Claims and Teachings - Ahmad The Promised Messiah and Mahdi — Page 300
300 faculties applied toi its attainment The desire to get at it should cause an unrest to his soul and inspire it with true zeal and sincerity for its possession. In saying his prayers he should also aim at true holiness which is the necessary consequence of sincere prayers, for the Holy Quran says: cjli'^J ) ^ '&> ^*s*) ) ^ ) "Verily good deeds, i. e. prayers, drive away evils. " The deep and I)ivine delight which prayers afford and the true holiness which they effect, should be the objects which a man should set before himself in saying his prayers, and he should further pray to God that his prayers may be like those of the true and faithful ser- vants of God and be blessed with like blessings. " "Some men think that prayer may be "resorted to, but prayer means only worship of God and it is a deed of merit which will be rewarded hereafter. This is a serious error. Every devotion, which is devoid of true spirituality and every reward which is vainly looked for at some future moment, is a worthless thing or an idle hope. Sincere worship of God and true reward make their light and blessings felt in this very world. It is the sign of the acceptance of our devotions that when praying to God we witness with our spiritual eye that a panacean light descends from God, nullifying the effect of the poisonous matters in our heart, and falling upon us like a flame of fire burns away the carnal desires and fills the heart with certainty and with a holy feeling of love and joy, and opens the breast for receiving truths and heavenly wisdom. If the mind does not experience these things our worship and devotions are nothing more than lifeless ceremonies. Every prayer, though it be for the removal of our worldly difficulties, casts a benignant influence on our minds. Ib first strengthens our faith and increases our Divine knowledge, and after granting a security, openness and blissfulness to the mind, it then dispels the gloom of our distresses and banishes