GREAT PRAYER QUOTES - 17

Some people pray just to pray and some people pray to know God. --Andrew Murray There is a mighty lot of difference between saying prayers and praying. --John G. Lake You may pray for an hour and still not pray. You may meet God for a moment and then be in touch with Him all day. --Fredrik Wisloff I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it.—John Wesley I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had absolutely no other place to go. -- Abraham Lincoln Always respond to every impulse to pray. The impulse to pray may come when you are reading or when you are battling with a text. I would make an absolute law of this – always obey such an impulse. --Martyn Lloyd-Jones Wishing will never be a substitute for prayer. --Ed Cole One can believe intellectually in the efficacy of prayer and never do any praying. --Catherine Marshall Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?-- Corrie Ten Boom Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan --John Bunyan Of all the duties enjoined by Christianity none is more essential and yet more neglected than prayer. --François Fénelon The only way to Heaven is prayer; a prayer of the heart, which every one is capable of, and not of reasonings which are the fruits of study, or exercise of the imagination, which, in filling the mind with wandering objects, rarely settle it; instead of warming the heart with love to God, they leave it cold and languishing. --Jeanne Guyon We must alter our lives in order to alter our hearts, for it is impossible to live one way and pray another. --William Law The Third Petition of the Lord's Prayer is repeated daily by millions who have not the slightest intention of letting anyone's will be done but their own.--Aldous Huxley Is the Son of God praying in me, or am I dictating to Him?....Prayer is not simply getting things from God, that is a most initial form of prayer; prayer is getting into perfect communion with God. If the Son of God is formed in us by regeneration, He will press forward in front of our common sense and change our attitude to the things about which we pray. --Oswald Chambers Those who know God the best are the richest and most powerful in prayer. Little acquaintance with God, and strangeness and coldness to Him, make prayer a rare and feeble thing. --E. M. Bounds How often have we prayed something like, "O Lord, be with cousin Billy now in a special way"? Have we stopped to consider what it is we're requesting? Imagine that you are a parent who is preparing to leave your children with a babysitter. Would you dream of saying, "O Betsy, I ask you now that you would be with my children in a special way?" No way. You would say, "Betsy, the kids need to be in bed by 9 pm. They can have one snack before their baths, and please make sure they finish their homework. You can reach us at this number if there's any problem. Any questions before we go?" We are very specific with our requests and instructions for our babysitters. We want them to know specifics. It should be no different with prayer. --David Jeremiah There is a general kind of praying which fails for lack of precision. It is as if a regiment of soldiers should all fire off their guns anywhere. Possibly somebody would be killed, but the majority of the enemy would be missed. --Charles Haddon Spurgeon When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops studying the Bible, the devil laughs. When he stops praying, the devil shouts for joy. --Corrie Ten Boom

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PRAYER by St. Francies of Assissi

PRAYER   Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace, Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is discord, union; Where there is doubt, faith; 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.   —St. Francies of Assissi

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THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER

THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER   O Adorable Lord of Mercy and Love! Salutations and prostrations unto Thee. Thou art Satchidananda.   Thou art Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient. Thou art the Indweller of all beings. Grant us an understanding heart, Equal vision, Balanced mind, Faith, devotion and wisdom. Grant us inner spiritual strength To resist temptations and to control the mind. Free us from egoism, lust, greed, anger, hatred and jealousy.   Fill our hearts with divine virtues. Let us behold Thee in all these names and forms. Let us serve Thee in all these names and forms. Let us ever remember Thee. Let us ever sing Thy glories. Let Thy Name be ever upon our lips. Let us abide in Thee for ever and ever.   —Swami Sivananda

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GREAT PRAYER QUOTES - 16

All that true prayer seeks is God Himself, for with Him we get all we need. - The Kneeling Christian

 

"Men ought always to pray, and not faint." - Bible, Luke 18:1

 

Prayer breaks all bars, dissolves all chains, opens all prisons, and widens all straits by which God's saints have been held. -- E. M. Bounds

 

Satan laughs at our toiling, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray. - The Kneeling Christian

 

The only power that God will yield to is that of prayer. - Leonard Ravenhill

 

The secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer. - The Kneeling Christian

 

Prayer is not given us as a burden to be borne or an irksome duty to fulfill, but to be a joy and power to which there is no limit. - The Kneeling Christian

 

The word of God is the food by which prayer is nourished and made strong. - E. M. Bounds

 

The Ministry of Prayer, if it be anything worthy of the Name, is a ministry of ardor, a ministry of unwearied and intense longing after God and His holiness. - E. M. Bounds

 

"O, let the place of secret prayer become to me the most beloved spot on earth." -- Andrew Murray

 

"The secret of praying is praying in secret." - Leonard Ravenhill

 

Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire? - Corrie Ten Boom

 

Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan - John Bunyan

 

Some people pray just to pray and some people pray to know God. - Andrew Murray

 

There is a mighty lot of difference between saying prayers and praying. - John G. Lake

 

I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it. - John Wesley

 

When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops studying the Bible, the devil laughs. When he stops praying, the devil shouts for joy. - Corrie Ten Boom

 

Do you know what prayer is? It is not begging God for this and that. The first thing we have to do is to get you beggars to quit begging until a little faith moves in your souls. - John G. Lake

 

We lean to our own understanding, or we bank on service and do away with prayer, and consequently by succeeding in the external we fail in the eternal, because in the eternal we succeed only by prevailing prayer. - Oswald Chambers

 

Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons; but they are helpless against our prayers. --J. Sidlow Baxter

 

Our ordinary views of prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer as a means for getting something for ourselves; the Bible idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself. - Oswald Chambers

 

If you are sick, fast and pray; if the language is hard to learn, fast and pray; if the people will not hear you, fast and pray, if you have nothing to eat, fast and pray. - Frederick Franson

 

God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that we may intercede. - Oswald Chambers

GREAT PRAYER QUOTES - 15

Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God.  ~Author Unknown


Prayer is not merely an occasional impulse to which we respond when we are in trouble:  prayer is a life attitude.  ~Walter A. Mueller


The Lord's Prayer may be committed to memory quickly, but it is slowly learnt by heart.  ~Frederick Denison Maurice


Deep down in me I knowed it was a lie, and He knowed it.  You can't pray a lie - I found that out.  ~Mark Twain


It is good for us to keep some account of our prayers, that we may not unsay them in our practice.  ~Matthew Henry


Prayer gives a man the opportunity of getting to know a gentleman he hardly ever meets.  I do not mean his maker, but himself.  ~William Inge


Grow flowers of gratitude in the soil of prayer.  ~Verbena Woods


Some stand on tiptoe trying to reach God to talk to him - you try too hard, friend - drop to your knees and listen to him, he'll hear you better that way.  ~Ever Garrison


If we could all hear one another's prayers, God might be relieved of some of his burdens.  ~Ashleigh Brilliant

Prayers not felt by us are seldom heard by God.  ~Philip Henry


The trouble with our praying is, we just do it as a means of last resort.  ~Will Rogers


When you pray, rather let your heart be without words than your words without heart.  ~John Bunyan


Underneath prayer disappears adversity.  ~Pepper Giardino


And help us, this and every day, to live more nearly as we pray.  ~John Keble


Prayer is the coin paid to Gratitude.  ~Jessi Lane Adams


I believe in prayer.  It's the best way we have to draw strength from heaven.  ~Josephine Baker


Prayer must never be answered:  if it is, it ceases to be prayer and becomes correspondence.  ~Oscar Wilde


Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed;
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.
~James Montgomery, What is Prayer?

GREAT PRAYER QUOTES - 14

I do believe we're all connected. I do believe in positive energy. I do believe in the power of prayer. I do believe in putting good out into the world. And I believe in taking care of each other.  - Harvey Fierstein

I don't know whether I believe in God or not. I think, really, I'm some sort of Buddhist. But the essential thing is to put oneself in a frame of mind which is close to that of prayer. - Henri Matisse

I first began to read religious books at school, and especially the Bible, when I was eleven years old; and almost immediately commenced a habit of secret prayer.  - Francis W. Newman

I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: "O Lord make my enemies ridiculous." And God granted it.  - Voltaire

I have only ever made one prayer to God, a very short one: O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous. And God granted it.  - Voltaire

I know no words of prayer - God help me because I can not help myself.  - Harold E. Hughes

I mean, George Bush is a man of prayer. He talks to the lord. He tries to get his direction from the lord.  - Pat Robertson

I pray for miracles. I have always found prayer to bring quick results.  - Martha Reeves

I read a poem every night, as others read a prayer.  - Tahar Ben Jelloun

I sang at the Inaugural prayer service at the National Cathedral.  - Michael W. Smith

 

I used a lot of pancake makeup and a prayer, and a Buddhist chant.  - Steven Cojocaru

I'll do a little prayer here and there if I feel the need to.  - Jeff Gordon

I'll tell you right now. I'm for prayer in school.  - Kinky Friedman

I'm for prayer in schools.  - Charles Evers

If any of you should ask me for an epitome of the Christian religion, I should say that it is in one word - prayer. Live and die without prayer, and you will pray long enough when you get to hell.  - Charles Spurgeon

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.  - Meister Eckhart

If we really want to achieve true prayer, we must turn our backs upon everything temporal, everything external, everything that is not divine.  - Johannes Tauler

In a world of prayer, we are all equal in the sense that each of us is a unique person, with a unique perspective on the world, a member of a class of one.  - W. H. Auden

In Lincoln's day a President's religion was a very private affair. There were no public prayer meetings, no attempts to woo the Religious Right. Few of Lincoln's countrymen knew anything at all of his religious beliefs.  - David H. Donald

In our home there was always prayer - aloud, proud and unapologetic.  - Lyndon B. Johnson

In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words with out a heart.  - John Bunyan

In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.  - Mohandas Gandhi

In the Lord's Prayer, the first petition is for daily bread. No one can worship God or love his neighbor on an empty stomach.  - Woodrow Wilson

Intercessory prayer might be defined as loving our neighbour on our knees.  - Charles Bent

It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the Scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer.  - George Muller

It is clear that he does not pray, who, far from uplifting himself to God, requires that God shall lower Himself to him, and who resorts to prayer not to stir the man in us to will what God wills, but only to persuade God to will what the man in us wills.  - Saint Thomas Aquinas

It is my fervent hope and prayer that by exposing my mistakes and by pointing out the things that were a part of my early life, some who might be following the same paths might not make those same mistakes.  - John Clayton

GREAT PRAYER QUOTES - 13

"The trouble with nearly everybody who prays is that he says 'Amen' and runs away before God has a chance to reply. Listening to God is far more important than giving Him our ideas." - Frank Laubach

"Time spent in prayer will yield more than that given to work. Prayer alone gives work its worth and its success. Prayer opens the way for God Himself to do His work in us and through us. Let our chief work as God's messengers be intercession; in it we secure the presence and power of God to go with us." - Andrew Murray

"Yes, worship of the loving God is man's whole reason for existence." - A.W. Tozer

"The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts." - A.W. Tozer

"We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power. We have a great deal of activity, but we accomplish little; many services but few conversions; much machinery but few results." - R. A. Torrey

"Prayer is not learned in a classroom but in the closet." - E. M. Bounds

"Prayer is not monologue, but dialogue. God's voice in response to mine is its most essential part." - Andrew Murray

"Prayer is weakness leaning on omnipotence." - W. S. Bowd

"Our prayers lay the track down which God's power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails." - Watchman Nee

"I ought to pray before seeing any one…Christ arose before day and went into a solitary place. David says: 'Early will I seek thee'…I feel it is far better to begin with God-to see His face first, to get my soul near Him before it is near another." - Robert Murray M'Cheyne

"There is no power like that of prevailing prayer, of Abraham pleading for Sodom, Jacob wrestling in the stillness of the night, Moses standing in the breach, Hannah intoxicated with sorrow, David heartbroken with remorse and grief, Jesus in sweat of blood. Add to this list from the records of the church your personal observation and experience, and always there is the cost of passion unto blood. Such prayer prevails. It turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God." - Samuel Chadwick

"The main lesson about prayer is just this: Do it! Do it! Do it! You want to be taught to pray. My answer is pray and never faint, and then you shall never fail…" - John Laidlaw

"A man who is intimate with God will never be intimidated by men." - Leonard Ravenhill

"Prayer is the secret of power." - Evan Roberts

"Since the days of Pentecost, has the whole church ever put aside every other work and waited upon Him for ten days, that the Spirit's power might be manifested? We give too much attention to method and machinery and resources, and too little to the source of power." - Hudson Taylor

"Where there is no vision of eternity, there is no prayer for the perishing." - David Smithers

"Prayer is buried, and lost and Heaven weeps. If all prayed the wicked would flee from our midst or to the refuge." - Evan Roberts

"Prayer is reaching out after the unseen; fasting is letting go of all that is seen and temporal. Fasting helps express, deepen, confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God." - Andrew Murray

"All great soul-winners have been men of much and mighty prayer, and all great revivals have been preceded and carried out by persevering, prevailing knee-work in the closet." - Samuel Logan Brengle

"Out of a very intimate acquaintance with D. L. Moody, I wish to testify that he was a far greater prayer than he was preacher. Time and time again, he was confronted by obstacles that seemed insurmountable, but he always knew the way to overcome all difficulties. He knew the way to bring to pass anything that needed to be brought to pass. He knew and believed in the deepest depths of his soul that nothing was too hard for the Lord, and that prayer could do anything that God could do." - R. A. Torrey

GREAT PRAYER QUOTES - 12

The wish to pray is a prayer in itself. God can ask no more than that of us. - Georges Bernanos There are many things that are essential to arriving at true peace of mind, and one of the most important is faith, which cannot be acquired without prayer. - John Wooden There are only two occasions when Americans respect privacy, especially in Presidents. Those are prayer and fishing. - Herbert Hoover There can be no doubt that the practice of opening legislative sessions with prayer has become part of the fabric of our society. - Warren E. Burger There is a strong correlation between belief in evolution and liberal views on government control, pornography, prayer in schools, abortion, gun control, economic freedom, and even animal rights. - Phyllis Schlafly There is no greater distance than that between a man in prayer and God. - Ivan Illich There is no problem with the opening of new houses of prayer for Lutherans and Pentecostals. - Vladimir Zhirinovsky To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing. - Martin Luther King, Jr. To gather with God's people in united adoration of the Father is as necessary to the Christian life as prayer. - Martin Luther To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer. - Mohandas Gandhi To give thanks in solitude is enough. Thanksgiving has wings and goes where it must go. Your prayer knows much more about it than you do. - Victor Hugo Today we thank God for all the blessings He has bestowed upon this great Country and ask Him to continue to heal our land and meet our needs - and we do so through the power of prayer. - Nick Rahall Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer. - Mark Twain We gather for prayer, and reading the Bible, and singing the songs of David. - William Brewster

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GREAT PRAYER QUOTES - 11

When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don't pray, they don't. --William Temple

Faith in a prayer-hearing God will make a prayer-loving Christian. --Andrew Murray

Do you know what prayer is? It is not begging God for this and that. The first thing we have to do is to get you beggars to quit begging until a little faith moves in your souls. --John G. Lake

Those who do not believe do not pray. This is a good functional definition of faith. Faith prays, unbelief does not. --John A. Hardon

Pray, and let God worry. -- Martin Luther

Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for powers equal to your task. --Phillips Brooks

This is our Lord's will... that our prayer and our trust be, alike, large.-- Julian of Norwich

If you can't pray a door open, don't pry it open.-- Lyell Rader

God's answers are wiser than our prayers. –Unknown

There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers. --Teresa of Avila

God does not delay to hear our prayers because He has no mind to give; but that, by enlarging our desires, He may give us the more largely. --Anselm of Canterbury

We waste most of our time trying to get God to do something He has already done—or praying for God to do something He told us to do. --Jacquelyn K. Heasley

If God will do whatever He wishes, regardless of whether we pray or not, then we do not need to pray at all, and the Lord's instructions on praying for the Kingdom and the Will are superfluous. But the truth is that God waits for a Remnant to rise up and to pray in agreement with His Purpose before He does anything - He will do nothing apart from the Church. Apart from HIM, we CAN do nothing; apart from US, He WILL do nothing –Chip Brogden

We lean to our own understanding, or we bank on service and do away with prayer, and consequently by succeeding in the external we fail in the eternal, because in the eternal we succeed only by prevailing prayer. --Oswald Chambers

The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men…Men of prayer." --E. M. Bounds

THE PRINCE OF GIVERS

WHO IS THE PRINCE OF GIVERS?

One day when Baba was having lunch, a dog entered Dwarakamai and put its snout in the can containing buttermilk. Bade Baba who saw it at once ordered another devotee present to throw away the polluted buttermilk. Baba said "Why? He then gave it to one Babu and got a dish prepared with it which he ate at night.

Sri Marthand, son of late Sri Mahlsapathi, has recounted to me the following characteristic incident:

One day a palanquin was carried to and set down in front of Dwarakamai by a band of attendants. It was curtained on all sides so that the inmates of it could not be see. One of the attendants accompanying the palanquin carried a big vessel with its opening secured by a piece of a cloth into the mosque and kept it before Baba.

Baba brusquely said, "Who has come (in the palanquin)? ... Whoever it is, remove the curtains!". The curtains were removed. The person in the palanquin was the princess Chimnabai, one of the then princely States of India.

Baba told Mahalsapathi to see what the vessel contained. The latter looked up and said, "It contains gold!"

Baba pointing at himself, said to Mahlsapathi "Is this (i.e., Baba's form) the real gold or is that?"

"You are the treasure!" said Mahlsapathi.

"Then send the vessel back to her!", ordered Baba.

The vessel was promptly returned to the palanquin.

Who is the prince of givers and who the receiver?

(Source: Sai Baba the Master)

DIVINE GRACE - RIGHT PRESCRIPTION

DIVINE GRACE – RIGHT PRESCRIPTION

Ramachandra Vaman Modak, B.A., Engineer, Seths' House (near Peru's gate) Sadasiv pet, Poona (Sai Leela Masik, Vol III, part 9, p.399: Udhi used to drive off snakes from the house) continues:

I had, however, my usual inclination to rely on my Vedantic and religious studies. I had also not taken to Sai with the great earnestness, which so many devotees evince. I was still very much in the world. In 1914, I had a confirmatory experience of what I had received at the hands of Sai in 1912. Another great saint gave me impressive hints of the value of Sai as a guide and of the experience he (Sai Baba) had imparted to me. A lady had asked me to go to Govind Bua at Sonegir, more especially as it lay on my way home i.e., to Dhulia. But, I had engaged a tonga to take me direct to Dhulia and fixed up a programme not providing for an intermediate halt. But, as fate would have it, the cart in which I and my cook travelled, broke down, the iron tyre came off clean and at least three hours would be needed to mend the wheel and continue the journey. The place where it broke down was Sonegir. My cook went, bathed and took darshan of the Bua and without any bidding from me asked him if I (his master) could come up for darshan. "Yes", was the answer, "let him come after a bath." So I bathed and went to him with a coconut and a rupee. Then, he said, "Hallo, you rogue, you have had a precious thing given to you. You tasted it for a while, and yet run hither and thither after worthless things." That, of course, was a reference to Sai Baba's gift to me in 1912 during those six days. I understood it in that way. He further said "In any case, you have come to our own house" and thus identified himself with Sai Baba. Thereafter, he asked me to provide biksha. "Prepare sira and puri for me". That means, I found, that I had to pay for the day's prasad or food at the Mutt. I did so. The Bua sat up for the meal at my request. We had a lota cup and filled it with water and placed it near Bua's seat. The Bua dipped his finger into the cup of water extracted from it miraculously a thin puri and ate it saying "Here also we prepare puri." The puri he brought out of cup of water was thin and nice. That prepared for the biksha was thick and rough. How puri could be extracted from a cup of water was wonder. It impressed us with his wonderful power. Such a mighty man assured me of the value of the experience I got from Sai Baba in 1912.

I had not many opportunities of seeing Sai Baba. In 1916 was my last visit to him. Then, with my wife who also had great devotion to him, I went to Baba and returned the same day. In 1919, I retired. Sai Baba is not dead. He is still as ever. It is in a strange invisible ethereal manner. I feel his guidance, direction and control in my affairs. I have felt it on many occasions. For instance, in 1919, I retired on a pension of Rs. 81-8-0. But retiring was good for me. As soon as I retired, I joined a friend in working certain mills and from 1919 up to 1930, I had a monthly income of about Rs. 250. This was Sai's provision for me.

I have always had indifferent health and actually my eyes have given me great trouble. I have lost one eye, and I am slowly developing a cataract in the other. But Sai Baba, whom I am worshipping every Thursday and remembering constantly have been looking after my interests here and hereafter. I feel no anxiety for my temporal or spiritual future. Both are in Baba's hands; and I am safe. Here is another instance of Baba's kind care for me and mine. In 1916, I was laid up with fever, cough etc., at Nasik. An old friend of mine in the medical service undertook my treatment and had prescribed chloral hydrate for my cough or bronchitis, as he diagnosed it to be. My wife had, however, a fear that my case was not so simple. She prayed to Sai Baba and sent for Col. Buckley. As soon as the Colonel came and examined me, and looked at the bottle of chlorohydrate, he took the previous doctor (who was his subordinate) to task for his poor diagnosis and declared the case to be one of pneumonia
-–double pneumonia, and threw away the chloralhydrate as harmful, before it was administered to me. Then, under his treatment and by Baba's grace, I pulled through. It was really by Baba's grace that my wife was inspired to send for an able doctor and that the wrong prescription and treatment were changed at the very neck of time – just when the wrong and harmful drug was about to administered to me.

(Written by HH pujyasri B. V. Narasimha Swamiji in Devotees Experiences on 23rd May 1936)

Don't rely on doctor's words

DON'T RELY ON DOCTOR'S WORDS

Srimati Chandrabai Borkar is one among the few ardent devotees who had the fortune of serving Baba during his lifetime. She first had the darshan of Baba about the year 1898. She told in her interview with Sri B.V. Narasimha Swami that she was a direct witness to some of Baba's leelas, such as `lighting of the lamps with water' and `sleeping on the wooden plank hung with rags'.

Baba used to call her affectionately `Bai' and used to say that she had been his sister for seven births. She preserved one of the sacred teeth of Baba as a talisman. Impressed with her devotion, Baba granted her the wish in her heart even without her expressing it to him, by blessing her with a child. Reconciled as she was to being childless, she gave birth to a boy - as predicted by Baba - at the age of fifty. Even though Dr. Purandhre told her that it was a tumor and not a baby that was in her womb, pinning her faith on the word of Baba she ignored the doctors' advice to have an operation to remove the `tumor'. The doctors were amazed when she gave birth to a boy after nine months and both the mother and the child were in good health.

Thanks to the warm benevolence of Baba, She became the mother of a baby at the age of fifty, making the doctors' faces pale and their words stale.

Baba used to come to her rescue the moment she called out for him with all her heart, whether in Shirdi or elsewhere. As this lady was serving Baba in Shirdi, Sai saved her husband, Sri Ramachandra Borkar - an atheist - on many occasions. Once, when he was down with a severe fever and slipping into danger, Baba appeared in Chandrabai's dreams and said to her, "Do not worry! Give him udi and he will start sweating profusely and the fever will come down." Exactly as Baba told, his fever vanished in no time.

(Source: Saipadham Magazine)

PURITY OF MIND - SURETY OF GRACE

PURITY OF MIND - SURETY OF GRACE

One day a certain devotee was pressing Baba's feet. Sai Baba suddenly ordered him to stop doing so. The devotee felt dejected and appealed to Baba, with tears in his eyes, to accept his service. But it was of no avail. At first he could not understand why Baba had so suddenly reacted like that. But on cool introspection, he realized that some unworthy thought had passed his mind just at that moment. Baba was only responding to that.

One Hardwar Bua came to Shirdi. He always used to sit near the pillar at the corner of the sacred fire in the Masjid. One day a girl sat at that place. Hardwar Bua came there and commanded her to get up and sat there. Baba flew into a rage and ordered all to clear out from the Masjid and to sit in the front yard. After some time Hardwar Bua again entered the Masjid and sat in his usual place. But Baba again drove him out. Then the Bua realized that Baba displeased with what he did to the girl. When everything belongs to God how can anyone claim anything as his own, including the sitting place?

There were occasional flashes of lighter moods in Baba. At such times, he used to play with his devotees. For instance, he used to hide the turban of a devotee like Tatya and enjoy the fun. Sometimes he put Tatya's turban on his own head, and used to mimic Tatya's manner and walk.

Again, when Mahalsapathi was alone with him, Baba used to press Mahlsapathi's feet! When the latter protested, Baba used to say "Don't mind this. We are the same. People might say great things of me. But I am no such."

(Source: Sai Baba the Master)

Our heart looking for Baba's Grace; yet no results – Why ?

Our heart wants to love; yet we hate

Our heart wants to understand; yet we are confused

Our heart wants equality; yet we try to dominate one another

Our heart wants peace; yet we fight

Our heart wants to give; yet we are greedy

Our heart wants to help; yet we destroy

Our heart wants to care; yet we are insensitive - hence

Our ultimate salvation is far away

If we keep Baba in our heart and

Lead life as per our heart's direction

Our attitudes determine our altitude!

DIVINE GRACE - BABA'S MERCY IS OPEN TO ALL

DIVINE GRACE – MERCY IS OPEN TO ALL

Gopal Bhasker Datar, B.A., LLB., Brahmin, Pleader, (Station Road), Thana says:

I am now a Sai Bhakta. In 1917, when I was at Ahmednagar, I had opportunities to see Sai Baba. But I was deterred by the accounts I had heard of him. He demanded and took much money as dakshina and the water in which he bathed was taken and given as tirtha for devotees to drink. These repelled me, I contrasted them with the conduct of Narayan Maharaj for whom I had regard. The latter, when I and one other each gave him a rupee, he returned the rupee, adding to it some sugar candy as prasad. Later, after reading Upasani Baba's life and listening to his lectures, I saw him at Bombay and went to Sakori. His U. Lilamrita, which I read in 1931, gave me a good impression of Sri Sai Baba and after my visit to Sakori, I went to Shirdi. There the gleaming eyes of Sai in the portrait, the dhuni and the mosque impressed me greatly and I said to myself: "Here is a Master". Next, I read Sai Lila Masik and especially Anna Dabholkar's book, as it appeared in that masik with the "Anubhavas" i.e., experiences. I was convinced that Sai Baba was my destined guru. I have stuck to him ever since.

Some experiences that I got confirmed me in my faith. A lady in the house who was suffering from internal pains for a long time and had vainly tried some medicines, was listening to me as I read Dabholkar's book aloud. There was the incident of Sai Baba intervening to save a frog that was caught by a snake, in what I read. She had heard it half dozing. She prayed in that half dozing state to Sri Sai Baba thus: "Oh, Sai Baba, you have pitied and helped for humble suffering creatures like frog, have you no mercy for me – a human being? She then heard a voice that seemed to emanate from a peg on the wall, "Will you give me Rs.5 dakshina for the Dasserah?" and she answered that she would, in case she got cured. At once, she woke up from her dozing condition and narrating the above, wanted Rs.5 to be sent up as her contribution for Sai Baba's Dasserah celebration. That was done at once. She improved and her agony abated by evening. This was in 1931 or 1932.

Some time later in 1932, I used to get Sai Baba in my dreams wherein he would play with me as he would play with little children. In one of the dreams, Sai Baba was requested by Upasani Baba to help me and he agreed. Still later, I was in a great fix. I had lost or mislaid the letter of a wandering client, whose presence was urgently required by the court. I tried to learn his whereabouts by inquiries in vain. At last, in despair, I prayed to Sai Baba. The next day, I chanced to place my hand on the rack in my office room and I found he missing letter and that enabled me to secure the party's presence in proper time. Two or three years ago, I was given a commission to examine some witness on interrogatories sent by a distant court. The interrogatories and other papers were one day missed by me. I searched in various places for them and was much dejected at my failure. I expected then I would have the mortification to inform the Court of my negligence and ask for fresh copies of the interrogatories, etc. A `Varkari' (one constantly going on pilgrimage to Pandharpur Vittal) had come to my house then; and having served him with zeal for some days, I told him of my worried state. "It will be found" he said. There was always my daily service to Sai Baba also. The day after the Varkari left, I discover the missing papers amidst the papers of a totally unconnected case.

(Written by HH Pujyasri B.V. Narasimha Swamiji in Devotees Experiences on 26th May 1936.)

BABA PROTECTS ALL

EVEN YOU DON'T BELIEVE, BABA PROTECTS YOU

On one occasion in 1908, when Smt. Borkar was at Kopergaon observing Chathurmasya, a four month period of the rainy season which is considered inauspicious, a fakir came up to her and asked for rotis and onion chutney. She sent him away saying, "We do not eat onion during the Chathurmasya." However she immediately felt guilty, thinking that it may have been Baba who came to her in that form and whom she turned away. So later, when she visited Shirdi and Baba said to her, "You didn't give me the onion chutney; why did you come here then?", she said without hesitation, "I only came here to offer it to you now!"

Smt Chandrabai Borkar was a woman of heart and great presence of mind. On a Guru Poornima day Baba told her to go to the Khandoba temple and worship Upasani Baba. Upasani did not allow anybody to come near him in those days and everybody was afraid to even approach him. However, Chandrabai, armed with the courage of Baba's words, went straight up to Upasani along with her puja material and held his feet in worship. Upasani, astonished at her behaviour, shouted at her angrily, saying, "What you are doing? Why are you holding my feet? Go away at once!" She coolly went ahead with her worship, saying, "Baba told me to worship you today, and his word is the ultimate for me. I will not go away, no matter how hard you try to make me." Thus, totally ignoring his anger, she left only after completing her worship. Such was her resolve and her unflinching faith and respect in the words of Baba.

Baba forewarned her of the imminent death of her husband. Appearing in her dreams he said, "Mother! I am taking away your Ramu. Don't lose heart!" The disease-struck Ramachandra Borkar wished that he wouldn't die during the days of Chathurmasya, so she prayed to Baba to fulfill the wish of her husband, and Baba obliged her. Sri Borkar passed away one week after the period of Chathurmasya was over, in full contemplation of Baba. Even though he never visited Shirdi nor served Baba with faith, Baba granted him salvation, only because of the devotion of his wife Smt. Chandrabai Borkar.

- Source: Saipadham Magazine

DIVINE GRACE - NO MORE OFFICIAL TROUBLES

DIVINE GRACE – OFFICIAL TROUBLES VANISHED

23rd May 1936

Ramachandra Vaman Modak, B.A., Engineer, Seths' House (near Peru's gate) Sadasiv pet, Poona (Sai Leela Masik, Vol III, part 9, p.399: Udhi used to drive off snakes from the house) says:

I went to Sai Baba about 1909 and was impressed well enough to repeat my visits. My last visit was in 1916. The most momentous of my visits was in 1912. My employment was that of Senior Government Auditor of Municipal and local accounts of West Kandesh Division and my head quarters was nominally at Bombay. My wife and children, however, were stationed by me at Dhulia. In 1912, I had some official troubles or foreboding of troubles especially with a particular higher officer, who was waiting for an opportunity to sack me. They were trying to force me to appear for a departmental test, in which of course that particular officer would have an excellent opportunity to sack me and even declare me unfit to continue in service. The question was, if I should face danger and by passing the test qualify myself for higher appointment or simply remain safe on my pay of Rs. 120 and refuse to go up for the test. At this juncture, having learnt of Sai Baba's omniscient kindness and vast powers of control I determined to make him my sole guide and Providence to help me in deciding aright on this matter of great importance. I left Bombay for Shirdi (which is outside my jurisdiction) informing no one and taking no leave from my department to enable me to be away from work. I hoped also to return quickly in which case no leave would be necessary. I went straight to Shirdi. It always gives me (and other devotees also) great relief to be in the presence of Baba. Care leaves one as soon as he is in that presence and happiness filled his soul.

Next morning, at 7 a.m. (i.e. the usual time to go to Baba to take leave), I was being put off. I could not start as Baba had given me no leave. He knew full well that I had gone there in an irregular way without the sanction of my superior and unknown even to my family. If there were consequences to be faced, Sai had to face them. But Shama i.e., Madhavrao Despande knew my difficulties and interceded on my behalf, telling Baba: " He has stayed several days. Give him leave to go." Baba gruffly answered him that I had gone to see Baba and not to see Madhavrao. Turning to me also, he asked whether I had gone there to see him (Baba) or to see Madhavrao. Baba gave me assurance that all would go well with me regarding my official problem as in other matters. In fact he detained me at Shirdi when the test was going on at Bombay. The die was thus cast and Baba settled it as the best for me that I would not go up for the test examination.

On the night of my fifth day's stay, I had a dream. I saw therein that I was back at home, that my young daughter was welcoming me, asking me where I had been all these days. I woke up and felt assured that Baba was going to give me leave. At once I prepared for departure. I dressed myself up and despite my friend's protest that there was no guarantee that Baba would give me leave even that day. I went to the gate of the mosque. Baba was in a towering passion fuming and fretting with a stone in his hand and was moving up and down at the mosque. He saw me standing at the gate. In ten minutes times, he calmed down and took his seat on the gadi. That was the place where he should be approached and I went and prostrated. Of his own accord, he said, "Take Udhi and go away." That was the way leave was granted for departure. "But, " I asked Baba, "Where am I to go? Please tell me that" as I wanted definite oral solution by him of my problem – whether I should go to Bombay direct, which would mean refusing boldly to attend the test. Baba's answer was "Go home. Your children are anxiously waiting for you." That confirmed my dream and settled my course. I went to Dhulia and only later on to Bombay.

When I went to Bombay, in the usual course, some trouble might have arisen on account of my unauthorised absence. But, strangely enough, everything went on smoothly. My clerks, who would have to go with me on my tours, wondered where I had gone away. My family fancied I was at Bombay all the time. Anyhow by Baba's grace, my absence was not officially noticed and did not lead to any official trouble. On the way from Shirdi to Bombay on this occasion, as usual, I had to go naturally via Manmad. The Deputy Collector of the Division was camping there at Manmad and he had sent me a letter asking me to halt enroute at Manmad and I intended to meet the Deputy collector. But when I started and thought of stopping at Manmad Baba said, "Pshew, Give that up. He is not there. There is no hurry." At that time, I did not understand what Baba meant. But, when I got down at Manmad I learnt that the Deputy Collector had got wire from which made him suddenly break up his camp there and hurry away elsewhere. So Baba was right, as he always is. During these six days of my Shirdi stay, Baba was impressing my heart with spiritual experience. I felt that he was all in for me and that I needed nothing more for my mundane or spiritual welfare. That was decided critical and precious period of my life.

(Written by HH pujyasri B. V. Narasimha Swamiji in Devotees Experiences)

A HOUSE BECAME SHRINE

A HOUSE BECAME A SHRINE

Srimathi Chandrabai Borkar is one among the few privileged devotees who had the great good fortune of doing service to Baba during his lifetime. Her life is an example to us of how Baba held her hand and led her forward at every step. Her love for Baba was infinite. She was such a devotee that she transformed her own house into a temple of Sai Baba. The temple is called Sri Ram Sai Niwas, on Tilak Road in Ville–Parle, Mumbai.

Mrs. Mangala Borkar, Mrs. Chandrabai Borkar's daughter-in-law, and learnt the details of the close intimacy her mother-in-law had with Baba and the way their house evolved into a temple. The following are her words on Srimathi Mangala Borkar.

"My father-in-law, Sri Chandrarama Borkar, was working on the railways as a mechanical engineer, and his job entailed frequent transfers so his wife was left on her own. As she could not bear to stay alone at home, she used to spend six months with her husband and six months in Shirdi in the presence of Sri Sai Baba. This was eighty years ago when very few people had heard of Baba, and in those days she used to stay in the hotel of Smt. Saradabai Chandorkar. Once Yamubai, the young daughter of Smt. Saradabai, was unwell, so her mother brought her to Baba and told him of her daughter's sickness. Then Baba, pointing to Chandrabai who was sitting beside him, told Smt. Saradabai, "Put her into her lap". She did so, and Yamubai regained her health in no time. From that day onwards my mother-in-law used to look after Yamubai.

Mrs. Bayijabai looked upon Baba with greater love and affection than a brother, and vowed not to eat until after he had eaten. Her son, Tatya Kote Patil, was childless for a long time. Once my mother-in-law importuned Baba to present Tatya with at least one child. Baba said to her, "Yourself and `that fellow' will get children at the same time! Now you get lost..." My mother-in-law was amazed at Baba's words because she was already 50 years old at the time and couldn't believe she could bear a child so late in life. But by the grace of the benevolent Sri Sai Baba, my mother-in-law soon gave birth to a baby boy and he is none other than my husband Sri Rajaram Ramachandra Borkar. Likewise, Tatya also begot a son, who was called Baji Rao Kote Patil.

My mother-in-law was present in the mosque at the time of Baba's death. She poured some water into Baba's mouth and later washed his feet. After Baba's mahasamadhi she became busy with her newborn baby son and decided to settle down in Mumbai and so built a large house in Ville-Parle.

There is a big portrait of Sri Sai Baba at our Ville-Parle residence, painted by Sri Jayakar. Even though Sri Jayakar didn't have any formal training in the art of painting he became an expert artist by the sheer grace of Baba. As his family also lives in Ville-Parle our family-friendship is still thriving to this day and the portrait he painted is still hanging in our house.

My mother-in-law used to celebrate Vijayadasami and Guru Poornima in grand style. Banubai Duhkhande used to come to sing the devotional hymns and people used to attend the celebrations from far and wide. Once, during a festival, a devotee called Vasantrao Gorakshakar had a great experience of Baba's power, which he later told my mother-in-law. Immediately she had a divine impulse to install and consecrate an idol of Baba there. She told us of her wish and we gleefully took part in the efforts to install the statue. This was around 1954, when the wonderful marble statue of Baba was installed in the Samadhi Mandir in Shirdi. The famous sculptor Sri Thalim sculptured this amazing statue. A replica of that statue was installed at `Sai Dham' in Congress House Street.

We went and met the trustee of that temple, Sri Malpekar and he introduced the famous sculptor, Sri Vasant Rao Govekar, to us. So when we consulted one of the trustees of the Shirdi temple - Sri Malpekar - on the matter of making a similar idol, the latter introduced Sri Vasantha Rao Gowekar to us. We commissioned him to make a two-foot tall statue of Baba, and fixed a price for it. Later, when we went to see the statue we were amazed to find that he had made it life-sized. We were concerned that it would cost much more than we were able to pay, but by the grace of Baba, Sri Govekar accepted the price we had negotiated earlier. The statue of Baba, made from a mixture of powdered marble and white cement, is so well- made that it is as if Baba is sitting there in the flesh again.

Our financial position in those days was not so good, so we were not in a position to build a temple. Therefore, we decided to install the statue in our house and convert it into a temple, and thus our residence at Ville-Parle became a temple of Sri Sai Baba. We brought the statue to the house with great ceremony and an impressive procession, and the consecration ceremony went off spectacularly under the guidance of Sri Paley Sastry. My mother-in-law's joy cannot be described. My brother Sudhakar built with his own hands the sanctum where the statue of Baba sits. Unfortunately, a few days later, my mother-in-law died.

I spend most of my time now in the service of Baba. Gradually, the face and form of the temple has become more and more beautiful. We had initially told Sri Govekar that we wanted to consecrate Baba's statue in 1987. Later, on the day of `Akshaya Thadiya' (the third day after the new moon in the first month of Spring) the `Prana Prathishta' (ceremony of installing life into an idol) took place. One may still see the statue, which had been there earlier, near the staircase in the temple.

Until then only the festivals of Guru Poornima and Vijayadasami were celebrated at the temple. However, after the consecration we started to celebrate that day also, on the Tadiya day of Akshaya. On that day we distribute prasad such as roti and curry, savory rice, sheera (a milk preparation) and ladu (sweetmeat) to the devotees.

As I am unwell now, my daughter-in-law Ujwala is carrying on the service to Sri Sai Baba. She does it even more zealously than I did. That such an unusual activity took shape in the hands of an ordinary housewife like me is nothing but the grace of Sri Sai Baba. He is my mother, my father and everything to me."

Mrs Mangala Borker, Ville-Parle, Mumbai
Courtesy of Sai Prasad Magazine, Deepawali Issue, 2000