It may be asked, "God is One. Why then can He not listen to and fulfil our prayers Himself?" This question is based on mistake; it is a sign of weakened faith. Of course, there is only one God. But, in the governance of the Cosmos, there must needs be different fields of activity to rule and regulate. These have subordinate deities. If you write a letter to me and address it to another, it will reach only the addressee! It cannot be presented before the person whom you desire to approach. So too, you have to address the Deity in charge, concerned with the fulfilment or denial of the desire you have entertained. Then, that Deity would interest himself in your problem and initiate whatever steps he can to solve it.

It is essential to inquire into the credentials one has before one formulates the prayer. That inquiry will reveal whether one's thoughts and resolutions, hopes and desires arise from firm Faith or not. How to test and discover the truth? People take a piece of gold and draw with it a line on a slice of stone; then they examine that streak and assess the quality. The test which will reveal the quality of your Faith is whether you are practising sincerely the injunctions laid down by God. Your beliefs and actions must be expressions of Faith. They must have holiness as their core. They must be so full of Love and Compassion that they attract on you the Grace of God.

Activity emanating from such sacred belief and faith is the goal of the Karma segment of Vedic scriptures. It is the tap-root of human progress; it is the very breath of happy human existence; it is the food that can alone allay the hunger of man; it is the life-sustaining water that can cure his thirst. Activity or Karma is as essentially bound with man as his need to discover and realise his own Reality. Therefore the first and continuing duty of man is to engage himself in activities that are taught in the Vedas, or approved therein.