Copyright © 2026 Rehema Marie Clarken, Hyacinth Publishing House All rights reserved. To request permissions, contact Hyacinth Publishing House. First edition October 2026 ISBN print 979-8-9899938-2-6 ISBN ebook 979-8-9899938-3-3 Edited by Rehema Marie Clarken, Michelle Goering, and Anne Gordon Perry Cover art by Lora Jost Published in the United States by Hyacinth Publishing House, Hancock, Michigan www.hyacinthpublishinghouse.com
Contents Preface Introduction
ix xiii
The Bridge
1
The Power of the Number Five Hundred in Prayer
9
God Used the Tablet of Ahmad to Reach Me
19
Looking for Con"rmation
25
An Auspicious Meeting
29
A Hundred Thousand Hopes: My Thoughts on the Power of Prayer
35
Prayer to Live: A Whitewater Rafting Adventure
41
When Prayers Elude Me
47
When the Dust Rises, We Listen
51
How to Hear God
61
Prairie God
67
Tuning in to the Promptings of the Spirit
75
Within
79
Andrea Torrey Balsara
Beverly Bassett
Littlebrave Beaston Lida Berghuis Lida Berghuis
Rehema Marie Clarken
Rehema Marie Clarken Rehema Marie Clarken Kim Douglas
Gina Erickson
Paula M. Fitzgibbons Michelle Goering Ann L. Heiden
Candle Flames
85
Timeless Answers to Prayers
91
A Healing Circle of Prayers
99
Sacred Pause
105
Fear Not
107
Sotto Voce or Fortissimo: God Hears Our Prayers
113
The Way Home
119
Random Act of Kindness?
129
The Mystery of Prayer
133
Three Left Turns
141
Testing the Prayers
149
More Than One Way for a Healing Prayer to Heal
155
Haikus
165
My Go-To Prayer: The Remover of Di"culties
167
Equatorial Invocation
173
When God Speaks, Listen
185
Duane L. Herrmann Chris Kavelin
Tahirih Lemon Mary F. Lenox
Nancy McKeand
Kim Mennillo
Sharon Nesbit-Davis Judith Partelow
Anne Gordon Perry
Katherine McKenzie Phillips Katherine McKenzie Phillips
V. Naledi Raspberry
Caroline (Cindy) Ravines Tammy Rhoades-Baldwin Taráz Samandarí Jaine Ellen Toth
AJ, Me, and Prayer
195
Always With You
201
Acknowledgments About the Authors Notes
209
Deborah Clark Vance Nazanin Zargarpour
213 221
Introduction Prayer is considered universal, existing across cultures, religions, and spiritual traditions around the world. It serves common purposes such as seeking guidance, expressing gratitude, asking for help, or connecting with a higher power or inner self. Despite variations in form and practice, the act of prayer re!ects a fundamental human tendency to seek meaning, comfort, and connection beyond oneself, making it a widespread, enduring aspect of human experience. Mahatma Gandhi called prayer a “longing of the soul” and “the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening.” 1 Mother Teresa a"rmed that “God speaks in the silence of the heart, and we listen.” 2 Martin Luther King, Jr. described prayer as “indigenous to the human spirit. It represents a throbbing desire of the human heart.” 3 And Søren Kierkegaard posited that prayer does not change God, but it changes the person who prays. 4 When we invited creative writers to share their stories about prayer, we had no idea of the breadth and diversity of experiences they would o#er. Most, but not all, re!ect a Bahá’í perspective. Some describe the path of seeking and discovering the Bahá’í Faith as an answer to prayer. Others echo their religious, cultural, or ethnic background. In the Bahá’í Faith, prayer holds a signi$cant place in the spiritual life and development of individuals and communities. According to the Bahá’í Writings, prayer is not only a means of communicating with God but also a powerful tool for fostering
Introduction
humility, dependence, and a deepened connection to the divine. Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, emphasizes the importance of prayer as a way to uplift the soul and attain divine favor, underscoring the idea that genuine prayer involves the surrender of one’s ego and the opening of the heart to divine guidance. The Bahá’í Writings also address the importance of consistency in prayer. Bahá’u’lláh says, “Recite ye the verses of God every morn and eventide,” 5 and His son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains that “supplication to God at morn and eve is conducive to the joy of hearts, and prayer causes spirituality and fragrance.” 6 Regular prayer serves to reinforce one’s spiritual discipline, foster a consciousness of God’s presence, and cultivate virtues such as patience, humility, and compassion. Prayer, in the Bahá’í view, is also a collective act that promotes unity and harmony among people, fostering a sense of community rooted in shared devotion to God. In terms of approaching the Deity we call God, ‘Abdu’lBahá reportedly advised, “When you wish to pray you must "rst know that you are standing in the presence of the Almighty!” 7 And He describes how each heart is like a “telegraph station— one terminus of the wire attached to the soul, the other "xed in the Supreme Concourse—so that inspiration may descend . . . and questions of reality be discussed. Then opinions will coincide with truth; day by day there will be progression.” 8 Prayer, then, is a tool for communication, a spiritual language. To a pilgrim, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reportedly said,
[W]e should speak in the language of heaven—in the language of the spirit—for there is a language of the spirit and heart. It is as di#erent from our language as our own language is di#erent from xiv
The Power of the Number Five Hundred in Prayer Beverly Bassett
I
t was a nightmare roller coaster commencing in the late hours of June 4, 1998, at the hospital emergency room in rural Oregon. From the triage check-in to four hours of apprehensive waiting in the Arctic air of the emergency room for a diagnosis, to the eventual admittance to the hospital. My dear husband Robert was by then in a terrifying state of psychosis. I can still feel the inky grayness that shrouded me in my statue-like pose; the prayer beads clenched in my hand hung still. Beside me my beloved husband moaned and writhed. Every so often his upper body arose straight up into a sitting position, jerked, and then "opped back down. He relayed later that it was like a sledgehammer was being slammed against his head with a force that "ung him upright and then back down when it dissipated. A symphony of whispering footsteps, beeps and alarms played non-stop. Flashing lights danced along with the rhythm of the hospital wing. The cacophony distracted me from my prayers. My thoughts traveled back to the past when we #rst found love, then our Faith, and experienced the power of prayer. I let myself enjoy the balm of healing thoughts as I knew that soon we would be back riding the nightmare roller coaster.
A Hundred Thousand Hopes: My Thoughts on the Power of Prayer Rehema Marie Clarken
O
First published on BahaiBlog.net, 2025. Reprinted here with permission.
ften when I pray, I get exactly what I want. Sometimes it happens immediately, but other times, I discover years later what gifts were prepared for me. A decade ago, my father was working in Haifa as a volunteer. For me, one of the many blessings of his seven years at the Bahá’í World Center was that I visited on numerous occasions and stayed for two or three weeks at a stretch. In many ways, these times were similar to a pilgrimage because I was able to visit the Holy Shrines to pray and meditate on my path of service. A dozen years ago, I visited my father over a long school vacation. I went alone because my husband was working at a summer school and could not take time o". During those days in the Holy Land, I would walk the paths through the gardens to pray at the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel or I would #nd a sherut taxi to escort me to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh in Bahjí. Friends had prepared me for this experience by encouraging me to take time in these Holy Places to be fully present. Thus, I
A Hundred Thousand Hopes
memorized the details so that whenever I needed to return the memories would bring me back. I looked at the Persian carpets with intricate designs, the Chinese vases !lled with dozens of roses, and the kumquat bushes planted in the garden. Then, my eye fell upon a lamp. I thought to myself: “What is it made of? Is it gold leaf or just gold-colored paint?” I scolded myself for wondering about interior decorating when I was in such a special site. However, this passing thought led me to know that Bahá’u’lláh will answer all my questions—no matter how big or small they may be! Over the next few days of my visit, I met several people who allayed my curiosities. In a sherut taxi, I sat next to an artist who restored the ornamentations in and around these Holy Places. She told me all about the laborious e"orts needed to keep the artwork in pristine condition. At a dinner, I heard how speci!c vases were gifted by di"erent national Bahá’í communities and carefully transported to Israel. I learned about Rúhíyyih Khánum’s visits to antiques dealers to procure ornamentations for the buildings and gardens. Without asking, my questions about decorations were answered. With a chuckle, I knew how generous these encounters had been and that I should be mindful what I thought about in the Shrines. During that July visit, I meditated on my life choices. My husband and I were pioneering internationally. We lived in a megacity where there were supposedly many other Bahá’ís too. However, after a few years of trying to meet people and make friends, I felt isolated and alone. I did not know many people in my local community, and I had few acquaintances whom I trusted. I prayed to !nd other Bahá’ís to help in the teaching e"orts in my school community where I worked. I went to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh and asked for assistance. 36
How to Hear God Gina Erickson Yogas citta vrtti nirodhah. Yoga is the stilling of the changing states of the mind. —The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
W
hen I was little, my mind was still. I would close my eyes, turn inward, and listen. Sometimes, I would press my palms tightly against my ears to hear my heart drumming in my chest. I could spend hours tucked behind the rocking chair watching the !ltered sunlight dance across the ceiling. I often talked to God. I asked Him a lot of questions, and I felt His answers in my belly. The questions were basic. Is it safe to walk on this trail? Can I eat this berry? If I felt butter"ies, the answer was yes. If there was no sensation— or, in extreme cases, nausea—the answer was no. It was all very simple during my preschool years. They were mostly !lled with the smell of fresh-baked bread and the sound of my mom softly humming hymns in the kitchen. Then came kindergarten with yelling children and the acrid mixture of diesel and vinyl school bus seats. The outside world was noisy, and it was di$cult for me to hear the quiet “knowing” inside my abdomen. So, I searched elsewhere for answers. In school, I looked to the top of my paper to tell me how I was doing. Was it a yellow smiley-face sticker or the dreaded red ink check mark? I learned from the other kids
A Hundred Thousand Hopes
what toys to ask for at Christmas and the best games to play. In Sunday school, I learned to pray aloud. Dear Jesus, be with us today. Open our hearts to Thy love. The noise only increased as a teen. I looked to my friends to learn what clothes to wear and what activities were cool. Fun kids stayed up all night eating junk food, smoking cigarettes, and playing Truth or Dare, so I would push to stay awake all night, ignoring the dull headache creeping in. By sunrise, I would have a migraine. I remember one morning after a night like this my friends, who were unfazed by the lack of sleep, planned a day at the beach. I sat listening to their excited voices with my head slumped over a sleeping bag rolled in my lap, waiting for my mom to pick me up. The shame rising with the bile in my throat, Why can’t I be fun? I tried harder to keep up with my friends, and I ignored my body’s need for rest. I was constantly worried and run-down. I drank co!ee for energy and smoked cigarettes until I was sick. I compared my clothes, my body, my life to everyone around me, always thinking I fell short. The chatter in my mind grew, so I kept moving. I worked long hours and stayed out late. I would do anything to avoid being alone. Alone meant quiet, and in the quiet I felt an uneasiness that as an adult I would learn was anxiety.
II My second child was born with special needs the same year the "rst iPhone came out. Now I could measure myself against virtually everyone in the world. I could reach into my back pocket and search for answers any time of day. As my list of questions grew, so did my anxiety, especially as a parent. Will she ever walk? Will she learn to talk? How common is hearing 62
End of this sample. To learn more or to purchase this book, Please visit Bahaibookstore.com or your favorite bookseller.