How should we pray? What must we do to ensure that our prayers reach God?

Christmas means the Mass that is held on the birthday of Christ. It is fundamentally a sacred religious rite. To deal with it as if it is a festival for drinking and dancing or even for recalling Jesus to memory is very wrong. The day must be spent in prayer; not merely this day, but cultivate the spiritual discipline (sadhana) of prayer as a normal way of life. Prayers for worldly ends do not reach God. They will reach only those deities who deal with such restricted spheres. But, all prayers arising from pure love, unselfish eagerness to render service, and from hearts that are all-inclusive will reach God. For, God is the very Embodiment of love. We know that we have to see the Moon only through the moonlight. So too, God who is love can be seen and realised only through love. Love is God, live in Love. That is the Message I give you.

– Divine Discourse, Dec 24, 1980.