The Sunday Mail
Flora Teckie Bahá’í Perspective
PRAYER enriches us spiritually. It is food for the soul.
Our soul needs regular nourishment, in the same way as our body needs to be fed daily and regularly. If we are starved for some time we do not feel the hunger pangs any more.
The same is true for our soul.If we do not communicate with God through prayer regularly, we may not feel the necessity of doing so; yet our soul is in need of this nourishment to remain healthy and strong.
Some of us may be asking whether there is need to pray because God is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. He knows what we want and what we need. Then why should we pray?
“If one friend loves another, is it not natural that he should wish to say so? Though he knows that that friend is aware of his love, does he still not wish to tell him of it? It is true that God knows the wishes of all hearts; but the impulse to pray is a natural one, springing from man’s love to God,” say the Bahá’í Writings.
Prayer is conversation with the Creator. We commune with God through prayer and receive guidance through studying of the Word of God.
Prayer and meditation are primary tools for our spiritual development. We pray for various reasons: to praise God, to thank Him for all His bounties and blessings and so on — and not only when we need something or we have difficult times in our lives. If a child approaches his father only when he is in need of funds or when he is in trouble, how would his father feel?
The Bahá’í Writings affirm that: “In the highest prayer, men pray only for the love of God, not because they fear Him or hell, or hope for bounty or heaven . . . When a man falls in love with a human being, it is impossible for him to keep from mentioning the name of his beloved.
“How much more difficult is it to keep from mentioning the Name of God when one has come to love Him . . . The spiritual man finds no delight in anything save in commemoration of God.”
The process of spiritual development requires moral and spiritual choices, often involving challenges. Through ardent, sincere and regular prayers our souls will be strengthened and we can overcome challenges and obstacles in life easier. When we pray it is important to centre our thoughts and our innermost being on God and forget what is going on around us. We should reflect on the words we say.
The mere repetition of words is of no value. Sincerity of heart and concentration of mind is what matters most. Praying with sincerity and dedication draws upon the spiritual blessings that flow from the Source of love and mercy to humanity.
According to the Bahá’í Writings: “. . . the core of religious faith is that mystic feeling that unites man with God. This state of spiritual communion can be brought about and maintained by means of meditation and prayer … It is not sufficient for a believer to merely accept and observe the teachings.
“He should, in addition, cultivate the sense of spirituality, which he can acquire chiefly by the means of prayer. … Laws and institutions, as viewed by Bahá’u’lláh, can become really effective only when our inner spiritual life has been perfected and transformed. Otherwise religion will degenerate into a mere organisation, and become a dead thing.”
The Bahá’í Writings encourage individual to be both deeply spiritual and highly practical. While encouraged to pray and meditate every day, at the same time, we are to be engaged with the world at large. Service to humanity, for example, is viewed among the highest priorities in one’s life. “Prayer and meditation are very important factors in deepening the spiritual life of the individual, but with them must go also action and example, as these are the tangible results of the former. Both are essential.”
Serving others, whether within the family or in the community at large — through promoting the well-being of our fellow men — can also help us develop our own selves.
Active service to humanity, together with prayer, meditation and obedience to spiritual and moral laws enable us to develop spiritually and grow closer to God.
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