Krishna Responds Very Quickly Sometimes!

Recently, Krishna mercifully answered one of my prayers and I wanted to share that with you all :)

2 weeks ago, I was on my way to work when I remembered Krishna, which inspired my heart to utter a little prayer. I prayed, "Krishna, thank You for this beautiful day. Help me, Kanha, to go through this day working to please You, and in full surrender to You. Be merciful to me, Oh Gopinath, and help me to remember You just a little bit today. Even if I remember You once throughout the day, I will consider myself lucky."

And that was it. I reached my office and started doing my work. At about 1 PM, my friend called me to have lunch with her. I wasn't going to go meet her as someone else had invited me, but I had ditched her for lunch the previous day so thought I should meet her for lunch. Then when I met her, I found out she was fasting. I asked her why and she said it was to worship Shiva. Then we started talking about Shiva and I told her how I loved Shiva, especially in his form as Nataraja. I then explained to her how Shiva is the greatest Vaishnava and I explained a little bit about Krishna and the Bhagavad Gita to her. I narrated the lila about Krishna's birth and showed her the most significant verse in the Bhagavad Gita:

"Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend." - Bhagavad Gita, 18.65

She seemed interested in hearing about the lilas and I was having a lot of fun talking to her about Krishna and spreading some of His wisdom. A lot of time passed simply speaking about Krishna and our lunch break ended up taking up more time than we are allowed.

Later on, when thinking about how awesome it was to speak to someone about Krishna and preach a little, I realized what Krishna had done: He had answered my morning prayer. Not only had He mercifully let me remember Him 'just a little bit' like I had asked, He also let me spend about an hour speaking about His glories to someone who didn't know much about Him. He mercifully allowed me to do a little preaching for Him. The whole day went wonderfully with me receiving lots of good news: I got complimented at work, my friend got a promotion, my other friend got a bonus... that whole day was filled with mercy and grace!

All of this brings me back to what a devoted Christian had once told my friend, "If you need something from God, just ask." This is so true! The first thing you need to have is desire. From that desire comes determination, so it was very important to have that desire. Then you must have the willingness to surrender to God's will, and realize that no one but God can truly fulfill your wishes, as He is our only provider. It is ideal for devotees to not ask for material things, but it is also ideal that if we ever have any urgent material needs, we should turn to Krishna and Krishna only. Remember that even material needs become spiritual ones when used in service of Krishna. So either need Krishna or need something for Krishna - that will become a perfect desire!

The most important thing to realize is that sometimes, God answers our prayers in the way we ask. Sometimes, God answers our prayers by not answering them. In whichever way He chooses to answer them, know that it is what is best for us.

"When we get what we want, that is Hari Kripa [Hari's Mercy], when we don't get what we want, that is Hari Iccha [Hari's Will]"

Hare Krishna