There is a tremendous power of Prayer.
Bahaullah says:
Intone, O My servant the verses of God that have been received by thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own soul, and attract the hearts of all men. Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance of the words uttered by his mouth, and shall cause the heart of every righteous man to throb. Though he may, at first, remain unaware of its effect yet the virtue of the grace vouchsafed unto him must needs sooner or later exercise its influence upon his soul. Thus have the mysteries of the Revelation of God been decreed by virtue of the Will of Him, Who is the source of power and wisdom.
Abdu'l-Bahá, eldest son of Bahaullah also says'It is incumbent upon thee to turn to the Kingdom of God and to pray, supplicate and invoke during all times'...'this is the means by which the soul shall ascend upward to the apex of the gift of God.'
'Turn to God, supplicate humbly at His threashold, seeking assistance and confirmation, that God may rend asunder the veils that obscure thy vision. Then will your eyes be filled with illumination, face to face you will behold the reality of God and your heart become completely purified from the dross of ignorance, reflecting the glories and bounties of the Kingdom.'
In the Bahai Faith we are given obligatory prayers. The Guardian of the Bahai Faith, Shoghi Effendi wrote to an individual believer:
"...the obligatory prayers are by their very nature of greater effectiveness and are endowed with a greater power than the non-obligatory ones..."
Abdu'l-Bahá :" The obligatory prayers are binding as they are conducive to humility and submissiveness, to setting one's face towards God and expressing devotion to Him. Through such prayer man holdeth communion with God, seeketh to draw near Him, converseth with the true Beloved of one's heart, and attaineth spiritual stations."
The Guardian: "You should rest assured that your strict adherence to the laws and observances enjoined by Bahaullah is the one power that can effectively guide and enable you to overcome the tests and trials of your life, and help you to continually grow and develope spiritually.
... These daily prayers have been endowed with a special potency which only those who regularly recite them can adequately appreciate."
The believer is to turn his/her face towards Akká , Israel, where Bahaullah is buried. The Guardian also says: "This is a physical symbol of an inner reality
just as the plant stretches out to the sunlight- from which it receives life and growth - so we turn our hearts to the Manifestation of God, Bahaullah, when we pray; and we turn our faces, during...prayer, to where His dust lies on this earth as a symbol of the inner act.
Bahaullah has reduced all ritual and form to an absolute minimum in His Faith. The few forms that there are - like those associated with the two longer daily prayers, are only symbols of the inner attitude. There is a wisdom in them, and a great blessing, but we cannot force ourselves to understand or feel these things, that is why He gave us also the very short and simple prayer, for those who did not feel the desire to perform the acts associated with the other two."
"The meaning of... Point of Adoration, to which we turn in prayer is perhaps the most important ritual act of all. It concentrates all our attention on the Manifestation of God by our turning to His earthly resting-place. Shoghi Effendi cautions us, though....:" ( Prayer a Bahai Approach)"In prayer the believers can turn their consciousness toward the Shrine of Bahaullah, provided that in doing so they have a clear and correct understanding of His station as a Manifestation
of God."
Short obligatory Prayer:
I bear witness, O my God, that thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify. at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth.
There is none other God but Thee, the help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.