“When you pray to God, pray from your heart. Say what you really feel, not what He wants you to say or feel. Be completely sincere with Him. He knows anyway what you are thinking! But heartfelt prayer lends power to your thoughts. It focuses them and centers them in Him. Without sincerity, that focus will be lacking.
If your heart is restless with desires, pray to Him, ‘Lord, I have these desires, but I want You more than anything else. Help me to dissolve every limitation in Your great ocean of peace.’
It is all right to pray to God for things. It is better still, however, to ask that His will be done in your life.
He knows what you need, and will do much more for you than the best that you can imagine for yourself.
Above all, seek Him for Himself, for His love. Pray to Him, ‘Father, reveal Thyself!’ If you call to Him in that way, sincerely, He will be with you always.”
The Essence Of Self-Realization – The Wisdom Of Paramhansa Yogananda, Recorded and compiled by his disciple, J. Donald Walters, p. 157-158.
