No intercessory needed as you can talk directly to God

To think that God in his infinite mercy allows a poor wretch like me to come before Him in prayer, time and time again.

Allah, the Sublime, allows each and every one of us, no matter what our station is in life, to come directly to Him seeking His forgiveness, His blessings, and His mercy. 

No intercessor do we need. No, in the eyes of our Lord we are worthy enough to go to Him directly.

I want to thank God over and over again for His endless mercy, because without it — I would be blind, lost, helpless and hopeless. But through prayer God gives us endless opportunities to connect directly to him on a constant — how powerful! And oh how kind of Allah, Lord of all the worlds to be so accessible to us, His lowly creatures. 

Do you know that if we attempted to talk to the Governor, the Premier or even our politician at whim, at any time or hour of the day or night — it would be virtually impossible! We would have to jump through all kinds of bureaucracy or red tape to make it happen. 

First, we would be asked who we were and then told to make an appointment or write a letter before we could even think of seeing them. 

But God allows us to come to Him at anytime and in any condition — isn’t that mind-blowing? Isn’t that a wonderful God to serve? Ameen! I am filled with the spirit! Alhamdulilah! I dance with joy at the mercy of my Lord!

And I am eternally grateful for His Mercy! He has allowed us and taught us that through prayer we can connect directly to him 24/7.  It’s like a never-expiring passport; prayer, a most powerful tool indeed!

Prayer is so powerful that it changes things, even things decreed. Even the madness of the merciless murders that continue to plague our once peaceful island of Bermuda, can be changed through prayer; pro-active prayer can stop this course in its tracks.

We must pray for God’s guidance and then act on it to restore peace to our island. 

Some may ask ‘why pray?’ Well for me prayer is a way of acknowledging God’s existence. To be able to call on a higher power is so comforting and consoling. To know that at my fingertips is the might and power of the Creator, the Creator whom created the Creation!

I, who cannot create anything at all, can go before the Lord of all the worlds in prayer.

I pray to first thank God for all that I should be thankful for and to be comforted by His awesomeness.

My soul does not feel settled, unless I pray. I guess it’s the same feeling that a person who needs a cigarette or a drink has – a craving feeling, a feeling of emptiness and restlessness – a feeling that needs to be fed to calm the spirit. 

Prayer for me calms my spirit – it is indeed my medicine of which I am so grateful to have had prescribed for me!

The chief purpose of prayer in Islam is to act as a person’s communication with Allah. 

In Islam, one of our rituals prayers which is recited at every salat is surah Al Fatiha which means ‘the Opening’ and happens to be the first surah of our holy book the Qur’an; the Opening prayer is just that, it allows the worshipper to stand before God, thank and praise Him, and to ask for guidance along the straight path. 

Prayer also reminds us to give thanks for Allah’s blessings and indicates that we are ever mindful of Allah.

There are some however, who pray only when they want something or when they find themselves in difficulty. This is not a good practice as Allah says: “Know me in good times, so that I may know you in adversity”.

We cannot play Allah cheap and think we will be successful, but again Allah out of His grace and mercy still extends Himself to us and grants us what it is we desire. 

In Islam, when we are called to prayer for any one of the five ritual salats, the adhan is called and says “Come to prayer, come to success”. Yes, prayer is our only success. Allah in His noble book in surah Al-Baqarah 2:186 says: “When my servants ask you concerning Me, I am indeed close to them: I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on Me: let them also, with a will, listen to My call, and believe in Me: that they may walk in the right way”. Ameen.