Do You Pray When You Are Happy?
Prayer is a channel for self-transcendence
“The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.” (F.B.Meyer)
I don’t pray when I am happy. I send out fervent prayers for help when I am in trouble. I don’t know why my state of mind should dictate my willingness or unwillingness to pray.
I presume forgetting to pray when we are happy is the default human condition.
It is a natural human tendency to seek the help of a higher force — God, Nature, or Universe — when we face turbulent circumstances in our lives. When adversity strikes, sometimes we feel so helpless and numb with sorrow and grief that we cannot act on our own.
The so-called human rationality does a disappearing act.
We go through different stages like denial and resistance before accepting the situation. Meanwhile, our sense of victimhood forces us to question the divine order of things or universal laws. We denounce fate and demand answers as if we don’t deserve the adversity that has befallen us. We also pray that the Universe free us from the troubles that have visited us unsolicited.
There is nothing wrong in praying to God/ a higher force for help. Prayer makes us feel humble. It helps us to connect with the universal energy even if we don’t realize it.
At the same time, when we pray when we are in distress, we pray for ourselves. It is our self-interest that motivates us to pray. We trap ourselves in a narrow circle of self-interest.
Praying when we are happy is a near-transcendent state
On the other hand, when we pray, whether happy or unhappy, we make lasting connections with a higher force. We are signaling our gratitude for the good things that we have enjoyed in life. We transcend our egos and almost reach a transcendental stage where we dissipate and merge with cosmic forces.
To pray when we are happy and when life is smooth or when there is nothing to worry about does not come naturally to us. We don’t need to feel guilty about it.
We can train ourselves to be able to pray without tying it to our mental state. We achieve a mental shift from the praying-when-happy state to the praying- anytime condition when we broaden the scope of prayer.
Widen the scope of prayer
When we pray, let’s try to broaden its scope by wishing the welfare of all beings on this planet. Let’s pray for world peace and non-violence. Let’s pray that Nature bestows all places on earth with adequate rainfall. Let’s pray that the Universe spares all beings of the horrors of devastating natural disasters. Universal prayers connect us to the Higher Being or God or Universal Consciousness.
Saying a universal prayer as a daily exercise may appear simplistic and ritualistic. Yet, the upside is, praying for universal welfare helps us cultivate gratitude and empathy.
Final thoughts
Prayer is a spiritual activity that connects us with the Universe. Praying when we face adversity and for our happiness devalues a noble move and traps us in a cocoon of narrow self-interest. We must harness the power of prayer to show our gratitude for the blessings in our life. Seeking universal welfare as a daily ritual will help cultivate empathy, which like gratitude, is a spiritual superpower.
Thanks for reading.
