As Important as Breathing
bahaistories.com archive · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
In a talk at the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette on 20 March 1974, Hand of the Cause John Robarts told this story:
Once there was a young man who met a great divine. One day as they walked by the sea, he asked him to explain why prayer was so important. The divine beckoned the man to the water's edge where he told him to kneel, whereupon the divine gently but firmly pushed his head under the water and held it there. When he, in his wisdom, released his hold, the man with relief again drew air into his lungs. The divine said to him, "You see, it is indeed important! Praying is as important to you as breathing." I don't know how many of us will have to have our heads held under water to teach us to pray, but perhaps it will help to renew our faith.
Source: John Robarts, talk on the value of prayer, Bahá’í House of Worship, Wilmette, 20 March 1974; published in Bahá’í News, June 1974.
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: prayer).
Cite this story
Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/prayer
Record yourself reading this story
Recording stays on this device only. Nothing is uploaded.
Related stories
The Story of Saskatoon
A 1969 report from Canadian Bahá'í News on the Saskatoon community, where united prayer, a visit from Hand of the Cause John Robarts and a wave of young believers brought some seventy to eighty declarations in under two years.
The Missed Flight to Chicago
Hand of the Cause John Robarts told of a Toronto friend who prayed all the way to the airport, missed his flight to a Chicago wedding, and still arrived on time on another plane while the first was grounded in Detroit.
A Ladder to Heaven
John Robarts tells of friends who say they do not pray, and of a young man, sure God could never forgive him, who was comforted by the words “Prayer is a ladder by which everyone can ascend to heaven.”
A Kaross for the Guardian
In 1955 John and Audrey Robarts gave Shoghi Effendi a springbok-skin kaross from Bechuanaland. After the Guardian's passing, Rúhíyyih Khánum showed John Robarts that it had been his prayer mat.