sivasakti.net - Put Up A Prayer To God For 24 Hours. Part 3

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P U T U P A P R A Y E R T O G O D
F O R 2 4 H O U R S

by yoga teacher Gregorian Bivolaru

PART 3
As a conclusion, we should keep in mind never to waste our time with useless and small actions. It is obvious that it is easier for us to get His innumerable gifts rather than the supreme, most valuable present He has for us: His divine presence inside of our souls.

Therefore, we should never let ourselves fooled by the great diversity and attraction of His creation, and aim for the supreme wonder of His communion.

Patiently, God yearns for our love. It was once said that God is like a beggar. He, the master of all universes, comes to the man and begs for his love. But the man says: "I'm busy now. Look how many things I have to do. I'll take care of you later."

Nonetheless, He still wants us to come back to Him. This is our birth-given right. Sooner or later we should leave this earth, as it is not our true home.

Our life on earth is but a school where we go to learn if we desire the passing and ephemeral glory or if we gained enough wisdom to say: "Lord, all my deceits are over. I do not wish to speak to anybody else but You. Now I know that You are my one and only immortal treasure and that even when the whole world disappears, I will still have You, in eternity."

The less egoistic we are, the more we will direct our efforts to other people's happiness, the more our thoughts will direct towards God. On the contrary, the more we think about the small, petty goals of this world, the more we will go away from the profound happiness springing from the joy of the communion with the universal harmony.

We have to understand that we haven't been sent to earth in order to fall into the trap of passions and sufferings. All things that commit us to this world of passions has a diabolic character, because it keep us from fulfilling our true meaning.

The greatest happiness ever is to melt, to merge our thoughts into God, because after all, earth is but a place in which we prepare ourselves to become one with God. The Heavenly Father only wishes to see if it's Him we truly want or His "gifts".

Just as we are entitled to His love, He is to ours. Hardships, problems, tensions, inner struggles are due only to our oblivion of Him. But He waits us patiently.

The great yogis and sages insisted on the detachment from all that is earthly, because all such attachments only hinders us from reaching God's kingdom. Detached renunciation to the little passing pleasures in order to attain eternal bliss does not mean ignorance.

God speaks to us when we act for Him and in His name, and we have to take the adequate course of action, permanently. It is also highly important to tell Him what is on our mind. Thus we can tell Him: "Dear Lord, I humbly beg You to grant me Your supreme grace." By doing this we do not have to consider His silence as a definitive answer.

Most often God may fulfill one of our wishes, showing us that He pays attention to us. However, we feel once again compelled to mention that we never have to settle for His gifts, no matter how attractive and pleasurable they may be.

We have to let Him know that we will find our happiness only in the union with Him. And finally, God will answer us and He will grant this ardent desire of our souls. In such moments we may have the vision of a saint, or of an angel, or we may simply hear His divine voice.

Then we will definitely know that we are in a close and deliciously intimate communion with God. However, to gain this gift we have to be willing to any efforts, eliminating from our minds the possibility that God may not answer us.

In fact, God always talks to us urging us: "call My name all the time, talk to Me from the depths of your heart, from the sanctuary of your soul, keep on seeking Me even if I will not answer you right away. If your heart addresses Me all the time: "oh, My beloved, You are so silent... I beg You, talk to me.", then I will come to you."

If we get to hear even once God's answer, we will never feel separated from Him again. This supreme divine experience will always stay inside of us. However, this "first time" is really difficult to attain, because the mind and the heart cannot be easily convinced to permanently give up their inferior tendencies. We often get confused and troubled because of our lack of faith in God.

Consequently, it is crucial that we understand that God will answer our ardent pleas directly and very concretely, and proportionally with the intensity of our desire for Him.

In the Old Testament it says: "Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." (Ex, 33:11)

INDICATIONS:
� Invoke the Lord for at least 24 hours.
� Make sure your isolation from the outside world is complete.
� Use those prayers that bring you closer to your purpose, but the formulas indicated here are very appropriate for repetition.
� You may also perform asanas while you repeat your pleas to the Lord. You may also burn incense, or aromatherapy oils, all the while you remember to direct your pleas to God.
� You may also take walks around the rooms, observing the rules of the retreat.
� It is highly important that we do not fall asleep during these 24 hours. Nonetheless, if we did, we have to continue this technique of prayer. This will only make us stronger and the next time we are about to perform this retreat, we will definitely have better results.
� During these 24 hours we should not eat anything, and we should only drink water.