tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734645058271734681.post3166238581270220935..comments2024-03-26T08:42:50.357-07:00Comments on One Baha'i's approach...: How to Study a PrayerMeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02046847133963919765noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734645058271734681.post-60858389329444377062013-12-11T14:20:19.359-08:002013-12-11T14:20:19.359-08:00This post really helped me reflect on how I appro...This post really helped me reflect on how I approach prayer. <br />I don't study* prayer but try to "sense" prayer. <br />Every day I read out loud many prayers concentrating on the "felt sense" (for lack of a better word). <br />If my mind wanders I bring it back to the sound of the words. Listening changes and deepens the meaning for me over time.<br /><br />*Full disclosure: As a "recovered" English literature" major I start twitching if there is any remote suggestion of STUDY for meaning, theme etc.!!<br /><br />I enjoy all your posts!Judith Westerfieldhttp://judithwesterfield.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734645058271734681.post-45592829041588385382013-12-11T09:00:38.820-08:002013-12-11T09:00:38.820-08:00Wow, Mead! These are ideas I've never thought...Wow, Mead! These are ideas I've never thought of before! Thanks for sharing these ideas!<br /><br />The concept of sharing a prayer with someone comes up as a practice in Ruhi Book 1. During that book, tutors help participants develop the ability to ask first level questions; where the answer to the question is embedded in the quote itself. So this is how I encourage people to study a prayer. <br /><br />For example, in the short obligatory prayer:<br /><br />I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth. There is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. (Baha'u'llah, Baha'i Prayers, p. 3)<br /><br />I might ask:<br /><br />To what do we bear witness? (to the purpose of our creation)<br /><br />What is the purpose of our creation? (to know and worship God)<br /><br />What are we testifying to? (our powerlessness and God's might; my poverty and God's wealth)<br /><br />I might then venture off into second and third level questions such as:<br /><br />What does it mean that we are powerless?<br />What are we powerless over in our own lives?<br />How can God's power help us through areas over which we are powerless?<br />What might God mean about our poverty?<br />What are the ways in which our lives are impoverished?<br />How can God's wealth overcome our poverty?<br />What evidence do you see in your life over God's intervention? <br /><br />Etc . . . <br /><br />Susan Gammagehttp://www.susangammage.comnoreply@blogger.com