When we pray, we must always remember that we are in the presence of God, the Almighty, and show humility before Him. In prayer, we express our deep love and respect for God and act with reverence. We sit quietly in a prayerful posture and take a few moments before beginning to pray, in order to cleanse our minds of the things of this world. Some people like to fold their arms or clasp their hands together. Many people close their eyes so they are not distracted by things around them. The prayers that we recite every day can be chosen from those we know by heart or from those we find in prayer books. Once we have finished reciting a prayer, we remain still and silent, reflecting on its words. When another person is praying, we feel as though we are praying ourselves. We listen closely to the words the other is saying and maintain a reverent attitude.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá encouraged the Bahá’ís to keep their thoughts centered solely on God when praying. He urged them to forget the things of this world, what is going on around them, and even their own selves. To those who saw ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in prayer, it seemed as if He had been carried away to another world. He was free of distractions, completely absorbed in conversation with God. As we focus our thoughts on God and pray to Him with reverence, we, too, feel our hearts overflow with His love. To help us remember how we conduct ourselves during prayer, let us memorize the following words of Bahá’u’lláh:

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.

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.

Ask your students to raise up their arms, stretch them to the sky, and then relax.  They should do this three or four times.

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, turn halfway around, and then freeze
TWIST FREEZE: Jump in the air, turn 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 that 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.