Accept what you cannot change as divine will and you will find everlasting peace. Quite a few devotees sorrowfully tell Amma that even after many years of praying, their griefs and misfortunes have not let up. Most people pray either for the fulfillment of their desires or out of fear: “O Lord, grant me this desire!” Or “Please do not give me any of that!” Do such prayers not mean that they know better than God what is best for them, or that they are, in short, greater than God? Do they really believe that God—who created both them and the world and who has protected both all along—does not know what is good and bad for them? They think that praying means presenting before God a litany of their likes and dislikes.
Prayer is not an enumeration of one’s personal desires. This does not mean that we must not share our sorrows with God. We can certainly unburden our sorrows.
Doing so will give the mind some relief. But more importantly, we must strive to remember God with love. Spend at least a little time every day meditating on God, chanting our mantra, and singing bhajans.
If we go to temples, it should be to foster remembrance of God. Do not think that we will receive God’s grace just because we believe in him. We must act in accordance with our faith.
We will not recover from an illness just because we believe in the doctor, will we? Likewise, faith and effort must go hand in hand. Though God is within us, we are currently unable to experience His presence ful.