Maryam-Apr-Jun-2014-EN

WRITINGS OF THE PROMISED MESSIAH AS
It is also necessary that the object prayed
for should not be opposed to the Divine
design for the welfare in this world and in the
hereafter of the supplicant, or of the one on
whose behalf supplication is made.
(Barakat-ud-Du’a, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 6, pp. 13,
The Essence of Islam, Vol. II, p. 197)
PRAYER IS A KIND OF DEATH
There is a proverb in Punjabi: “He who asks dies
a death, so die and then ask.” The meaning is
that it is an afflicted one who prays and that
prayer is a form of death. If a person drinks a
drop of water and claims that his great thirst
has been slaked, he utters a falsehood. His
claim would be established if he were to drink
a bowl full of water. When prayer is offered
in great tribulation so that the soul melts and
flows at the threshold of the Divine, that is
true prayer and it is God’s way that when such
a prayer is offered, He accepts it or responds
to it in some other manner.
(Malfuzat, Vol. IV, p. 340, The Essence of Islam, Vol.
II, p. 213)
GOD COMES CLOSER THROUGH PRAYER
To think that seeking help from God is
sometimes without result and wondering
that the Rahmaniyyat and Rahimiyyat of God
do not manifest themselves in the shape of
help, is the result of misunderstanding. God
Almighty surely hears the prayers that are
offered in sincerity and helps the seekers of
help as He considers proper.
But sometimes it happens that the prayer and
request for help of a person are not inspired
by sincerity and lack the humility of the heart,
and his spiritual condition is not up to the
mark, so that while his lips utter the words of
supplication his heart is inattentive or is only
making a show.
It also happens sometimes that God hears
the supplication and bestows whatever He
considers proper and most appropriate in His
perfect Wisdom, but the foolish supplicant
does not recognize the hidden favour that
God does to him and begins to complain on
account of his ignorance and unawareness.
(Brahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 1, pp.
430-431, footnote 11, The Essence of Islam, Vol. II,
pp. 228-229)
DIVINE ATTENTION IS DRAWN THROUGH
PRAYER
Is it not a satisfactory proof that from the
beginning it has been the spiritual Divine
law that, in consequence of prayer, Divine
attention is attracted and satisfaction
and contentment and true prosperity are
bestowed If in seeking an objective we are
not in error, we achieve that objective, but
if we are in error in our supplication, like the
misguided child who demands from its mother
a serpent or a burning brand, God Almighty
bestows upon us that which is better for us. In
either case, He fosters our faith, and for true
supplication we are bestowed knowledge by
God Almighty in advance and our certainty
increases as if we have seen God. There is a
relationship between prayer and acceptance
which has existed ever since man was
created. When God Almighty addresses
Himself towards the doing of a thing it is His
way that some sincere servant of His occupies
himself with prayer in restlessness, pain and
distress, and devotes the whole of his resolve
and attention towards the accomplishment of
that objective. Then the prayers of the mortal
man draw Divine grace from heaven and God
Almighty creates such new means through
which the purpose is achieved. Though such
prayer is apparently offered by man, yet in
truth that person is wholly lost in God and
at the time of supplication he arrives in the
presence of the One and Glorious with such
a stamp of being lost in God that at that
time his hand becomes the hand of God
Almighty. Such is the prayer through which
God is recognized and the existence of that
Glorious One becomes known Who is hidden
in thousands of veils.
(Ayyam-us-Sulah, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 14, pp. 238-
239, The Essence of Islam, Vol. II, pp. 208-209)
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Maryam