..a humble attempt to highlight some of the spiritual gems contained in prayers revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

December 31, 2011

Some of the things we should include on our prayer list of requests to God

Insights from this prayer by 'Abdu'l-Baha
  • “Give me to drink from the generous cup of Thy grace and forgiveness”;
  • “stir me with the sweet scents of Thy love”;
  • “gladden my bosom with the light of Thy knowledge”;
  • “purify my soul with the mysteries of Thy oneness”;
  • “raise me to life with the gentle breeze that cometh from the gardens of Thy mercy”.

December 24, 2011

Acknowledging one's state of being

Insights from this prayer by 'Abdu'l-Baha

As human beings we should acknowledge our state of “helpless”, “poverty”, “misery” and “abasement”, in relation to God and ask for His “mercy”.

December 15, 2011

Certain attributes of God through which we can beseech His help

Insights from this prayer by 'Abdu'l-Baha
  • “the dawning of the light” of His “Beauty that hath illumined all the earth,”
  • “ the glance” of His “divine compassion’s eye that considereth all things,”
  • “the surging sea” of His “bestowals in which all things are immersed,”
  • His “streaming clouds of bounty raining down gifts upon the essences of all created things,”
  • “the splendours” of His “mercy that existed before ever the world was”.

December 10, 2011

The incredibly exalted station of God

Insights from this prayer by 'Abdu'l-Baha
  • No “words” can a human being attempt to find to “glorify” God;
  • No way can the “bird” of a human being’s “mind” “soar upward” to God’s “Kingdom of Holiness”;
  • God, in His “very essence” is “sanctified” above any “tributes” offered by human beings;
  • God, in His “very being” is “beyond the reach of those praises which are offered” Him “by the people” that He has created.
  • God, in “the sanctity” of His “own being” has “ever been exalted above the understanding of the learned among the Company on high”;
  • God, will “forever” “remain enwrapped within the holiness” of His “own reality, unreached by the knowledge of those dwellers” in His “exalted Kingdom who glorify” His “Name”.
  • Knowing how “inaccessible” and “sanctified” God is “above every description and praise”, how then can a human being ever “glorify” or “describe” Him?

December 6, 2011

Those who sincerely believe in God

Insights from this prayer by Baha'u'llah

(a) Attributes of those who sincerely believe in God
  •   Such believers confess God’s “sovereignty” and “dominion”
  • Their “discerning eye” perceives the “greatness” of God’s “majesty and the compelling power” of His “might”.
  • They “enjoy near access” to God to such a degree that the “winds of tests” are “powerless to “hold” them back “from setting their faces towards the horizon” of His “glory”;
  • They are so “wholly devoted” to God’s “will” that “the tempests of trials” will “fail to draw away and hinder” them from “approaching” His “court”.
  • It seems as if “the lamp” of God’s “love is burning” in the “hearts” of such believers and that “the light” of His “tenderness is lit within their breasts”.
  • “Adversities” appear “incapable of estranging them” from God’s “Cause”, and “the vicissitudes of fortune can never cause them to stray” from His “pleasure”.
(b) God’s blessings on those who sincerely believe in Him
In return, God will “keep” such believers “safe from the mischief” of His “adversaries”, and will “nourish their souls” with what He has “ordained” for His “loved ones” -- those “on whom shall come no fear and who shall not be put to grief”.


December 5, 2011

Some of the attributes of God and His exalted station

Insights from this prayer by the Báb
  • God’s “grace encompasseth all”
  • “From everlasting” God has been “the Source of indomitable strength and shall remain so unto everlasting”
  • To God belongs “All the kingdoms of heaven and earth and whatever is between them”.
  • To God belongs “All the treasures of earth and heaven and everything between them”
  • God holds “in His grasp the keys of heaven and earth and of everything between them”
  • In truth, God “keepeth watch over all things”
  • God is:
    • “the Powerful, the Almighty”
    • “the Lord of might and power”
    • “the Supreme Protector”
    • “a witness over all things”
    • “the Creator of the heavens and the earth and whatever lieth between them”
    • “the Lord of Reckoning for all that dwell in the heavens and on earth and whatever lieth between them”
    • “swift to reckon”
    • “Immeasurably exalted”
  • In the “kingdoms of Revelation and Creation and whatever lieth between them” all “glory and majesty” belong to God
  • God creates “whatsoever He willeth by His Word of command ‘Be’, and it is.”
  • “the source of dominion” is in the hand of God
  • The “power of authority” always belongs to God.
  • Through the “potency” of His command, God “maketh victorious whomsoever He pleaseth”.
  • God sets “the measure assigned to all who are in the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them”.
  • God bestows “gifts” through “the power of His command” and at “His Own pleasure”.
  • “Through the power of His hosts of heaven and earth and whatever lieth between them”, God protects “whomsoever among His servants He willeth”