How Prayers Are Answered
by Sri Swami Satchidananda
God is really everywhere, not in a particular form, but as an omnipresent awareness or power. God is consciousness itself. By your concentrated sincere prayer, you are tuning your mental radio to receive that power. By tuning the radio, you are not creating music. It is already there; your tuning merely attracts the radio waves. If your tuning is not correct, if it moves a little off that particular wavelength, you won't receive the music. But the moment you find the correct wavelength, the music comes easily. In the same way, you will receive God Consciousness, God's grace, or the Cosmic Consciousness only when you tune your mind to God's wavelength.
Through your prayer and devotion you should be in communication with God. You make a connection. Suppose you are a bulb trying to get light and God is the main battery. Your prayer is the connecting wire. If the prayer is a loose connection, you won't get the light. Many people just utter their prayers while their eyes roll around looking at people: "How many people are here? Did my friend come?" That sort of prayer is just lip service. They say: "I am Thine. All is Thine. Thy will be done" -- while one hand is holding the wallet in the pocket. Such prayer has a bad connection. While you pray you have to forget everything else.
In prayer you may use a lot of words, but that is not the real prayer. The real prayer comes after you finish speaking. The words simply prepare your mind. You finish the prayer and you just become still. In deep prayer, you forget everything. You forget your body, mind, and personality. You lose yourself. Momentarily, you become God and you can do all that God does. When you come down to the normal level again, you may say "God gave me something," but God didn't give it to you. You received it because you had His capacity momentarily.
Deep prayer always comes from the heart. It's not the head that prays, it's the heart. Flowery words and lengthy prayers are not that important. It must come from the heart, if only a single word - even a meaningless word. God understands our innermost prayer. Many children communicate with their mothers this way, by a sound no one else understands. When the baby cries a certain way, only the mother understands because theirs is a special language.
Always develop the heart. Whatever you do, wherever you go - whether it's temple, church, mosque, or synagogue, prostrations or liturgy -- let the heart always be there. The sacred heart is a secret heart. You need not expose it or show it to others. Just let God know. Let it be secret communication.
That's sattvic devotion. Such people who have that way of devotion are fortunate. It's of great value. We all have that in us, but unfortunately our intelligence tends to take over too often. Just allow the heart to melt. It's the easiest way to approach God. Become a baby in the arms of the Mother. One sage used to say, "Lord, I know the trick. I don't need to do anything. I just cry. I know I'll get You." There are some people who begin to cry the moment they begin praying. It's the best way to get His Light.