Three Questions by a Christian and their Answers — Page 68
68 vour, is that the former does not require a person to be righteous and a friend of God, nor does it necessitate that God, having accepted the prayer, should grant tidings of its acceptance through His specific communication, nor do these prayers relate to such lofty matters that their accep- tance should be regarded as wonderful or extraordinary. On the other hand, prayers which are accepted as a favour, possess the following visible signs: 1. The one who prays is God-fearing, righteous and perfect. 2. He is informed of the acceptance of his prayers through Divine word. 3. Most of the prayers that are accepted are of a very high order and relate to difficult and complicated matters, and their acceptance, when it comes, strikes everyone as some- thing beyond the power of man, and a manifestation of extraordinary Divine power which He displays only for His chosen ones. 4. Whereas the acceptance of prayer by way of trial is a rare phenomenon, the acceptance of prayer as a favour is quite a frequent one. At times, a person whose prayers are heard by way of favour, is engrossed by such grave diffi- culties that no one in his place could have escaped them except by committing suicide. This is exactly what hap- pens: people who worship the world, and have forsaken God, are at times afflicted by such terrible woes and dis- eases and insoluble problems, that their own lack of faith makes them despair of God, and they end up taking some