This is not because the saints and Prophets have merited punishment above other men. Nay, they often suffer for the sins of others, and choose to suffer, for the sake of others. Their concern is for the world's welfare, not for their own. The prayer of the true lover of humanity is not that he, as an individual, may escape poverty, ill- health or disaster, but that mankind may be saved from ignorance and error and the ills that inevitably flow from them. If he wishes health or wealth for himself, it is in order that he may serve the Kingdom, and if physical health and wealth are denied him, he accepts his lot with "radiant acquiescence," well knowing that there is a right wisdom in whatever befalls him in the Path of God (65:1)

'Abdu'l-Baha says: - Grief and sorrow do not come to us by chance; they are sent by the Divine Mercy for our perfecting. When grief and sorrow come, then will a man remember his Father Who is in Heaven, Who is able to deliver him from his humiliations. The more a man is chastened, the greater is the harvest of spiritual virtues shown forth by him (65:2)

At first sight it may seem very unjust that the innocent should suffer for the guilty, but 'Abdu'l-Baha assures us that the injustice is only apparent and that, in the long run, perfect justice prevails. He writes: - (65:3)

As to the subject of babes and children and weak ones who are afflicted by the hands of the oppressors .. for those souls there is a recompense in another world .. that suffering is the greatest mercy of God. Verily that mercy of the Lord is far better than all the comfort of this world and the growth and development appertaining to this place of mortality (65:4)

Prayer and Natural Law
Many find a difficulty in believing in the efficacy of prayer because they think that answers to prayer would involve arbitrary interference with the laws of nature. An analogy may help to remove this difficulty. If a magnet be held over some iron filings the latter will fly upwards and cling to it, but this involves no interference with the law of gravitation. The force of gravity continues to act on the filings just as before. What has happened is that a superior force has been brought into play - another force whose action is just as regular and calculable as that of gravity. The Baha'i view is that prayer brings into action higher forces, as yet comparatively little known; but there seems no reason to believe that these forces are more arbitrary in their action than the physical forces. The difference is that they have not yet been fully studied and experimentally investigated, and their action appears mysterious and incalculable because of our ignorance (65:5)

Another difficulty which some find perplexing is that prayer seems too feeble a force to produce the great results often claimed to it. Analogy may serve to clear up this difficulty also. A small force, when applied to the sluice gate of a reservoir, may release and regulate an enormous flow of water- power, or, when applied to the steering gear of an ocean liner, may control the course of the huge vessel. In the Baha'i view, the power that brings about answers to prayer is the inexhaustible Power of God. The part of the suppliant is only to exert the feeble force necessary to release the flow or determine the course of the Divine Bounty, which is ever ready to serve those who have learned how to draw upon it (65:6)

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