Soul Stories #20: Why Do You Pray?

I still remember this one day, many years ago, when I was sitting in a dome shaped mosque, in the middle of a farm, when one of my teachers walked over to me and asked me, seemingly out of nowhere, “Helwa, why do you pray?”

I stumbled, overwhelmed by her powerful transmission, “You mean the salah prayer?” She said smiling, “Yes.” Trying to be a good student, I started to endlessly list all the reasons I pray, “Well, I pray because God told me to…umm because the prophets also prayed…because I need to be reminded of who I am…” and on and on I went, almost trying to convince myself I knew what I was saying. My teacher gently smiled, placed her hands on my shoulder in attempt to calm my frantic 20 something year old energy, as she said, “And do you want to know why I pray?” I desperately said, “Please yes, please tell me!” And she said, in a delicate way as she softly smiled through her eyes, “Because I love to be with the One that I love and Who loves me.”

A Spiritual Reflection on the Story:

In that moment, in that mosque, in the middle of America, something broke inside of me. That moment shattered this idea I had about what prayer was in a very emotional way. When I was younger, prayer felt only like an obligation, so when I missed it, I felt like God would be waiting to punish me. But on that day, I learned that prayer is an opportunity, a divine gift to reconnect with the One who created all that exists from the overwhelming embrace of His love.

I now realize that the worse consequence for missing prayer is the missed prayer itself, it is the missed opportunity to be with the One whose love created me. After all, for the heart that is in love, there is no greater penalty than distance and absence. Of course, I know the ritual prayer or salah is a commandment, but the impact of our prayer is not dependent on just doing it, but on how we do it and what spirit of presence it awakens within us.

Instead of asking, Did I pray today? ask yourself, How connected to Allah did I feel in my prayers today?

Prayer is not meant to be a checkmark on your to do list, it is a light that when received in the heart expands your awareness and awakens your consciousness. Prayer is not just a means of connecting with God, it is a protection from all that veils you from His Presence. As the Qur’an says, “Indeed, prayer restrains from immorality and wrongdoing…” (29:45) Prayer is not just a commandment, it is a prescription, a spiritual tincture, that heals the dis-eases of the heart. It is a divine bridge from the human being to God.

On that afternoon, many years ago, this teacher was reminding me that if prayer is not about love, it becomes rigid and stale. God calls us to pray, and yes He commands us to pray, but not because He needs it, but because He knows that the life of our hearts are dependent upon the light of His love. Just as Rumi reminds us, “Through love, thorns become roses” it is through Divine love that our spirits bloom through the soil of our earthly bodies.

I pray that your heart becomes so overflowed with Allah’s love for you and that you cannot help but be in love with Him every time you pray. I pray that your prayers become your favorite moments of the day, that they become a spiritual break, a refuge into a the sweetest, sacred stillness amidst the chaos of every day life. I pray that with every posture of the prayer, you find yourself deepen into your heart, feeling the pull of love to the Creator of all love, Al-Wadud. Ameen

In prayers of light upon light,