It’s not about the outcome, it’s about the conversation

Du’aa.

Recently I’ve been reflecting on my connection with Du’aa and how I don’t feel so needy in asking for certain things. Not because I don’t have needs, I do. There’s so much I want to ask Allah. Not because I don’t believe in Du’aa. I believe Du’aa is the most powerful tool I have yet. But rather, it’s because life has recently taught me, that what I want isn’t always good for me. And so I don’t ask, because I feel like Allah knows what’s He’s doing and He only will give what is best, at the right time. So why ask and beg for something that may not be good for me?

But today, as I sat on my prayer mat. I realised just how much I missed asking. Missed feeling needy. I went through a mental list of all I wanted in life.

And that’s when it hit me. I had been tricked by the Shaytaan.

Du’aa was never meant to be about my needs. It wasn’t meant to be about the things I wanted. It wasn’t meant to be about the outcome. The point of Du’aa, is the conversation. It’s about talking to Allah, consulting Him, feeling needy and broken before Him. I wasn’t allowing myself to feel all those things. It was about taking the means to ask and then trusting in the outcome. It was about realising that sometimes those things you want *are* good for you and some aren’t, and that’s how we learn tawakkul.

Du’aa wasn’t meant to be made only when I felt desperate. When I really wanted something in life. Because once I get those things, what will I pray for with that same desperation?

Du’aa is about your connection with your Creator. And that’s why it’s the essence of worship. In both ease and hardship and in moments when you feel needy and in those you feel content, ask Him, talk to Him, share with Him. Reach into the depth of your heart and ask it what it really wants in this life and the next. Then pour it out in prayer and wait for the results.

Your Du’aa is never a waste. And your Du’aa is much more than a request. It’s a way of billing your relationship with your Creator, and if the only thing you get from Du’aa is a feeling of being close to your Creator, then you are fulfilling it’s purpose and your purpose in life; “And I have not created the jinn or mankind except to worship Me.” (51:55)