For many decades, Baha’is in the West have read and spoken the eloquent and meaningful prayers once spoken or written by the Bab, Baha’u’llah, and Abdu’l-Baha. Over time, these prayers have been collected into books and placed under descriptive headings for easy searching. These books are a priceless resource for all people, Baha’i or not yet Baha’i.

However, with a relatively few exceptions, e.g., the Obligatory Prayers, a prayer for the departed or a prayer for the Northeast States, these prayers were given once to a particular person or a collection of persons.

Through frequent use, Baha’is have perhaps assumed that these transcribed prayers are the only prayers acceptable in public devotionals and that spontaneous prayers are either forbidden entirely, or reserved for private prayer times. This is assuredly not the case, as the Guardian makes clear:

“The important thing that should always be borne in mind is that with the exception of certain specific obligatory prayers, Bahá’u’lláh has given us no strict or special rulings in matters of worship whether in the Temple or elsewhere. Prayer is essentially communion between man and God, and as such transcends all ritualistic forms and formulas.”

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, June 15, 1935: Bahá’í News, No. 93, July 1935, p. 1)

Abdu’l-Baha, our Exemplar, gave of His spiritual substance profusely. Many Baha’is received personalized, spontaneous prayers in His tablets to them. One, sent to a young girl reads:

“[This Tablet bore the following heading: “Chant thou this commune.”]

“Make thou this little maid-servant a brilliant-starred daughter of the Kingdom; endear her in the Threshold of Oneness and overflow her with the cup of Thy love, in order that she may raise the cries of joy and ecstasy and mix ambergris with musk.[1]

[1 This metaphor means the state of spontaneous prayer and communion with God.]

“Verily, Thou art the Powerful and the Mighty, and Thou art the Wise, the Seer!”

In that tablet, the Master was not only giving the child a prayer of her own, but instructing her to enjoy the savor of her own spontaneous prayer to God.

The Bab wrote:

“The most acceptable prayer is the one offered with the utmost spirituality and radiance; its prolongation hath not been and is not beloved by God. The more detached and the purer the prayer, the more acceptable is it in the presence of God.”

(The Bab: Selections from the Writings of the Báb, pp. 77-78)

Prayers that are a spontaneous, unique expression of our inner need, our spiritual yearning, our adoration, or our love for God are suitable for all occasions. Just as the Master found no need to refer to a book for a prayer that was appropriate, we also have that freedom. More importantly, the spontaneous cry of our spirit may, sometimes, be the calling of God to another child of His.

How did we as Baha’is forget the pleasure and ministry of spontaneous, heartfelt prayer? Perhaps the answer is through a misunderstanding. The Guardian, through his secretary, was trying to counsel the National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles on teaching children to pray.

“The Guardian feels that it would be better for either the mother of Bahá’í children — or some Committee your Assembly might delegate the task to — to choose excerpts from the Sacred word to be used by the child rather than just something made up. Of course prayer can be purely spontaneous, but many of the sentences and thoughts combined in Bahá’í writings of a devotional nature are easy to grasp, and the revealed Word is endowed with a power of its own.” (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles, August 8, 1942)

The suggestion, just a suggestion, for the parents to teach their children “excerpts from the Sacred word”, has somehow extended itself to all Baha’is and to all occasions. This misunderstanding would, I believe, grieve the Guardian, who abhorred ritual. Perhaps we can soon enjoy a return to the days of heartfelt, spontaneous prayers offered by Baha’is to their Lord, whether in public or private settings. The Universal House of Justice reminds us:

“That happy consummation, now faintly discernible on the far horizon, will be reached through hard work, realistic planning, sacrificial deeds, intensification of the teaching work and, above all, through constant endeavor on the part of every single Bahá’í to conform his inner life to that glorious ideal set for mankind by Bahá’u’lláh and exemplified by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. In contemplating the Master’s divine example we may well reflect that His life and deeds were not acted to a pattern of expediency, but were the inevitable and spontaneous expression of His inner self. We, likewise, shall act according to His example only as our inward spirits, growing and maturing through the disciplines of prayer and practice of the Teachings, become the wellsprings of all our attitudes and actions. This will promote the accomplishment of God’s purpose…” (The Universal House of Justice, Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1968-1973, p. 24)

I welcome your comments, to this, my personal understanding at this time. Thank you.