TEST OF SINCERITY
Essentially, prayer should be selfless as far as possible. We should first pray for the good of others, for the welfare and peace of the world and for our own spiritual evolution. We should pray for the eradication of our evil qualities, for wisdom and knowledge, for goodness and saintliness.
An aspirant should always pray for the removal of his ignorance. His goal is to realise the truth and to free himself from the meshes of those things that are unreal. His goal is to realise his essential divine nature.
At times even sincere prayer is not responded to, but this should not be allowed to mar our faith or sincerity or to discourage or depress us. It should be considered as a necessity, as a test of our sincerity, our serenity and our faith in God.
At times this irresponse is often repeated. The devotee becomes bewildered; he begins to lose faith in God; he may even be diverted from the path. Indeed it is here we must show our patience, our steadfastness and our faith in his grace. God often tests us with severest trials but does it mean that he is unkind, that he does not wish to pay heed to our prayers? Obviously not. It is a test that the aspirant must pass through. His faith may not be strong enough; the dross of his mind may not have been cleaned yet; his heart may not be pure yet.
How can the aspirant strengthen his faith? How can he cleanse his mind? How can he purify his heart? Only through tests, trials, tribulations. Just as gold is purified by passing it through the crucible several times, so also the heart must become pure, the faith must become unflinching, through passing through the crucible of trials again and again.
But at the ultimate end all prayers are fulfilled and gratified with the highest fulfilment. Therefore when we pray to God or wish to receive grace from him, we must be prepared to accept joyfully his irresponse and the trials and tribulations.
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