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Dynamics of Prayer
Shoghi Effendi is alleged to
have prefaced the formula of prayers and meditation with the following
five steps as transcribed by Ruth Moffet.* |
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Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith |
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Step 1:
Pray and meditate about it.
Use the prayers of the Messengers of God (Jesus, Mohammed, Krishna,
Buddha, Moses, Zoaster, the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh) as they have the greatest
power. Then remain in silence of contemplation for a few minutes.
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Step 2:
Arrive at a decision and hold this. This decision is usually born during
the contemplation. It may seem almost impossible of accomplishment, but if it
seems to be an answer to prayer or a way of solving the problem, then
immediately take the next step. |
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Step 3: Have determination
to carry the decision through. Many fail here. The decision, budding
into determination, is blighted and instead becomes a wish or vague longing.
When determination is born, immediately take the next step. |
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Step 4:
Have Faith and confidence that the power will flow
through you and the right way will appear, the door will open, the right
thought, the right message, the right principle or the right book will be given
you. Have confidence, and the right thing will come to your need. Then, as you
rise from prayer, take at once Step 5. |
Step 5:
Act. Act as though it had all been answered. Then act
with tireless, ceaseless energy. And as you act, you, yourself, will become a
magnet, which will attract more power to your being, until you become an
unobstructed channel for Divine Power to flow through you. Many pray but do not
remain for the last half of the first step. Some who meditate arrive at a
decision, but fail to hold it. Few have the determination to carry the decision
through, still fewer have the confidence that the right thing will come to their
need. But how many remember to act as though it had all been answered? How true
are those words-
"greater than the prayer is the spirit in which it is uttered and
greater than the way it is uttered is the spirit in which it is carried out."
From Principles of Bahá'í Administration, p. 90-91.
*
Excerpted from the pilgrim's notes of Ruth Moffet, an early American
Bahá'i.
Prayer
Requires Preparation:
Excerpts from a talk by Ali Nakhjavani |
The Bahá'í Faith of Reno, Nevada offers prayers
for anyone who requests them. If you or anyone you know would like prayers,
please contact the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Reno, Nevada at
prayers@renobahais.org.
Prayers are usually said at the beginning of
the regular meeting of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Reno. However,
prayers for specific needs will also be said during the Nineteen Day Feasts. One
should specify the person who needs a prayer and for what nature (Teaching,
tests and difficulties etc).
Now we share with you these two wonderful
prayer from the writings of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh |
Blessing Before Meals:
O God!
Help us to realize Thy substance in all things.
May this food strengthen and nourish our bodies, that we may use them in Thy
service.
The Báb |
Praise and Guidance:
Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! I give thee thanks inasmuch as Thou hast
called me into being in Thy days, and infused into me Thy love and knowledge. I
beseech Thee, by Thy name whereby the goodly pearls of Thy wisdom and Thine
utterance were brought forth out of the treasuries of the hearts of such of Thy
servants as are nigh unto Thee, and through which the Daystar of Thy name, the
Compassionate, hath shed its radiance upon all that are in Thy heaven and on Thy
earth, to supply me, by Thy grace and bounty, with Thy wondrous and hidden
bounties.These are the
earliest days of my life, O my God, which Thou hast linked with Thine own days.
Now that Thou hast conferred upon me so great an honor, withholding not from me
the things Thou hast ordained for Thy chosen ones.
I am, O my God, but a tiny seed which Thou
hast sown in the soil of Thy love, and caused to spring forth by the hand of Thy
bounty. This seed craveth, therefore, in its inmost being, for the waters of Thy
mercy and the living fountain of Thy grace. Send down upon it, from the heaven
of Thy loving-kindness, that which will enable it to flourish beneath Thy shadow
and within the borders of Thy court. Thou art He Who watereth the hearts of all
that have recognized Thee from Thy plenteous stream and the fountain of Thy
living waters.
Praised be God, the Lord of the worlds.
Bahá'u'lláh |
Perspectives Page |
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The terraces
and the Shrine of the Báb with the port of
Haifa in the backdrop, as viewed from the
twelfth terrace. This photo was taken by the
webmaster on the morning of February 12,
2007. |
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The Mother
Temple of the West, at Wilmette, Il, stands
testimony to the unity of all the great
religions of the world. This is the first
Bahá'í temple to have been built n the
Western Hemisphere. Photo
Photo Gallery of the Bahá'í Houses of
Worship |
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The upper
terraces and the Shrine of the Báb with the
port of Haifa in the backdrop, as viewed
from the eighteenth terrace. This
photo was taken by the webmaster on the
morning of February 12, 2007. |
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Copyright 2007, Richard Francis, all
rights reserved |
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