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suffering and pain, but all in vain! And, we are still suffering from its terrible effects even today. Surely, it is a pure farce if this is all the result that prayer has to show! But the fact is that prayer was never intended to be used in this way. 'Prayer is analysable into
(i) whom to ask from, (ii) who is to ask, (iii) what is to be asked, and
(iv) how to ask? As to the first of these points, we have already seen that the Tirthamkaras are only Teachers, but not the givers of boons or grantors of prayer, while the mytho. logical deities are purely imaginary. There is no other god to grant a prayer except the one that is within, and it is this inner Divinity that is the real grantor of wishes. For the rule with Life is that it is affected by its beliefs, so that whatever it believes it becomes. For this reason it is that Jesus said : "Therefore I say onto you, What things soever ye desire,
when yo pray, believe that yo receive them, and ye shalt
have them."-Mark xi. 24. The element of belief which is altogether out of place with reference to an external deity, is fully in keeping with the nature of the divinity of the soul that becomes a quickening spirit by self-consciousness. Hence, the greater the clinging to this in-dwelling God, the greater the manifestation of Divinity and the power to work miracles. Jesus also said with reference to his miracles :
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