Standing by the side of her bed, I and a small Ganesha idol looked into the eyes of a woman in labour. Her agony of pain, her restlessness, her wet eyes, which had seen three abortions, how precious it was this time for her. 

Reciting the name of God in a flow. She could hardly wait for it to finally happen. One final push, and a baby boy was out. Crying aloud, divine music to that woman's ear. Tears trickling down her eyes, she hugged him and kissed him. 

As I and Ganesha looked on, finally, a child had given birth to a mother. 

I still wonder to this day if God was himself there during the delivery, using the doctor as his tool. Or was it the magic of the little prayers she kept mumbling during her pain? Ever wondered the role of prayers in our lives? 

I’m sure each one of you would have definitely joined your hands and bowed before the Almighty sometime in your life. Let's know about something different: prayer, a topic we generally don’t talk about much in public because it's something very personal and something we would want to keep to ourselves. 

Praying to God is talking to the very creator of our existence. It is a means of communication designed to be faster than any other way to get in touch with God. He wants us to bring to him our burdens, our cares, our needs, our dreams, and our worries through prayers. Even though he sees and understands our situations better than us, he still wants to hear from us in our own words. 

Ever thought of classifying prayers? NO?? ..............then read. 

1) Prayer of praise (I'm sure he loves them): We praise God for how nice he has been to us, how thankful we are to him for making us what we are, and how wonderful he has been all this time. 

2) Prayer of thanksgiving: We thank God for all the great things he does for us. He gives us life, family, food, clothing, a home, and friends in our lives to help us and to take care of us. 

3) Prayer of confession: telling God that we are sorry for what wrong we’ve done and that we are sorry that we did it. 

4) Prayer for help: We ask God to keep us safe, to give us courage, or to give us the extra marks we need to pass the exams. Ha ha.. God always wants to hear from us when we are afraid or in trouble and need help. 

5) The prayer, where we ask God to care for: The prayer is offered in faith, believing God hears and will answer. Believing God cares and is waiting to hear from us is just the beginning. 

We pray because prayer is powerful and it moves God’s heart. God is waiting to connect with each one of us. 

Maybe our selfishness and running behind “moh and maya” have created a disconnect with God. He wants to connect with us and work powerfully in our hearts and lives through prayer. I don’t claim to be a saint writing this, but I have seen what a small prayer can do for your life. 

I’ll end with this quotation: “What you are is God's gift to you, and what you make of yourself is your gift to God.”