Prayer, the real prayer, the prayer that is centered on timeless principles - is the most effective 'self-help' tool of all time. Prayer has created more prosperity, more health, more emotional fulfillment, deeper relationships and the fuller realization of our potential - than all other self-development practices combined.

The truth is, prayer has been and continues to be THE primary tool for change and positive transformation, for almost all of the greatest leaders and masters, across all civilizations, across all times.

Prayer is essential for our full development and without it, our highest faculties like self-awareness, rational conscience and free will, remain undeveloped. While it is possible to realize Greatness in one or two dimensions of life, at the expense of others - there are no examples of fully self- actualized people, without engaging in principle centered prayer. I challenge anyone to prove otherwise. Greatness follows prayer, like thunder follows lightening. The quality and quantity of prayer one engages in is a direct indicator of what one can realize - given their circumstances and gifts.

Another misconception is that prayer is unpredictable and therefore the results are 'circumstantial'. But prayer is in many ways like a science. It obeys laws or principles. Its results are as consistent as any scientific law. The inconsistencies of unanswered prayers come not from the application of prayer - but its misapplication.

For example, in electrical devices, first one must understand the science of what makes electrical circuits work or not work. You cannot blindly link components together and expect the device to work. An electrical device is an intelligent system based on principles. It takes rational knowledge and education to make it work effectively.

One single cross circuit can render the whole device ineffective. Unless the electrical energy flows freely through the circuitry as originally designed, the device can fail completely. At that point we don’t say that 'electricity' is the problem. So we conclude the device itself is faulty, something 'short circuits' the system... and so on.

Prayer is the same. It is perhaps the most intelligent system there is. Prayer is a system that can literally create miracles. It takes much knowledge and education of its principles to make it work effectively too. Albert Einstein at Princeton University in 1952 was asked by a doctoral student - in what area of research could one make a valuable and original difference - and he answered, "find out about prayer'...

For even the greatest minds seek to understand more of its principles. True prayer is effective - i.e. it produces effects. We have objective evidence for this everywhere and at all times in history.

When it doesn't work, it's our application that is problematic, not the system as it is originally designed. There are short circuits in the 'prayer device' that can make the whole mechanism fail just as completely. Few people understand how prayer actually works, and fewer still are aware of what 'short circuits a prayer’s EFFECTiveness.
When one is self-UNaware of the absolutely fundamental role our Spirit plays in our lives. Enlightenment always begins with the fundamental self-awareness that mind is over body. As we think, so shall we be, do and have. When we can understand the objective truths, we control our world. This is the secret of all sciences and creative abilities for example.

In this awareness of 'self as a mind', we become empowered. We come to know that we are indeed the masters, molders and makers of our destiny - because we have the freedom to choose what to think. We can bring order to the physical, through the mental. Thus, if we wisely choose our thoughts, we can freely determine our emotions, our actions and thereby the results one creates. Thoughts becomes action - action becomes habit – and negative habits are dangerous and unhealthy.

This is just an example of principles at play, and it's just one aspect of it... Ultimately, wisdom cannot be found at the level of mind only. The ego can be clever, but it does not know Wisdom. It is our Spirit that illuminates the mind with Great thoughts. It is our Spirit that knows the ways of Blessedness, of Peace, of Happiness - all that we authentically desire. AAPO JYOTI BHAVA – Buddha said to Aanand, this was his last Sermon to the world. Prayer is the link at the highest level of 'authority' within you - much like the Supreme Court is the highest legal judgment institution for a country. It's the Spirit that passes down all Great laws of thought, and therefore of belief, of action and ultimately, the fruits reaped.

The spiritual is principal. It is the height of folly to put secondary things first. Prayer is of utmost 'strategic' importance. It's not merely 'another perspective'. Prayer is the key leverage point upon which everything can change for the better. Take care of the vital thing and other things will take care of themselves. Rectify one angle of a square, and the other angles will be automatically right."

Thus, the reason for unanswered prayers, in 95% of cases, comes down to following reasons:

--a lack of substantial application of prayer
--a lack of knowledge of how to effectively pray
--a lack of faith in prayer, and awareness of how it influences all aspects of one's life, for the better

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when grownups are afraid of the light. Plato