Deng Ming-Dao
24 February 2020
PRAYERS ANSWERED
As a child, I was taught to pray. At some point, nothing seemed to come of it, so I doubted it.
For years, I prayed at various times when I was trapped and terrified. Prayer didn’t seem to deliver me, so I doubted it.
People died. Loved ones were stricken with horrible illnesses. Poverty and ruin often seemed a breath away. Managers at work were unfair and bullying. All this was despite prayer, so I doubted it.
Recently, I suddenly realized that the answers to prayers wasn’t about a force interfering in my life. It wasn’t about making goodness suddenly appear without work. It wasn’t about being spared the human condition.
What I understood was that prayers are answered by guidance. You get a sense of what to do. You have to sort through all the noise in your head, which is why devotion, reverence, and practice are important, but the answer will be there.
It only took most of my life for me to understand: yes, prayers are answered.