Yes…you heard me right. How should we pray!? Or, how should I pray?

        A very common term that every Christian comes across in his/her daily life. But alas! We fail to understand what it actually means to pray…or maybe we know what its meaning is but we take it only as a theoretical concept and store it on the top floor of our human body commonly known as the BRAIN. I remember very clearly, when I was in my 5^th standard, in one of the chapters of my Catechism book was this line written, “ Prayer is talking with GOD”.   WAIT!!!  WHAT?? Did I just say talking with GOD???  I mean how can prayer be talking with GOD, because when we say a prayer, for example, the “Our Father” or the “Hail Mary”, we usually say it in a tune…. that’s what we were taught!! And you don’t talk with anyone in a tune! ( i wish I could attach a voice demo of the tune I am talking about, but yeah…smart people, I know you guys have understood). And sometimes we don’t even know what we are saying…we just say it.

But as rational human beings, we must understand that if we keep on doing this it’s nothing but a complete waste of time and energy. So, HOW SHOULD WE PRAY???    BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG question…isn’t it? Naaaaaaaaah…..its very simple- just TALK. Simply talk with JESUS, exactly in the manner you talk with your best friend. But yes, also remember that HE is GOD. So, there should be more than a little bit of respect while you talk with HIM.

OK…talking is fine. Then what about the prayers taught to us since our birth..they are just mere recitations..arent they? – NO! Not at all. Think…when JESUS said the prayer “OUR FATHER”, what was HE actually doing???- he was simply talking with his Father in heaven. And we have to do exactly the same- talk with our father/brother/best friend/savior. It’s just that the language is of 2000 years ago and so the words remain the same….otherwise the rest is just a chit-chat between you and GOD –aka- papa- aka- Jesus- aka- brother- aka- best friend. It’s just a simple talk.

When you pray, don’t just recite it. Hear what you are saying. Be aware of what is coming out of our Mouth. Remember, whenever you pray, Jesus is with you looking at you. But if you keep on saying something you have no idea about, the person sitting in front of you will definitely feel annoyed and irritated. I mean that’s natural.  So, speak with Him in a sincere manner. Trust me– He listens. And you will feel His presence once you have actually spoken to Him. And once you start talking with Him, you will hunt for every opportunity to talk with Him. But don’t expect Jesus to talk with you first…( he is a little shy actually 😉 ). He always wants to talk with you, but he will only talk with you if you want to talk with him. A true gentleman huh!!!

So, when you say the “ OUR FATHER”, stress on every word that you say- guys, it carries a lot of weightage. This prayer is actually a complete package. It’s pretty awesome stuff! For example:“ forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”- think….it says a lot of things about our daily lives…right???        Prayer is not just you talking with God, but it is also God talking with you– but you have to allow that. It’s difficult-yes it is- but not that difficult and I bet on this. And once we realize that the one whom we are talking to is none other than my own Father, my Creator, the One who is the reason for me being able to write this and you being able to read this…the magic happens. And yes…when HE  talks- the feeling can’t be expressed in words….all I can say is it’s just BEAUTIFUL… it’s exactly like a ray of light piercing through the dark clouds in the sky. How beautiful it is! And as I wrote the previous sentence, I felt happy inside because I know someone else is happy too. Wishing you all a happy conversation with our FATHER! Amen.