Topic: The Importance of Prayer
Page 1 This newsletter is dedicated to all seekers after the Eternal
Truth.
. . .in all Dispensations the law of prayer hath constituted a
fundamental element of the Revelation of all the Prophets of God--a law the
form and manner of which hath been adapted to the varying requirements of every
age.1
As stated clearly above, every religion teaches the importance of
communicating with God through prayer. The Bahá'í Faith also
stresses the importance of prayer as demonstrated in the following quote by its
Founder on not only the importance, but also on the effects of prayer: Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been
received by thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the
sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own soul, and attract the hearts of
all men. Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by
God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance
of the words uttered by his mouth, and shall cause the heart of every righteous
man to throb. Though he may, at first, remain unaware of its effect, yet the virtue of the grace vouchsafed unto him must needs sooner or
later exercise its influence upon his soul. Thus have the mysteries of the
Revelation of God been decreed by virtue of the Will of Him Who is the Source
of power and wisdom.2
What, after all, can be more important, appropriate and even
beneficial than making mention of, praising and glorifying God, our Creator and
the Source of our being? In addition, as the following verse reveals, it is not
only we who benefit and are "blessed". Prayer is pretty powerful stuff
indeed.
Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place, and the city, and
the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and
the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow where mention of God hath
been made, and His praise glorified. 3
--Bahá'u'lláh
The following quotes from the Bahá'í writings explain
not only what prayer is, but also enlightens us on the "language"
of prayer, the spiritual condition we should strive to attain while trying to
communicate with God and His Manifestations through prayer, and the importance
of worshipping God through His Manifestations, Who are the
Intermediators sent by God to guide and educate us, and to make Himself and His
Will known to us: Prayer is conversation with God. In order that God may make
known His mind and will to men, He must speak to them in a language which they
can understand, and this He does by the mouths of His Holy Prophets. While
these Prophets are alive in the body they speak with men face to face and
convey to them the Message of God, and after Their death Their message
continues to reach men's minds through Their recorded sayings and writings. But
this is not the only way in which God can speak with men. There is a "language
of the Spirit," which is independent of speech or writing, by which God can
commune with and inspire those whose hearts are seeking after truth, wherever
they are, and whatever their native race or tongue. By this language the
Manifestation continues to hold converse with the faithful after His departure
from the material world. Christ continued to converse with and inspire His
disciples after His crucifixion. In fact He influenced them more powerfully
than before; and with other Prophets it has been the same.4
--'Abdu'l-Bahá
We should speak in the language of heaven--in the language of
the spirit--for there is a language of the spirit and heart. It is as different
from our language as our own language is different from that of the animals,
who expess themselves only by cries and sounds. It is the language of the spirit which speaks to God. When,
in prayer, we are freed from all outward things and turn to God, then it is as
if in our hearts we hear the voice of God. Without words we speak, we
communicate, we converse with God and hear the answer . . . All of us, when we
attain to a truly spiritual condition, can hear the voice of God. . .. . . . We must strive to attain to that condition by being
separated from all things and from the people of the world and by turning to
God alone. It will take some effort on the part of man to attain to that
condition, but he must work for it, strive for it. We can attain to it by
thinking and caring less for material things and more for the spiritual. The
further we go from the one, the nearer we are to the other. The choice is
ours. Our spiritual perception, our inward sight must be opened, so
that we can see the signs and traces of God's spirit in everything. Everything
can reflect to us the light of the Spirit.5
--'Abdu'l-Bahá
If we wish to pray, we must have some object on which to
concentrate. If we turn to God, we must direct our hearts to a certain center.
If man worships God otherwise than through His Manifestation, he must first
form a conception of God, and that conception is created by his own mind. As
the finite cannot comprehend the Infinite, so God is not to be comprehended in
this fashion. That which man conceives with his own mind he comprehends. That
which he can comprehend is not God. That conception of God which a man forms
for himself is but a phantasm, an image, an imagination, an allusion. There is
no connection between such a conception and the Supreme Being. If a man wishes to know God, he must find Him in the perfect
mirror, Christ or Bahá'u'lláh. In either of these mirrors he
will see reflected the Sun of Divinity. As we know the physical sun by its splendor, by its light and
heat, so we know God, the Spiritual Sun, when He shines forth from the temple
of Manifestation, by His attributes of perfection, by the beauty of His
qualities and by the splendor of His light6
--'Abdu'l-Bahá
Say: Deliver your souls, O people, from the bondage of self,
and purify them from all attachment to anything besides Me. Remembrance of Me
cleanseth all things from defilement, could ye but perceive it. Say: Were all
created things to be entirely divested of the veil of worldly vanity and
desire, the Hand of God would in this Day clothe them, one and all, with the
robe of,"He doeth whatsoever He willeth in the kingdom of creation," that
thereby the sign of His sovereignty might be manifested in all things. Exalted
then be He, the Sovereign Lord of all, the Almighty, the Supreme Protector, the
All-Glorious, the Most Powerful.7
Unlock, O people, the gates of the hearts of men with the
keys of the remembrance of Him Who is the Remembrance of God and the Source of
wisdom amongst you. He hath chosen out of the whole world the hearts of His
servants, and made them each a seat for the revelation of His glory. Wherefore,
sanctify them from every defilement, that the things for which they were
created may be engraven upon them. This indeed is a token of God's bountiful
favor.8
At the dawn of every day he should commune with God, and,
with all his soul, persevere in the quest of his Beloved. He should consume
every wayward thought with the flame of His loving mention, and, with the
swiftness of lightning, pass by all else save Him.9
Finally, I think a couple of prayers revealed for us by God's
Manifestation and Messenger for this day would be appropriate to close this
issue on this very important topic of prayer.
My God, my Adored One, my King, my Desire! What
tongue can voice my thanks to thee? I was heedless, Thou didst awaken me. I
had turned back from Thee, Thou didst graciously enable me to turn toward Thee.
I was as one dead, Thou didst quicken me with the water of life. I was
withered, Thou didst revive me with the heavenly stream of Thine utterance
which hath flowed forth from the Pen of the All-Merciful. O Divine Providence! All existence is begotten by Thy
bounty; deprive it not of the waters of Thy generosity, neither do Thou
withhold it from the ocean of Thy mercy. I beseech Thee to aid and assist me at
all times and under all conditions, and seek from the heaven of Thy grace Thine
ancient favor. Thou art, in truth, the Lord of bounty, and the Sovereign of the
kingdom of eternity.10
--Bahá'u'lláh
Create in me a pure heart, O my God, and renew a tranquil
conscience within me, O my Hope! Through the spirit of power confirm Thou me
in Thy Cause, O my Best-Beloved, and by the light of Thy glory reveal unto me
Thy path, O Thou the Goal of my desire! Through the power of Thy transcendent
might lift me up unto the heaven of Thy holiness, O Source of my being, and by
the breezes of Thine eternity gladden me, O Thou Who art my God! Let Thine
everlasting melodies breathe tranquility on me, O my Companion, and let the
riches of Thine ancient countenance deliver me from all except Thee, O my
Master, and let the tidings of the revelation of Thine incorruptible Essence
bring me joy, O Thou Who art the most manifest of the manifest and the most
hidden of the hidden!11
--Bahá'u'lláh
*********
1Bahá'u'lláh, The
Kitáb-i-Iqán p. 39. 2Bahá'u'lláh,Gleanings from
the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 295. 3Bahá'í Prayers, 1982 Edition, p. iii. 4 quoted in Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, J. E.
Esselmont, p. 99. 5 from a talk reported by Miss Ethel J. Rosenberg, quoted in
Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, J. E.
Esselmont, pp 99-100. 6from a talk to Mr. Percy Woodcock, at 'Akká, 1909, quoted in
Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, J. E.
Esselmont, pp. 101-102. 7Bahá'u'lláh,Gleanings from the
Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, pp. 294-295. 8Bahá'u'lláh,Gleanings from the
Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, pp 296-297. 9Bahá'u'lláh,Gleanings from the
Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 265. 10Bahá'í Prayers, 1991 Edition., pp. 19-20. 11Bahá'í Prayers, 1991 Edition, pp.
142-143.
