Writing in Snow

Thoughts and Quotes on Prayer

Word count: 543

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I centered the quotations and put them in bold font, while I left justified my thoughts without bolding them.

The human spirit or soul is a divine creation, connected to the material world through the body of the individual. Prayer brings the soul closer to God and helps it reflect the attributes of God. Prayer is essential for spiritual growth. When the body dies, the soul ascends into the next world clothed only in the spiritual attributed developed on the material plain.

When in doubt,
Pray.
Author Unknown

Every morning birds sing. Every morning birds chant their prayers, giving thanks for dawn’s light. Birds give thanks for everything. Birds are happy to be alive. Sometimes people forget the importance of prayer and giving thanks for another day.

Life is fragile,
Handle with prayer.
Author Unknown

Today a new workweek began. Today is another day to say “Thank you!” Today contains numerous opportunities and it is full of potential for gratitude and prayer. There are blessing waiting to appear which we can find only through prayer.

He who puts his trust in God, God will suffice him.
He who fears God, God will send him relief.
Baha’u’llah

Prayer builds a relationship with God. A person can read the sacred scriptures and meditate on them endlessly, but without prayer, there is no relationship with God. Prayer is talking to the Unknowable Creator and giving thanks for protect, for tests, for difficulties, for the sun rising in the morning, etc.

When the going gets tough,
The tough fall to their knees in prayer.
Author Unknown

Prayer is both food and exercise for the soul. Prayer along with tests and difficulties cleans the mirror of the spirit, of the soul, so that the individual can reflect the attributes of God. The purpose of the individual is to know and worship God; prayer is one of the ways that a person receives knowledge of God is acquired. Prayer is one of the ways the individual worships God.

IS there any Remover of difficulties save God?
Say: Praised be God! He is God!
All are His servants and all abide by His bidding!
The Bab

Daily life is full of tests and difficulties, which has the potential of bring the individual closer to God. As a person prays for assistance, he or she moves closer to God, the Eternal Beloved. Each encounter with stress, each roadblock in the path to success is a stepping-stone for the soul toward spirituality and a relationship with God.

Poets pray in verse,
Other writer’s in prose,
And an artist on a canvas.
Author Unknown

Creativity is a spiritual attribute. Creativity and prayer help the soul grow and develop. Each time a writer or artist begins a project he or she is developing his or her soul and reflecting a spiritual attribute.

Work done in the spirit of service is the highest form of worship.
Abdu'l-Baha
(Divine Philosophy, p. 83)

Since the purpose of the individual human being is to know and worship God. An artists or a writer can worship God through the practice of his or her chosen genre. By practicing his or her creative ability, an artist or writer is serving humanity and worshiping God at the same time.