Family prayer and reading
Reading of Sacred Writings and prayers should ideally become a daily family activity[edit]
"If the believer is the only one of his family who has embraced the Faith, it is his duty to endeavor to lead as many other family members as possible to the light of divine guidance. As soon as a Bahá'í family unit emerges, the members should feel responsible for making the collective life of the family a spiritual reality, animated by divine love and inspired by the ennobling principles of the Faith. To achieve this purpose, the reading of the Sacred Writings and prayers should ideally become a daily family activity. As far as the teaching work is concerned, just as individuals are called upon to adopt teaching goals, the family itself could adopt its own goals. In this way the friends could make of their families strong healthy units, bright candles for the diffusion of the light of the Kingdom, and powerful centers to attract the heavenly confirmations."
- (Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated April 17, 1981, to all National Spiritual Assemblies; quoted in Developing Distinctive Bahá'í Communities, pp. 7.19-7.20; quoted also in Lights of Guidance, p. 225)
When teaching children prayers, it is desirable not to use gestures and movement (for reverence and dignity)[edit]
"Through the revealed prayers we seek communion with God; hence they must be offered with the utmost reverence and dignity. In teaching children to say prayers, it is desirable, even where an attitude of devotion prevails, not to use gestures and movement lest they become habitual accompaniments to those prayers."
- (On behalf of the Universal House of Justice, "Music lyrics, Singing, and Dancing at Feast", March 1994)
Mothers of Bahá'í children or some Assembly committee might choose excerpts from the Sacred Words for child rather than something made up[edit]
"Regarding minute No. 507, the Guardian feels that it would be better for either the mothers of Bahá'í children--or some committee your Assembly might delegate the task to--to choose excerpts from the Sacred Words to be used by the child rather than just something made up. Of course prayer can be purely spontaneous, but many of the sentences and thoughts combined in Bahá'í writings of a devotional nature are easy to grasp, and the revealed Word is endowed with a power of its own...."
- (Shoghi Effendi, Unfolding Destiny, p. 154)
See also[edit]
Mother reading or singing the Odes to the children at bedtime[edit]
Need for children to (be taught to) recite the verses for themselves[edit]
Application Question[edit]
If one's community has community dawn prayers, would this recommendation be fulfilled?
