What Should We Ask of God?

Guru Arjan, in his radiant Shabad Jo Māṅgai Ṭhākur Apne Te, offers a startling invitation:

ਜੋ ਮਾਗੈ ਠਾਕੁਰ ਆਪਣੇ ਤੇ ਸੋਈ ਸੋਈ ਦੇਵੈ ॥
Jo māṅgai ṯẖākur āpṇe ṯe soī soī ḏevai.
Whatever one asks of the Lord, the Lord gives.

This line could easily be mistaken for a divine vending machine theology: just ask and receive. But Guru Arjan does not end there. He continues:

ਨਾਨਕ ਦਾਸੁ ਮੁਖ ਤੇ ਜੋ ਬੋਲੈ ਈਹਾ ਊਹਾ ਸਚੁ ਹੋਵੈ ॥
Nanak dās mukẖ ṯe jo bolai īhā ūhā sacẖ hovai.
Whatever the servant Nanak utters with his mouth becomes true in this world and the next.

Here, asking is not transactional—it is relational. The one who asks is a dās, a servant. A surrendered soul. The gift, then, is not merely in the asking, but in the transformation of the asker.

The Art of Asking: Simplicity Over Sophistication

Guru Nanak simplifies the act of asking even further. In the Prabhaati Shabad beginning with “Gur parsādi vidiaa veechaarai,” he describes the ideal request as something profoundly humble:

ਇਕ ਦਖਿਣਾ ਹਉ ਤੈ ਪਹਿ ਮਾਗਉ ਦੇਹਿ ਆਪਣਾ ਨਾਮੁ ॥
Ik dakhiṇā ha-o ṯai pėh māga-o ḏėh āpṇā nām.
I ask for one offering alone: give me Your Name.

There is no grand petition here for kingdoms, wealth, or miracles. Just Naam—the Divine Name, the intimate remembrance of the Beloved.

This really is a core Gurbani principle.  This idea is echoed in so many shabads. Here is one line from a Shabad by Guru Arjan:

ਜਿ ਵਸਤੁ ਮੰਗੀਐ ਸਾਈ ਪਾਈਐ ਜੇ ਨਾਮਿ ਚਿਤੁ ਲਾਈਐ ॥
Ji vasat mangīai sāī pāīai je nām chit lāīai.
One receives the thing one truly desires—if the mind is focused on the Naam.

The secret lies not in how much we ask, but how we ask. If the desire is rooted in remembrance, in humility, in surrender, then even the act of asking becomes worship.

Beyond Commodities: Asking for Qualities

Guru Nanak reframes prayer entirely by asking not for things, but for virtues, for inner wealth:

ਜਤੁ ਸਤੁ ਚਾਵਲ ਦਇਆ ਕਣਕ ਕਰਿ ਪ੍ਰਾਪਤਿ ਪਾਤੀ ਧਾਨੁ ॥
Make self-discipline and truth the rice; compassion the wheat on the leaf-plate of meditation.

ਦੂਧੁ ਕਰਮੁ ਸੰਤੋਖੁ ਘੀਉ ਕਰਿ ਐਸਾ ਮਾਂਗਉ ਦਾਨੁ ॥
Let milk be good deeds, and ghee be contentment—these are the gifts I beg of You.

ਖਿਮਾ ਧੀਰਜੁ ਕਰਿ ਗਊ ਲਵੇਰੀ ਸਹਜੇ ਬਛਰਾ ਖੀਰੁ ਪੀਐ ॥
Let forgiveness and patience be my milk-cows, from which the calf of the mind gently drinks.

This is a beautiful economy of divine asking: not for what the world values, but for what makes the world meaningful. The entire Shabad turns the daily act of eating into a metaphor for the nourishment of the soul, begging God not for outcomes but for orientation. It does sound like we are in South India with the meals on leaves and the serving of rice. 

A Hidden Conversation with the Guru

But make sure you have a conversation with God. 

ਗੁਹਜ ਗਲ ਜੀਅ ਕੀ ਕੀਚੈ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੂ ਪਾਸਿ
Tell the secrets of your soul to the True Guru.

What we often ask for aloud—success, health, comfort—is rarely the real longing of the soul. The soul’s cry is quieter, more hidden. Guru Arjan encourages us to entrust that deepest yearning to the Satguru, not just as a listener, but as a physician of the spirit. The result?

ਤਾ ਸਰਬ ਸੁਖੁ ਪਾਈਐ ॥
Then, true peace is found.

When we dare to articulate our hidden hunger to the One who knows us better than we know ourselves, the need to ask vanishes. Hunger dissolves into satisfaction. Asking becomes union.

Conclusion: To Ask is to Align

In these Shabads, Guru Nanak and Guru Arjan do not reject asking; they sanctify it. They reorient it. Asking is not a failure of surrender—it is a doorway into it. But the object of asking is not to gain what the ego desires; it is to uncover what the soul already knows it needs.

So what should we ask of God?

We should ask for Naam.

We should ask to lose our inner thieves—lust, anger, greed, attachment, and ego.

We should ask for rice made of self-restraint, wheat made of kindness, and milk made of good actions.

We should ask for the courage to ask less for ourselves and more for the self to be quiet enough to listen.

Because, in the end, the true gift is not what is given.

It is who we become by asking.

The One Who Listens

Most days,
I keep things where no one can find them—
under the socks I never wear,
inside the teapot shaped like a duck,
in the second draft of a breakup poem
that never quite broke anything.

You wouldn’t know
that I worry about disappearing
the way soap does
in the last week of August.

Or that I once lied
to a dying plant,
whispering, you’ll be fine,
as I walked past with a glass of water
meant for myself.

But sometimes,
I sit down with the Shabad
like it’s the old friend
who never asks for small talk.

And I say it—
the thing even I didn’t know
was rattling in the drawer
marked unspoken.

The Shabad doesn’t flinch.
It has never judged. 
It doesn’t correct my grammar
or ask if I’ve tried journaling.

It just listens—
like the inside of a mountain
so still
that when I stop speaking,
I can finally hear
where the wind goes next.

Jo Mange - Guru Arjan
Mangna Maangan Neeka

Je Vasst Mangiyeh Sayi 

Guru Nanak -

ਪ੍ਰਭਾਤੀ ਮਹਲਾ ੧ ॥
प्रभाती महला १ ॥
Parbẖāṯī mėhlā 1.
Prabhaatee, First Mehl:

ਗੁਰ ਪਰਸਾਦੀ ਵਿਦਿਆ ਵੀਚਾਰੈ ਪੜਿ ਪੜਿ ਪਾਵੈ ਮਾਨੁ ॥
गुर परसादी विदिआ वीचारै पड़ि पड़ि पावै मानु ॥
Gur parsādī viḏi▫ā vīcẖārai paṛ paṛ pāvai mān.
By Guru's Grace, contemplate spiritual knowledge; read it and study it, and you shall be honored.
ਆਪਾ ਮਧੇ ਆਪੁ ਪਰਗਾਸਿਆ ਪਾਇਆ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤੁ ਨਾਮੁ ॥੧॥
आपा मधे आपु परगासिआ पाइआ अम्रितु नामु ॥१॥
Āpā maḏẖe āp pargāsi▫ā pā▫i▫ā amriṯ nām. ||1||
Within the self, the self is revealed, when one is blessed with the Ambrosial Naam, the Name of the Lord. ||1||

ਕਰਤਾ ਤੂ ਮੇਰਾ ਜਜਮਾਨੁ ॥
करता तू मेरा जजमानु ॥
Karṯā ṯū merā jajmān.
O Creator Lord, You alone are my Benefactor.
ਇਕ ਦਖਿਣਾ ਹਉ ਤੈ ਪਹਿ ਮਾਗਉ ਦੇਹਿ ਆਪਣਾ ਨਾਮੁ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
इक दखिणा हउ तै पहि मागउ देहि आपणा नामु ॥१॥ रहाउ ॥
Ik ḏakẖiṇā ha▫o ṯai pėh māga▫o ḏėh āpṇā nām. ||1|| rahā▫o.
I beg for only one blessing from You: please bless me with Your Name. ||1||Pause||

ਪੰਚ ਤਸਕਰ ਧਾਵਤ ਰਾਖੇ ਚੂਕਾ ਮਨਿ ਅਭਿਮਾਨੁ ॥
पंच तसकर धावत राखे चूका मनि अभिमानु ॥
Pancẖ ṯaskar ḏẖāvaṯ rākẖe cẖūkā man abẖimān.
The five wandering thieves are captured and held, and the egotistical pride of the mind is subdued.
ਦਿਸਟਿ ਬਿਕਾਰੀ ਦੁਰਮਤਿ ਭਾਗੀ ਐਸਾ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਗਿਆਨੁ ॥੨॥
दिसटि बिकारी दुरमति भागी ऐसा ब्रहम गिआनु ॥२॥
Ḏisat bikārī ḏurmaṯ bẖāgī aisā barahm gi▫ān. ||2||
Visions of corruption, vice and evil-mindedness run away. Such is the spiritual wisdom of God. ||2||

ਜਤੁ ਸਤੁ ਚਾਵਲ ਦਇਆ ਕਣਕ ਕਰਿ ਪ੍ਰਾਪਤਿ ਪਾਤੀ ਧਾਨੁ ॥
जतु सतु चावल दइआ कणक करि प्रापति पाती धानु ॥
Jaṯ saṯ cẖāval ḏa▫i▫ā kaṇak kar parāpaṯ pāṯī ḏẖān.
Please bless me with the rice of truth and self-restraint, the wheat of compassion, and the leaf-plate of meditation.
ਦੂਧੁ ਕਰਮੁ ਸੰਤੋਖੁ ਘੀਉ ਕਰਿ ਐਸਾ ਮਾਂਗਉ ਦਾਨੁ ॥੩॥
दूधु करमु संतोखु घीउ करि ऐसा मांगउ दानु ॥३॥
Ḏūḏẖ karam sanṯokẖ gẖī▫o kar aisā māʼnga▫o ḏān. ||3||
Bless me with the milk of good karma, and the clarified butter, the ghee, of compassion. Such are the gifts I beg of You, Lord. ||3||

ਖਿਮਾ ਧੀਰਜੁ ਕਰਿ ਗਊ ਲਵੇਰੀ ਸਹਜੇ ਬਛਰਾ ਖੀਰੁ ਪੀਐ ॥
खिमा धीरजु करि गऊ लवेरी सहजे बछरा खीरु पीऐ ॥
Kẖimā ḏẖīraj kar ga▫ū laverī sėhje bacẖẖrā kẖīr pī▫ai.
Let forgiveness and patience be my milk-cows, and let the calf of my mind intuitively drink in this milk.
ਸਿਫਤਿ ਸਰਮ ਕਾ ਕਪੜਾ ਮਾਂਗਉ ਹਰਿ ਗੁਣ ਨਾਨਕ ਰਵਤੁ ਰਹੈ ॥੪॥੭॥
सिफति सरम का कपड़ा मांगउ हरि गुण नानक रवतु रहै ॥४॥७॥
Sifaṯ saram kā kapṛā māʼnga▫o har guṇ Nānak ravaṯ rahai. ||4||7||
I beg for the clothes of modesty and the Lord's Praise; Nanak chants the Glorious Praises of the Lord. ||4||7||