Claims and Teachings - Ahmad The Promised Messiah and Mahdi — Page 289
289 ble- To purify one from sins is the work of God only and there is no other power on the earth's surface which can bring about that object. Hence Almighty God has enjoined prayers that they may be the means of bringing about a pure transformation and creating holy promptings and pure impulses within a man's heart* Prayers are a humble and earnest supplication to Almighty God that evil desires, evil passions and evil impulses may be suppressed and a pure love and a pure connection with the Divine Being may be generated in their place which should enable a man to walk in obedience to Divine commandments. The word used for prayers in the Muslims Law is Salat, and the presence of the idea of burning in the root meaning shows that prayer is not the utterance of certain words with the lips, but that true prayer should be accompanied with a burning of the heart for the attainment of the object prayed for. Very few persons are acquainted with the philosophy of prayer. A kind of death comes over the person who sets himself to pray for the attainment of an object. It is then that prayer is accepted. But very few persons know this. I daily receive letters in which men complain that they prayed for an object, but that their prayer was not accepted. They do not know that the utterance of certain words with the lips is not prayer. It is a necessary condition for the acceptance of prayer that the heart should completely melt before God, and the grace of God should be sought with patience and perseverance. Such prayers are gene- rally accepted. The daily prayers which are enjoined by the Mus- lim Law afford to a Muslim the best occasion for addressing his supplications to God, but the Muslims are unaware of their bless- ings. It is due to ignorance that the different sects have invented different forms of devotion for seeking the nearness of God. It is through prayers only that His nearness is attained, and this was