“Prayer,” says `Abdu’l-Bahá, “is conversation with God.” In order that God may make known His mind and will to human beings, He must speak to us in a language which we can understand, and this He does through the guidance of the Manifestations. While the Manifestations of God are alive They speak with women and men face to face and convey to them the Message of God, and after Their death Their message continues to reach people’s minds through their recorded sayings and writings. But this is not the only way in which God can commune with and inspire those whose hearts are seeking after truth, wherever they are, and whatever their native race or tongue. By this language the Manifestation continues to hold converse with the faithful after His departure from the material world. `Abdu’l-Bahá speaks much of this spiritual language. He says, for instance:
We 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 different from our language as our own language is different from that of the animals, who express themselves only by cries and sounds. It is the language of the spirit which speaks to God. When, in prayer, we are freed from all outward things and turn to God, then it is as if in our hearts we hear the voice of God. Without words we speak, we communicate, we converse with God and hear the answer. … All of us, when we attain to a truly spiritual condition, can hear the Voice of God.
Conversation with God
