Prayers that Inspire and Change You

Have you ever noticed the effect that your thoughts have on you? If you are always worried about getting sick, you eventually fall sick. If  you always think about being a strong willed person, you eventually become it. Many great people have talked about the effect that your thoughts have on you. As Vivekananda said, if you take up one thought, dream about it and think about all the time, it will become true. The power of the mind is unquestionable. So is the power of prayer done with complete faith.

Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them.
                                                                                                             Mark 11: 24

Whether you believe in God or not,you should believe in the power within and its ability to change us. Over the years I have come across a few prayers or wise words that really inspired me. I usually read them before bed and it has a very profound effect on me. I thought I'll share them with you guys. Read them slowly, taking time to understand their meaning and then think about it. It will definitely touch you.

1) Discourse on Good Will
                 -The Sutta Nipata

This is one of the most beautiful prayers I've ever come across. Every time I read it, it fills me with joy. Its taken from the Buddhist scripture and talks about loving everyone and everything around you.

May all beings be filled with joy and peace
May all beings everywhere,
The strong and the weak,
The great and the powerful,
The short and the long,
The subtle and the gross.


May all beings everywhere,
Seen and Unseen,
Dwelling far off or nearby,
Being or waiting to become,
May all be filled with lasting joy.


Let no one deceive another,
Let no one anywhere despise another,
Let no one out of anger or resentment,
Wish suffering on anyone at all.


Just as a mother with her own life
Protects her child, her only child, from harm,
So within yourself let grow
A boundless love for all creatures.

Let your love flow outward through the universe.
To its height, its depth, its broad extent,
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.

Then as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake,
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;
Your life will bring heaven to earth.


2) Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Another beautiful prayer. Each line has deep meaning and understanding it in full takes time. I love the last line.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life

3) The Serenity Prayer
        - Reinhold Niebuhr

 Short but very meaningful. Its the ultimate knowledge that we seek, the knowledge to know the difference.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference. 

If you come across any such inspirational prayers, do share it with me. :)