Prayer is a vital part of Bahá'í spiritual life.

Bahá'ís believe that prayer is more than making requests to God; it's more like a conversation with God in contrast to meditation, which is like a conversation with one's inner spirit.

So Bahá'ís believe that it is not the language which is important, but rather the attitude of mind in which prayer is made.

Baha'u'llah said that brief and joyful prayer was better than long but wearying prayer.

The aim and results of prayer

Prayer is intended to help Bahá'ís get closer to God, so its aim is change the person who is praying, and not to change God.

Bahá'ís do pray to change things. But the highest form of prayer is to change oneself, to come closer to God and to give praise to God.

The purpose of the obligatory prayers is to cultivate humility and devotion.

Prayer and Action

Bahá'ís believe that prayer and action go together.

A Bahá'í faced with an issue would pray about it, meditate on what they should do, and then do it.

Even if the action they take is wrong, they believe that God can use that action to help them discover what they should do.

This reinforces the concept of the Bahá'í relationship with God as a dialogue.

Prayer is not seen as an end in itself nor as sufficient on its own for a Bahá'í to grow. Shoghi Effendi wrote in 1944:

"Prayer and meditation are very important factors in deepening the spiritual life of the individual, but with them must go also action and example, as these are the tangible results of the former. Both are essential."