When someone says “I prayed about…” or “I pray and God never seems to answer,” that person may be speaking of a form of Prayers of Petition. Crying “Help!” to God is perhaps our common prayer, known almost universally in times of fear or despair. Unfortunately, this prayer is often done with an attitude similiar to a child sitting on Santa Claus lap – let’s call this the “Santa Claus” prayer.
On one hand, becoming like a child has merit. A story of Jesus from Matthew 18:2-4 goes like this:
He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
On the other hand, Santa Claus is not God. Prayers are not a christmas wish list to be fulfilled or not fulfilled based on whether we’ve been naughty or nice.
To pray as a child is to approach divinity with humility and with faith. The best description of faith that I have read thus far is from Anandamayi Ma, a saint from the yogic traditions:
Everything happens according to the will of God. Have full faith in this, then every place, every moment, every event of our life begins to feel like heaven. And you know that what is happening is meant for you.
For me, such faith has only come through daily spiritual practice of the ancient “Prayer of the Heart” http://www.angelfire.com/pa3/OldWorldBasic/FiveStages.htm
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