How and why we should pray

The Essence of Volume 2 Chapter 6

Om Sri Gurubhyo namaha!!!

How should we pray to God? Why should we pray? What should we ask him? If there is anyone who can answer these questions, it is only the self-realized and great spiritual masters.

We go to a hospital for treatment, to a rich man for monetary help, to a court for settlement of legal disputes. In the same way, we should take the shelter of great and realized men for spiritual enlightenment. There is no assurance that all we seek from other humans will be fully attained or resolved. So we should firstly present our trammels and disputes to God and seek his help. There are some who say that “why should we ask God to resolve our worldly problems, we should seek his help only for spiritual gains”. But there are plenty of responsibilities and dependents for a householder, he cannot leave those dependent on him and look for self-interests like salvation until the responsibilities are fulfilled.
There are three limbs for deeds to yield desired results and they are 1) Divine grace 2) Human effort and 3) Luck. In the absence of these three our efforts will not give results as expected.
Lord Krishna in Bhagavadgita said:

catur-vidha bhajante mam  janah sukrtino 'rjuna 
arto jijnasur artharthi  jnani ca bharatarsabha                Chapter 7 Verse 16
(O Arjuna! four kinds of pious men render devotional service unto Me - the distressed, one who desires wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute)
The distressed (arto) is the one who is burdened by worldly life and family responsibilities. The inquisitive (Jijnasu) is keen on knowing the Truth and seeks knowledge at all times wanting to understand this world. One who desires wealth ( artharthi) seeks it for undertaking charitable activities and also for his own well-being. The one searching for knowledge of the Absolute is a Jnani( a rational). He realizes and sees brahman in everything and are a rarity. All his activities of seeking knowledge are aimed at God alone.  
One should pray with devotion to God.
The second part is why we should pray to God. We may in our lifetime accumulate all the best articles in the world but they may not necessarily give us peace of mind and satisfaction. So we should pray for attaining them. If there is no satisfaction, adversities will be our constant companions.
Sri Adi Sankaraacharya has mentioned in Shatpadi stotram what must be sought from God. The first sloka of Shatpadi says that we must seek God to give us humility. The second sloka advises us to fall at Lord’s feet so that our ego is subdued and we learn to be humble. The third sloka shows how we are dependent on God. Wave is dependent on ocean but the ocean is not dependent on wave. The ocean and wave may not be different but the truth is wave is born from the ocean.
The fourth sloka suggests that once God’s mercy is showered on us, it is not difficult to cross this ocean of samsara (cycle of birth and death).
In the fifth and sixth slokas, he asks the Lord to remove evil from our heart and in the seventh sloka prays that this shatpadi should always reside in us.
We should realize our ultimate goal of Moksha( deliverance) by facing all the pleasures and sorrows of this birth. Devotion to God is the most important requirement in this process.
Om tat sat
Om Santhi ! Santhi ! Santhihi !!!

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