STORY

During His travels in America, ‘Abdu’l-Baha once accepted to teach a very devoted Baha’i how to pray. He told him to come to His residence at daybreak the next day.  The believer’s heart was filled with joy.  He rose at dawn and rushed to the residence of ‘Abdu’l-Baha.  When he entered the room of the Master, he found Him already in prayer.  Realizing that he could not ask the Master any questions, he decided to do the same.  So, he kneeled on the floor and began to pray.  He prayed silently for his relatives, his friends, and himself.  When he finished, he looked up and saw that ‘Abdu’l-Baha was still deep in prayer.  So he decided to pray some more. He repeated all the prayers he knew over and over. Still, there was no movement from ‘Abdu’l-Baha. 

Now, the believer noticed that one of his knees was beginning to ache and that his back was feeling uncomfortable.  Next, he heard the birds singing outside.  Glancing around the room, he observed a large crack in the wall.  Then he looked at the Master again, and all of a sudden, the expression on ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s face created in him a strong desire to pray.  He forgot everything else.  The only desire in his heart was to be close to God and to converse with Him.  He began to pray in a way that he had never prayed before. The Master had taught him how to pray.

At that very moment, ‘Abdu’l-Baha arose, approached him with a smile, and said: “When you pray, you must not think of your aching body, nor of the birds outside the window, nor of the cracks in the wall!  When you wish to pray you must first know that you are standing in the presence of the Almighty!”

As always, this period of the class begins with activities that are intended to help the children develop skills and abilities to participate effectively in creative drama.

1. Start by asking the children to stand in their imaginary squares.  To make sure that their squares are well defined, have each of them walk along the border or his or her own square.
2. Ask your students to raise up their arms, stretching them to the sky, and then relax.  They should do this three or four times.
3. For this next exercise, move out of their imaginary squares.  Tell them that they are to walk around randomly in the area where the class is being held, making sure not to bump into one another.  While they are walking, you will call out a series of commands that they should instantly obey.  The commands, which you should demonstrate to the children, are as follows:

FREEZE: stop all movement instantly, and stand perfectly still
TURN FREEZE: Turn halfway around and then freeze instantly
JUMP FREEZE: Jump in the air, turning halfway around, and then freeze
TWIST FREEZE: Jump in the air, turning around in a full circle and then freeze.

Explain to the children that, once they have frozen, they should hold their positions until you give them the signal to move again.  It is suggested that you ask the children to practice each of the four commands while still standing in their imaginary squares.  Then begin.  You should feel free to call out the commands as many times as you wish, in any order.

Now, move on to the activities related to the theme of the lesson, which is about how we pray.  For this part of the lesson, you will need a prayer book/  Explain to the children that they will carry out a series of exercises which will help them understand what it means to treat a special object with reverence.  We can show reverence, tell them, in the way we position our bodies, in the way we position our bodies, in the way we move, and in the way we use our voices. 

1. Begin by asking the children to return silently to their imaginary squares and to stand in a reverent posture.  After a few moments, have them move into a reverent sitting position.
2. Now, tell the children to imagine that they are holding a baby bird in their hands.  Ask them to show that they are handling the bird gently and carefully.
3. Next, tell the children to imagine that they are servants standing before the throne of a mighty kind Ask them to show you how they would bow down before the king with respect and obedience.  
4. Finally, hold the prayer book for the children to see.  Explain that this object is special because it contains the Word of God revealed by His Manifestation that we can read when turning to Him in love and devotion.  Tell them that each child will have the chance to hold the prayer book, which they must handle with gentleness and reverence.  Ask the children to stand up in their squares.  Give the book to one of the children and ask him or her to pass it to the next child, who should pass it to the next, and so on.  As they pass it, one should say, “It is your turn to hold the special book.”  After handing the book over, every child should return to his or her imaginary square and sit in stillness and silence with their eyes closed. The last child standing should return the book to you and then also sit. 
5. After a few moments, you can gently thank the children for handling the prayer book with reverence.  Tell them that when they feel a tap on their shoulder and hear the words “thank you”, they may stand up, then gently tap another child and say “thank you”.   You may start by tapping one of the children and softly saying “thank you”.  The last child to be tapped may say “Thank you everyone!” as he/she joins the rest of the class.