Nothing should be asked from God; What is the main purpose of external religious practices?

(from "The near and the dear" by Dada Mukherji):

Neem Karoli Baba: Nothing should be asked from God, nor is there anything with which God needs to be acquainted. When one knows everything, what new thing can you bring to His notice? It is useless to try to do this. Moreover, God is gracious and always shows His mercy to everyone. When you get what you want without asking Him for it, what is the use of asking? You always ask for useless things, wrong things, and sometimes harmful things, and that is why you do not get them. You ask for things out of ignorance. He knows what is useful for you and what should be given, and what is useless and harmful and should be denied. And you people accuse God, without caring to know why your desire was not fulfilled. This is your habit, your practice. You must have full faith in God; He attends to everything when you have faith and depend on Him. 

The main purpose for your religious practices of pujas, prayers, bhajan, and kirtan is not for asking or begging from Him, but to be with Him. There are people who never think of God or sit silently and meditate on Him. But when they do their rituals, like singing bhajan and kirtan and visiting temples, they take this to be their worship and time with God.

This is helpful for them, as they keep aside time and money and other things for God and for His puja and prasad. When they are not doing these pujas and prayers they spend their time and money in other ways, not directly for God or for spending time with Him. So this helps them to round out their whole lives. It brings discipline to all of one's duties and resources to be spent for God. In the beginning, it might start in a small way, but with regular observance, it becomes very dear to them. They feel it is their time with God, and they spend more and more time in their pujas and prayers.

This feeling of being with God and working for Him brings devotion to their hearts. He becomes dear to them. They become interested in pleasing and serving Him out of their love for Him, not for asking anything for themselves. They spend more and more time in pujas and rituals, and many others begin to derive benefits from them. They draw more people towards God and help to teach them to discipline in their lives to the service of God and His children.

This is the best form of religious education for the people. They learn from demonstration and practice, not from books and lectures. How many people can read? How many people can purchase books? Those who are to teach you must know what you need and can understand. And they must teach you out of their love of God and love for you, not for making money by taking the name of God. It is difficult for most people to find such teachers and be taught by them. The best way is to go on with one's pujas and prayers. Meditation and yoga are not for everyone, but kirtan and bhajan are for everyone without any distinctions.