Prayer

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Prayer is an integral part and common denomination to all religions. All religions do agree on the need to offer prayers to obtain happiness. Do Gods really answer prayers? In our daily life we often hear some relief statements and comments as under: 1. HE finally heard my prayers; my son passed in first class. 2. God has answered their prayers. Their daughter finally got married. 3. God finally answered their prayers, our neighbour fully recovered from cancer. 4. At last God heard our prayers; the thief has been finally caught and punished. Now let us analyse the above examples: In example 1, the son passed the examination because he is intelligent and studied hard. A worried mother might have taken more care about his needs that would have helped him study better. Mother's worries and prayers might have persuaded him to study more seriously. Here prayer has no direct role in son passing the examination. In example 2, marriages are a natural requirement for all human beings. The unmarried lot is a very miniscule number and that may be by choice. There are many aspects that lead to a marriage and all of them falling in place will not be very easy for many. There are many aspects that have to be looked into before a match is made. To illustrate - looks, health, ability, intelligence, affluence, fame and status in the society are some of them. These are acquired through brain and brawn; prayers to God are not going to yield any of them. In example 3, his cancer got cured because of timely medical intervention. Had he not been treated in time his survival would have been doubtful. Proper cure and care only saved him from cancer. Just prayers would not have helped his recovery. In example 4, the thief was caught and punished not because of the prayers but because of the system of governance in the society. Effective policing and jurisprudence have done their duty. Prayers to God will not book a culprit. People are so obsessed with prayer that they give all credit to it for every success they have and curse oneself for every failure. This is ignorance and lack of confidence in ones ability. What I am trying to point out is that prayers to God do not yield any direct result. It is ones deeds alone that will result in outcome. And the quality and quantity of deeds will reflect success and failure of the end result. Please comment if anybody feels otherwise.