On prayer

[arthra]

Spirit has influence; prayer has spiritual effect. Therefore, we pray, “O God! Heal this sick one!” Perchance God will answer.

Does it matter who prays?

God will answer the prayer of every servant if that prayer is urgent. His mercy is vast, illimitable. He answers the prayers of all His servants.

He answers the prayer of this plant. The plant prays potentially, “O God! Send me rain!” God answers the prayer, and the plant grows.

God will answer anyone.

He answers prayers potentially. Before we were born into this world did we not pray, “O God! Give me a mother; give me two fountains of bright milk; purify the air for my breathing; grant me rest and comfort; prepare food for my sustenance and living”?

Did we not pray potentially for these needed blessings before we were created?

When we came into this world, did we not find our prayers answered?

Did we not find mother, father, food, light, home and every other necessity and blessing, although we did not actually ask for them?

Therefore, it is natural that God will give to us when we ask Him. His mercy is all-encircling.

~ Abdul-Baha

 

[arthra]

The wisdom of prayer...

O thou spiritual friend!

Thou hast asked the wisdom of prayer. Know thou that prayer is indispensable and obligatory, and man under no pretext whatsoever is excused from performing the prayer unless he be mentally unsound, or an insurmountable obstacle prevent him. The wisdom of prayer is this:

That it causeth a connection between the servant and the True One, because in that state (i.e., prayer) man with all heart and soul turneth his face towards His Highness the Almighty, seeking His association and desiring His love and compassion.

The greatest happiness for a lover is to converse with his beloved, and the greatest gift for a seeker is to become familiar with the object of his longing; that is why with every soul who is attracted to the Kingdom of God, his greatest hope is to find an opportunity to entreat and supplicate before his Beloved, appeal for His mercy and grace and be immersed in the ocean of His utterance, goodness and generosity.

Beside all this, prayer and fasting is the cause of awakening and mindfulness and conducive to protection and preservation from tests. The obligatory prayer is revealed from the Supreme Pen and is translated in America. Ask for it from the believers and use it.

~ Abdul-Baha

 

[arthra]

The reason why privacy has been enjoined...

"The reason why privacy hath been enjoined in moments of devotion is
this, that thou mayest give thy best attention to the remembrance of
God, that thy heart may at all times be animated with His Spirit, and
not be shut out as by a veil from thy Best Beloved.

Let not thy tongue pay lip service in praise of God while thy heart be not attuned to the exalted summit of Glory, and the Focal Point of communion.

Thus if haply thou dost live in the Day of Resurrection, the mirror of thy heart will be set towards Him Who is the Day-Star of Truth; and no sooner will His light shine forth than the splendour thereof shall forthwith be reflected in thy heart. For He is the Source of all goodness, and unto Him revert all things.

But if He appeareth while thou hast turned unto thyself in meditation, this shall not profit thee, unless thou shalt mention His Name by words He hath revealed.

For in the forthcoming Revelation it is He Who is the Remembrance of God, whereas the devotions which thou art offering at present have been
prescribed by the point of the Bayan, while He Who will shine resplendent in the Day of Resurrection is the Revelation of the inner reality enshrined in the Point of the Bayan -- a Revelation more potent, immeasurably more potent, than the one which hath preceded it."

(The Bab: Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 93-94)