Chapter 6: Prayer
Prayer is a ladder by which everyone may ascend to Heaven. - Muhammad (60:1)

Conversation with God
"Prayer," says 'Abdu'l-Baha, "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 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. 'Abdu'l-Baha speaks much of this spiritual language. He says, for instance: - (60:3)

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 express themselves only by cries and sounds (60:4)

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. (From a talk reported by Miss Ethel J. Rosenberg) (60:5)

Baha'u'llah declares that the higher spiritual truths can be communicated only by means of this spiritual language. The spoken or written word is quite inadequate. In a little book called The Seven Valleys, in which He describes the journey of travelers from the earthly dwelling to the Divine Home, He says, in speaking of the more advanced stages of the journey: - (60:6)

The tongue is unable to give an account of these, and utterance falls exceedingly short. The pen is useless in this court, and the ink gives no result but blackness... Heart alone can communicate to heart the state of the knower; this is not the work of a messenger, nor can it be contained in letters (60:7)

The Devotional Attitude
In order that we may attain the spiritual condition in which conversation with God becomes possible, 'Abdu'l-Baha says: - (60:8)

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 (60:9)

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