Praying to God(s)

[Indra]

If i want to pray to god(s) like krishna,indra,shiva,vishnu etc.... do i always have to perform special prayers or can i just "ask" them for something?

[ScottMalaysia]

There are no special prayers that you have to perform. God and the Gods will hear you whenever you pray to them, no matter what language you use. Just talk to them like you talk to other people (if you have a home shrine it helps you to concentrate on the form of God you want to pray to and it creates a prayerful environment as well).

[saidevo]

Let my every word be a prayer to Thee,
Every movement of my hands a ritual gesture to Thee,
Every step I take a circumambulation of Thy image,
Every morsel I eat a rite of sacrifice to Thee,
Every time I lay down a prostration at Thy feet;
Every act of personal pleasure and all else that I do,
Let it all be a form of worshiping Thee."

From Verse 27 of Shri Aadi Shankara's Saundaryalahari

[internationalhindu]

You most definitely can ask/request for help towards fulfilling a particular desire. But bear in mind that 'God helps those who helps themselves'. Also, it is an obvious advice that the wish you make should not hurt anyone else in any way.

We can look upon God as a guide, teacher, friend,etc. to always support us in our journey called life. Don't expect to ask for a million dollars and later be disheartened that you didn't get it. God seldom appears directly in front of devotees, but instead shows us the right path and opens up opportunities for us. Hence, if you are doing your part of working hard, then definitely a prayer to god will take you to completion. For example, if you are praying to get the first rank in an examination and pray to god, there is no point in praying if you havn't opened your books. But, if you have studied the syllabus, then god will definitely help you by making you remember and present your answers well. Also, i have even experienced situations where there are topics which i wouldn't have read about, but by the grace of god, no questions would be asked from those topics. This is just a very basic example to make my point clear.

God will definitely divert your worries from hitting your eye and may make them scrape your eyebrow, which i am sure you would agree is a much more bearable alternative.

Since you aim on fulfilling a particular desire, i would suggest that you try a systematic 'saadhana' of a mantra/sloka to your favorite god. If there is any temple or other religious unit near your residence, i would suggest the practice of 'circumambulation' around it. I believe you will find the information in this link useful : Fulfill desires By Circumambulation In Temples (http://onlyhinduism.blogspot.com/2011/10/fulfil-desires-by-circumambulation-in.html)

Wishing you all god bless in fulfilling your wishes.