Do not extend your Hand in Supplication before anyone other than the Lord and the Master

He is the Creator and Lord of the Universe. All other powers are sustained by Him. He is the Supreme Power of all powers. Whatever you wish to ask, ask it of the Lord. There is no dearth of anything in His court. 

Kabir Sahib says, "Nothing is wanting in His court."

Guru Arjan Sahib also says that when his kind Friend pervades everything and is everywhere present, how can His servant be in need of anything?

He whose Friend is present everywhere what can such a person want?

Gauri M5, 186-8

All the gods and goddesses and lower powers draw their strength from Him. All depend on Him. If you have to ask for anything, pray to Him. Why ask of the servants? Man can be true – the Khalsa (Pure Being) – only when he does not look to anybody else.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji says:

*One Who, with the flame burning brightly, meditates in His mind on the One without thinking of another; One Who is filled and adorned with complete Love and affection and does not believe in fasting or the grave or the tomb; One Who recognises only One and no other and does not indulge in pilgrimages, charity, kind acts, austerities and self-discipline. When the candle burns clearly inside Him, then He is Khalsa or the pure one.

* (This section is adjusted to the Fifth Edition of 1987;
Editor’s Note 2011.)

Guru Arjan Sahib says, "All is from the Lord, who is the chief giver and the dispeller of fear. Remember Him and make supplication to Him."

Pray to the giver of joy and the dispeller of fear; to whom He is kind, his deeds bear fruit.

Sri Rag M5, 44

Praise the One and repeat His Name; remember the One, and keep the One in mind. Sing never-ending praises of the One, with body and mind meditate on the Lord, He is One and One alone. The only Lord pervades everywhere the One has become many; by praying to the One sin departs; the One Lord pervades the body and the mind; by the Master's Grace Nanak knows that One.

Gauri M5, 289-5

Guru Ramdas says, "If you have to perform any action, pray to the Lord. He will make it successful. The Master is our true friend, relation and helper."

If you wish for success in any action, pray to the Lord. He accomplishes your task for you. The Master is the true witness. He is the dispeller of fear and is kind. He protects His servant.

War Sri Rag M5, 91-5

Guru Arjan Sahib prays, "O Lord! This body of mine is Yours. I pray humbly and earnestly before You. Everything is due to Your greatness. Otherwise nobody would even know my name."

I pray to You, for the body and mind are Yours. Oh Nanak! It is all His greatness. Otherwise, nobody would know my name.

Asa M5, 383-11

The strength and refuge of the Saints is the Lord who is their Master. They pray to Him. There is no fixed place for their worship. They tell their joys and sorrows to Him alone.

I am mad. You are my Master and I pray to Thee; I have no other place in which to pray to You; I can tell my joys and sorrows to You alone.

Suhi M4, 735-1

Always ask of the All-Powerful One. If you ask any other, you will find that he is already full of troubles and cannot give you any help.

To whomsoever you may pray in this world. His hands are full of his own troubles. He who prays to the Transcendent One crosses the ocean of the world.

Gujri M5, 497

It is beneficial to pray to the All-Powerful One. There is no dearth of anything with Him. To ask of the lower powers or of the gods and goddesses does not lead to complete success. They can give us benefits or boons that are within their own sphere, but they cannot save us from death and rebirth. They are all involved in this lower cycle. They cannot give salvation.

Guru Arjan Sahib says that he who prays to the Lord is free from all the three fevers and troubles, gets the wealth of happiness, and is saved from calamity.

He removes the three fevers. He takes away troubles and gives peace. He who prays to the Lord meets with no obstructions.

Todi M5, 714-12

It is clearly written in the holy Quran that one should call upon the Lord only for help. Crying to the Lord is the true crying.

Hazrat Ibrahim told his tribesmen, "Go away. I leave you and all others except Allah (the Lord), to whom you pray. I cry to my Lord. I am confident that I will not be left without help when I cry to Him."

He again said, "Oh followers of the book, turn your faces towards One who is your friend and mine. We should not pray to anyone except the Lord "Allah Talah", and should regard none other as His equal." (Alamar Ayat 7-8)

We have as yet not seen the Lord, therefore we do not completely rely on Him and have faith in Him. When there is no complete faith, how can one's prayers be heard?

But there is the light of the Lord in the Master. He appears in the garb of a holy man.

Mam M5, 1075- 7

The Lord speaks through Him; the Lord resides in the heart of a holy man.

M 5 263-4

His words are the words of the Lord, although they come from the throat of Abdullah.

Servant of God

The words of the Master – although they come from the throat of a human being – are the words of the Lord. To ask of the Guru is to ask of the Lord. He is in every way powerful. If you wish to pray to Him who is able to give life or take it away, call upon Him who is the living God and have confidence and faith in Him. Do not turn to any earthly refuge. Turn your inner attention to Him. No thought of receiving help from anyone else should ever enter the mind. The attention should be directed to Him alone. Your cries for help will reach Him.

Kabir Sahib says that if a disciple is on one side of the ocean and the Guru on the other, the disciple should turn his attention to the Master. The Master will then make all his efforts successful. The Master is the King of Kings. Everything is within His power. He has the power to do everything. The world of kings bows at His door.

He who is the Overlord of kings and chieftains, He in whose power is the whole world, He who is the doer of all things, no one is beyond Him, pray to your Master, He will crown your efforts with success, He whose court is the highest, He whose name sustains the devotees, He who pervades and owns all, He whose glory is present in all minds, He by remembering whom death cannot harm, He by remembering whom dry land becomes green, He by remembering whom the drowning ones swim across, oh Nanak, He has heard my prayers. The Saints will have mercy on me and I will dwell in the Name.

Gauri M5, 182

He can give all the four boons, that is, dharam (righteousness), wealth, happiness and salvation. He has power to give all.

He who wants the four cardinal boons, he should serve the holy men, he who wants to cast his woes away, he should sing the Name of the Lord in his heart; he who wants glory for himself, he should live with holy men and give up his ego; he who is afraid of death and rebirth, he should take shelter with the Saints.

Gauri M5, 266-4

If you go to the door of the Lord or the Master, go as a beggar. There is no one else before whom one should bow. He is the only one who can listen to the prayer of one who is caught in the whirlpool of Maya. He is the only one who can put healing ointment on the heart that is bleeding from attachment and greed. It is only He who can revive lost hopes. All these qualities exist only in the Lord, or in His other form, the Master. He heals bleeding hearts by sending them the current of his inner consciousness.

Bhai Nand Lai Sahib says:

The perfect Master heals the heart, the healing is done in the heart.

For this reason a disciple, whether near or far from his Master, should give up all intellectual cleverness, surrender his mind and body to him, and place all his sufferings before him.

Whenever the heart is suffering pray to him; give up cleverness, and surrender body and mind.

Gujri War M5, 519-11

In the holy Quran it is said, "Who else is there who would listen to the prayers of the helpless and afflicted and remove his troubles?"

Jesus Christ says in the Epistle of St. John in the Bible:

Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you.

St. John 16:23

If you have to pray, pray to the Lord or to his manifested form the Master, who can give you all.

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