Wanted to share this beautiful explanation by a Priest given to a novice in a book by Paulo Coelho. Name of the book is ” By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept”. While reading this book I related with the girl in the book. True to life character and the book interesting enough to hold interest of people like me who don’t read much. Imagine………while reading I was so much in to the book, finished it it just 3 days. Well I know its no big achievement to finish a book in 3 days but it was for me…….

“After an exhausting morning session of prayer in the monastery of Piedra, the novice asked the abbot ( The superior of a monastery):

‘Do all these prayers that you teach us make God move closer to us?’

‘I’m going to reply with another question,’ said the abbot. ‘Will all the prayers you say make the sun rise tomorrow?’

‘Of course not! The sun rises in obedience to a universal law.’

‘Well, there’s the answer to your question. God is close to us regardless of how much we pray.’

The novice was shocked.

‘Are you saying that our prayers are useless?’

‘Absolutely not. If you don’t wake up early enough, you will never get to see the sunrise. And although God is always close, if you don’t pray, you will never manage to feel His presence.’”