Do As You Would be Done By

Why is it that supplications made to God often go unheeded? The reason is that people ask God for that which they themselves are not prepared to give to others. They ask God for protection against oppression, but they are the first to inflict it on others when they have the chance. They ask God to safeguard their lives and property, yet are quick to kill and seize someone else’s property if they can. They ask God for an honourable life, yet are quite happy to humiliate others. They ask God to protect them from enemy plots, yet they plot the destruction of anybody with whom they disagree. One must be sincere in whatever one is praying for. One’s supplication should emanate from one’s innermost being. It should not just be empty words. When one is sincere, one’s life becomes devoid of contradictions. No difference remains between what one prays for and what one practices. If one really detests cruelty and objects to others indulging in it, then one will never resort to it oneself. If one stoops to persecuting others, then one cannot be sincere when one protests about being persecuted. The prayer of a person who does not put words into action will not be graced by divine acceptance. If one is causing conflict among people, yet at the same time praying for harmony, one’s prayer must seem more like a jest to God, and can earn one only retribution. For prayers to be acceptable, it is essential that one should give others what one seeks for oneself. One should treat others with the same mercy and compassion as one desires for oneself. Otherwise one’s prayer will be an offence rather than a supplication before God.