Service Is Prayer

97 Cadogan Gardens, London, December 26th, 1912

‘Should Prayer take the form of action?’

‘Abdu’l-Bahá.—‘Yes: In the Bahá’í Cause arts, sciences and all crafts are (counted as) worship. The man who makes a piece of notepaper to the best of his ability, conscientiously, concentrating all his forces on perfecting it, is giving praise to God. Briefly, all effort and exertion put forth by man from the fullness of his heart is worship, if it is prompted by the highest motives and the will to do service to humanity. This is worship: to serve mankind and to minister to the needs of the people. Service is prayer. A physician ministering to the sick, gently, tenderly, free from prejudice and believing in the solidarity of the human race, he is giving praise’.

‘What is the purpose of our lives?’

‘Abdu’l-Bahá.—‘To acquire virtues. We come from the earth; why were we transferred from the mineral to the vegetable kingdom—from the plant to the animal kingdom? So that we may attain perfection in each of these kingdoms, that we may possess the best qualities of the mineral, that we may acquire the power of growing as in the plant, that we may be adorned with the instincts of the animal and possess the faculties of sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste, until from the animal kingdom we step into the world of humanity and are gifted with reason, the power of invention, and the forces of the spirit.’

Source: 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks (Bahá'í Publishing Trust). Public domain text from Project Gutenberg eBook #19284.

'Abdu'l-Bahá. (1912). *Paris Talks*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19284/pg19284-images.html