of modem science, we do not have to believe in this way. Science has explained by discovering the laws of nature that creation out of nothing is an impossibility, and that belief in the intervention of supernatural will or power is a mere superstition. Therefore, prayer for supernatural help is unnecessary..

It is for this reason that we find scientists, agnostics, and some of the philosophers to deny the efficacy of prayer and laugh at those who believe in the dogma that, God dues hear and answer to our prayers. And the result is that they have given up those religious creeds which teach such erroneous dogmas. They would not believe in miracles, nor in the authority of some person’s sayings. They want rational explanations for everything which they would accept. They say, if we throw aside all these dogmas and other proofs, then the belief in prayer will be left without any support. It must fall to pieces. So, there is no necessity of prayer at all. Such is the conclusion of the scientific and rationalistic minds who do not believe in prayers. They do not see any good which can be derived from prayers.

In India all these objections have been raised and all these questions have been discussed by the seers of truth from a very early period. The unbiased and scientific minds of those ancient seers of truth understood the laws of nature and tried to explain all events, external and internal, by referring to those laws. They did not think for a moment that the laws of nature could be suddenly changed by the whim of a personal God; nor did they believe in an extra-cosmic Creator: nor in the creation out of nothing; but still they did not entirely deny the efficacy of prayer.

The writings of all these great sages and seers are known as philosophies, of which the Vedanta philosophy is the highest and most rational; it embraces all the ultimate conclusions of modem science, but, at the same time, it does not deny the efficacy of prayer. Like modem science, Vedanta had rejected, long before- the dawn of scientific knowledge in the West, the belief in the worship of an anthropomorphic personal God. The God of Vedanta is not a personal Being dwelling in heaven, outside the universe, but He is all-pervading, immanent, and resident in nature. His Will is the supreme power in the universe and is one with the eternal Energy. When this Energy, through the process of evolution, manifests itself as the various forces of the external and internal world, Vedanta philosophy says, these are like so many expressions of that one and all-pervading will. And the laws of nature are nothing but the modes by which that almighty Will or eternal Energy operates in this universe.

By denying the anthropomorphic conception of God, Vedanta has thrown overboard all the ideas that prayers - will persuade God to change our environments and those laws which govern the phenomena. Vedanta has also rejected the idea that repentance, weeping, and wailing will touch the heart of God and draw from Him mercy and forgiveness and those who shall not do so shall be deprived of His grace and pardon and shall have to suffer eternally after death. It has also shown that praises, thanksgiving, sacrifices, offerings of incense and fragrant flowers or words of flattery do not affect the absolute divine mind of the Almighty. Vedanta says that God cannot be bribed by these.

Here it may be asked, if God does not hear our prayers, nor change His laws, then how will Vedanta explain the sudden cure of diseases and other effects, which generally come through prayer? As regards the objective efficacy of prayer which we so often hear, such as the sudden cure of diseases, changes of the physical conditions by prayers or the attainment of things which one needs and so forth, Vedanta says that although these physical effects are ascribed to prayers as their cause, still they are, in reality, bound and governed by natural laws, the laws of cause and effect, of action and reaction; and so they are only the results of the law of causation in this universe. These physical events are not the results of prayer in its true sense, but may be of strong desires which are fulfilled by the law of demand and supply. The monistic explanation of Vedanta admits one set of causation in the phenomenal universe and not two. There are no two sets of causes, as the scientists affect to believe that one set is physical and the other set is mental; but the Vedanta philosophy teaches that both these sets are the. expressions of one set, and, consequently, there is one set of causes in the universe. The scientists, who do not believe in the monistic principles, say that nature and mind are two separate things. There are also materialists who hold that mind is the result of matter; they try to trace the cause of mind to matter and material forces or their combination; consequently, they give no value to psychical changes. But according to Vedanta, mind is the cause, or the casual agent, and all causation first begins in the mind.

Will-power is the highest in the universe and there is no other power greater than it. The power which is manifested on the physical plane can be governed by will-power. The tremendous power of electricity and steam can be brought under control by the will-power of man; all the physical powers are subject to will-power, which is the first expression of mind. Mind is not the result of matter; it may be material on the higher plane, because mind is also finer matter in vibration; but still, it is not the effect of the forces that are manifested on the gross physical plane.

Every mental change has its corresponding physical change. When desires first arise in our minds, they have tremendous power; they have the power of changing the physical conditions. Every new thought creates new changes in the brain, produces new brain cells, and, consequently, introduces a change in the whole nervous system. And when the nervous system is changed, its relation to the external environments also changes. It will seek such environments as are favourable to, and helpful for the manifestation of its changed condition. Of course, ordinary minds cannot recognize such minute changes. But, however, subtle the changes may be, their efforts are tremendous and they mould the whole nature and character of an individual.

If a person indulge in evil thoughts and allows these to rise in his mind and govern him, the whole action of his mind and body will take a corresponding change and will accordingly mould his nature. These evil thoughts will not stop until the results will come through the law of causation, or the law of cause and sequence. The results may be physical or mental. If the evil thoughts which rise in the mind of persons be harboured for a long time, these thoughts will affect the minds of other persons, with whom they are intimately connected, and conditions as will agree with their ideas and thoughts. Just as a wave will not subside entirely, but will go on producing a current, so when a new thought rises in our minds, it creates a kind of wave in the ocean of universal mind, and then that current influences the minds of other persons and ultimately comes back to the centre from which it started, and brings the results, either in the form of good or bad. Thus every mental act by the law of action and reaction must react upon itself in some way or other and bring similar results.

Mental changes must manifest themselves on the physical plane, and if the mental changes have no corresponding physical medium, they will not express themselves so readily until they create a proper medium. For instance, if I have a desire to write a letter, that desire is in my mind and the thoughts are in my mind also; but the physical conditions must be there; otherwise I cannot write. So, in order to get the material expression of that desire and the thoughts, I must have pen, ink, paper, and other requisites. Even a spirit that wishes to communicate with the beings of this earth cannot do it without the help of pen, or other materials;^[1] so also, if I have a strong desire to write, I shall do my best to get these materials, and then put my thoughts into words and write the letter. Where all the conditions are favourable, the thought is expressed; but if my hand become paralysed at that time, in spite of all the conditions being favourable, it will be impossible for me to write. That paralysis may be temporary or permanent. If it be temporary, it may be cured either by mental power in the form of a strong desire, or by removing the clot of blood and the obstacles that prevent the activity of motor nerves. Prayer is nothing but a mental desire, which generates new currents in the system and these currents produce certain results, showing that mental power is stronger in many cases than that which can be obtained through drugs. But if the organs be completely destroyed in some way or other, then no amount of prayer can remove that condition. No Christian scientist nor any faith-healer will be able to cure that case of paralysis.

It is for this reason that Vedanta says that those desires which are in harmony with the laws of nature are surely fulfilled sooner or later. If I have a desire to fly in the air, that desire will not be fulfilled until I have wings. One may fly in a dream or in an aeroplane. But it will not be the fulfilment of that particular desire. If we know that all desire are governed by the natural law of cause and sequence, and if we make our desire harmonize with natural laws, we are sure to get the results; and what we ordinarily call prayer is nothing but the expression of our intense desires. Desires and will-power being the the causes, end in producing similar results; being actions, they produce similar reactions.

Desire bring their results more quickly, when they are attended with a strong faith in their fulfilment and that faith is strengthened by the belief that God hears what we say. It is for this reason that all the dualistic religions insist upon praying with a firm belief. But the Vedanta philosophy does not call these expressions of our desires as true prayers. These desires we may mistake for prayer and these verbal expressions of our desires, we may say, have been heard by God. But the thing is, if we want anything, that demand will bring the result by the law of demand and supply. Thus leaving all the physical effects of such longings of the human heart in the domain of natural laws, such as the law of causation, the law of action and reaction, the Vedanta philosophy tells us that this is a phenomenal world governed by phenomenal laws, and then goes on to describe what true prayer is and how God listens to our true prayed.

According to Vedanta, begging for material objects, either in the shape of prosperity or in the form of success, or of name and fame, is not a true kind of prayer. A child of the omnipotent Spirit begging for toys of the world—what a degeneration of the mortal man! God does not hear such prayers; they are fulfilled through natural laws. The desire for freedom from punishment is not true prayer; because that freedom will not come, before we have reaped the results of our acts. Suffering is nothing but the result of the reaction of our own action. If we have committed certain deeds, God cannot give us freedom from the punishment. Thanksgiving is not true prayer. God. does not care for thanks. The expression of the feeling of buoyancy for the enjoyment of sense pleasures or giving thanks to the Maker is not true prayer according to Vedanta. We have come to this world by the natural law to fulfil our desires, and to reap the results of all the works done in our previous incarnation. We are responsible for all the sufferings and pleasures of this life. So, whether we thank God or not, we shall have to reap the results, and it does not make any difference to God.

True prayer is the mental and verbal expression of the highest spiritual ideal. It consists not in trying to get anything from outside, but in unfolding the higher powers that are slumbering within the soul. It is the expression of that determination of the individual soul for reaching the highest goal of life; it is the constant desire, or constant aim, or constant thought of attaining to the highest spiritual realization. When we rise above all ordinary desires and do not seek the fulfilment of such desires, then we are ready for true prayer. True prayer is the prayer of the individual soul, or the soul of the apparent man to the spiritual or divine Self or God, who dwells within us; it comes to the soul which is awakened to the transitory and ephemeral character of the phenomenal universe, and which longs for freedom from selfishness and all wordly imperfections that give us trouble and make us unhappy in this life.

True prayer is said to be heard by the supreme Being when we remember our spiritual nature. Think of it and try to realize it in this life, by unfolding the higher nature that is dwelling in you. When an earnest soul longs for spiritual illumination and prays for the manifestation of higher powers that are latent, then the divine Spirit, which is the Soul of our souls, is said to hear that prayer from within and not from outside; and then it manifests its nature. A true prayer is the expression of that attitude of the human mind which arouses the divine nature in man and makes it govern the lower, selfish, or animal nature, by which - we are directed in our ordinary life to perform selfish acts. According to Vedanta lip-prayer is no prayer at all. True prayer is always mental. It is the earnest longing of the heart. It rises in that undisturbed mind which seeks higher enlightenment, knowledge, freedom, and perfection.

True prayer is the expression of the determined efforts of the human mind to conquer, subdue, and control the lower self. It is the soliloquy of the awakened soul. When the soul is awakened, it looks at the facts of life from a different standpoint, compares them with the highest ideal, and wants to be in tune with that perfect ideal. We must live in freedom and have perfect control of mind and body; and in trying to attain to that state, if we find that there are overwhelming attractions of the lower self which drag us down to the plane of animal nature, we make a strong determination to overcome those obstacles by knocking at the door of that Spirit, which is the storehouse of all power and strength; that knocking is, according to Vedanta, the true prayer of the soul. Whether we make any verbal expression of our determination for the realization of Truth or not, when that knocking comes, then the soul is ready to enter into the domain of spiritual Truth; and, at that time, the door opens, and the individual soul is allowed to enter into the abode of infinite peace and it gains divine communion with the supreme Spirit dwelling within us. Then unbounded spiritual strength comes to the soul and it overcomes all the obstacles and obstructions that prevent it from realizing the ideal or from making its own nature harmonize with the Divine. Then it is said that true prayer is heard and answered by the supreme Being.

God does not hear the expressions of our desires; but when we long for that emancipation, which is the highest ideal of life and try to attain it with a strong determination, then that true prayer of ours is fulfilled. True prayer is the first expression of the intense longing for freedom from all limitations. It must always be attended with absolute faith and conviction and with the concentration upon the meaning of what one utters. Mind must not think of anything else at that time. True prayer is but the contemplation of the divine nature by mentally repeating the ideal in words. Whenever we think of anything, we think in words; and when we mentally repeat the name of the ideal, concentrating our mind on it, that prayer is the true prayer. It is another form of meditation. And when such a meditation or true prayer leads to the realization of the divine Spirit, then it is said that prayer is heard. True prayer is like the ladder by which the individual soul ascends to the domain of transcendental Reality. And when that state is reached the soul becomes free and it no longer prays to any being, whether supernatural or natural, because all its prayers are now fulfilled. It gains eternal peace, happiness, knowledge, and bliss. Thus a man, who has realized divinity in himself and has purged out all ideas of separateness, has obtained the efficacy of true prayer. Such a man never begs for anything.

True prayer brings to the soul enlightenment and wisdom, dwelling latent in every individual. It is the means by which that latent force is roused. Thus, having attained the subjective value of true prayer, the individual soul begins to feel the relation which it bears to the supreme Being, learns to surrender its will to the cosmic Will that moves the phenomena of the universe and governs all the physical and material forces, and ultimately becomes the playground of the almighty Will. Then he feels that his mind and intellect are but instruments in the hands of the almighty Being.

But so long the individual soul, covered by the veil of ignorance and enchained by selfish passion, does not manifest divinity in every action, it should struggle for the attainment of perfection, and should remember its highest ideal through meditation and true prayer; and the best form of such a prayer said by the ancient Vedic sages is:

asato mā sadgamaya, tamaso mā jyotirgamaya,
     mṛtyormā'mṛtaṃ gamaya, āvirāvīrma edhi
rudra yatte [patte] dakṣiṇaṃ mukhaṃ tena māṃ pāhi nityam |

‘O Soul of our souls! O Light of the universe! Lead us from unreal to Real, from darkness to Light, from death to Immortality! Reveal unto us thorough and thorough. O destroyer of all evil! Protect us with Thy compassionate Face, remove all obstacles that prevent the manifestation of Thy divine Power and do not let us forget that our true nature is one with Thee forever and ever.’

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

But so far as spiritual communication is concerned, there are exceptional cases where spirits can directly communicate. I remember in this connection how an independent voice in a seance in the house of Sir Alfred Turner addressed us: ‘Good Evening, Brother.’