one day I open my Bible and am surprised to see what i see. and then it dawns upon me. neysan, obviously…progressive Revelation. could have thought of that earlier. in any case, it is most beautiful to see.
in Matthew 6 it is most fantastically (it’s the Word of God!) written:
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: 
for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
After this manner therefore pray ye:
Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.
and strikingly or not, this is Baha’u'llah’s words on prayer:
Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance of the words uttered by his mouth, and shall cause the heart of every righteous man to throb.
Let not thy tongue pay lip service in praise of God while thy heart be not attuned to the exalted Summit of Glory, and the Focal Point of communion.
Recite ye the verses of God in such measure that ye be not overtaken with fatigue or boredom. Burden not your souls so as to cause exhaustion and weigh them down, but rather endeavour to lighten them, that they may soar on the wings of revealed Verses unto the dawning-place of His signs.
a friend of ours in Trinidad told us that when he was small, growing up in a Muslim family, his father took him to mosque every week. the congregation would sit along the walls, while the clergy would sit in the centre of the room reading the Holy Verses of the Qur’an in arabic. they would neither explain (maybe better so), nor translate. thus the congregation would sit and listen to the Word of God being read, in a language they did not understand.
how beneficial is Baha’u'llah’s command to read the Writings every day. it enables us to be an active participant in our own personal spiritual development. it is both a responsibility and a blessing. Take your Hidden Words and read!
thanks, I needed that…….learning to let my heart to throb…..
When some things become mundance, repetitive, and a chore, it also becomes a form of lip service and that’s not good. So I believe we should always strive to renew our passion for God the moment our faith become lukewarm.