Hari OM

[Guest guest]

SIVANANDA DAILY READING FOR 7 JUNE

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.