This Interfaith Devotional program focuses on the importance of being steadfast in one’s faith in God. These readings have been selected from various religious traditions. Please come and join us on Sundays at 9:30 am at the Beaverton Baha’i Center.
Opening Prayer
O Lord my God! Assist Thy loved ones to be firm in Thy Faith, to walk in Thy ways, to be steadfast in Thy Cause. Give them Thy grace to withstand the onslaught of self and passion, to follow the light of divine guidance. Thou art the Powerful, the Gracious, the Self-Subsisting, the Bestower, the Compassionate, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful.
Bahá’í Faith, `Abdu’l-Bahá
First Reading
Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
Christianity, Philippians 1:27-28
How can I serve Thee? The greatest service is thine own firmness and steadfastness and thy withstanding severe trials when they come. Through firmness thou wilt perceive the opening of the doors of grace.
Bahá’í Faith, `Abdu’l-Bahá
Music
Second Reading
O ye crying voices … Make level the path of the Covenant of God! Be firm in the Alliance of God! Ye shall soon behold the lights of confirmation shining forth unto your hearts and your spirits from the Kingdom of God. Stand up, as the standing of the souls by whose lights of sincerity in the Cause of God the horizons are shining…
Bahá’í Faith, `Abdu’l-Bahá
O People of the Book! Ye have no ground to stand upon unless ye stand fast by the Law, the Gospel, and all the revelation that has come to you from your Lord. Those who believe in the Qur’án, those who follow the Jewish scriptures, and the Sabians and the Christians, any who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness — on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.
Islam, Qur’an Surih 5:71-72
O friends of God: Make firm your feet in the Cause of God with such firmness as cannot be shaken by the most great disasters of this world. Be not troubled by anything under any condition. Be as lofty mountains, dawning stars from the horizon of existence, brilliant lamps in the assemblies of oneness and lowly souls, pure hearted, with the friends.
Be signs of guidance; lights of piety; severed from the world, holding fast to the firm rope; spreaders of the spirit of life; abiders in the ark of safety; manifestations of mercy; dawning-stars of the mysteries of existence; points of revelation; day-springs of light; strengthened by the Holy Spirit; attracted toward God; sanctified from all things and from the (natural) qualities of people, and characterized with the attributes of the angels of heaven – so ye may attain to the greatest gift in this great century and new age.
Bahá’í Faith, `Abdu’l-Bahá
Music
Third Reading
Whereso any doeth all his deeds renouncing self for Me, full of Me, fixed to serve only the Highest, night and day musing on Me, him will I swiftly lift forth from life’s ocean of distress and death, whose soul clings fast to Me. Cling thou to Me! Clasp Me with heart and mind! so shalt thou dwell surely with Me on high. But if thy thought droops from such height; if thou art weak to set heart and mind on me ceaselessly, despair not! Give Me lower service, worshipping with steadfast will; And, if thou canst not worship steadfastly, work for Me, toil in works pleasing to Me! For he that laboreth right for love of Me shall finally attain! But, if in this thy faint heart fails, bring Me thy failure! Find refuge in Me! Let fruits of labor go, renouncing hope for Me, with lowliest heart. So shalt thou come; for, though to know is more than diligence, yet worship better is than knowing, and renouncing better still. Near to renunciation- very near- Dwelleth Eternal Peace!
Hinduism, Bhagavad-Gita
Today the greatest of all affairs in the Cause is firmness and steadfastness. A tree will not give fruit unless it be firmly rooted. A foundation will not last unless it be firm. There is nothing in this world of man greater than firmness. A soul who is firm will become a son of the Kingdom of God and will be confirmed with the power of the Holy Spirit. … I ask the True One and supplicate Him that thou shalt remain firm in the Cause of God as an unshakable mountain and that the whirlwinds of test shall never have any effect upon thee; nay, rather that thou shalt be the cause of the firmness of others.
I ask God to make ye lamps ignited by the great Light, so that ye may stand with all power, meekness, humbleness, sacrifice and self-resignation and thus become examples for the people and pure types for the world, be salt of the earth, stars of guidance, great trees with broad foliage and excellent fruits of fragrant scent, growing by the bounty of the cloud of the Kingdom of God.
Bahá’í Faith, `Abdu’l-Bahá
Music
Open Prayers
Music
Fourth Reading
Endeavor and supplicate and pray God that, day unto day, thy firmness and steadfastness may grow and that thy countenance may radiate through the light of guidance. Thus shalt thou stand solid as an iron mountain. For firmness attracts the bounty of God and steadfastness is a magnet to receive His strength. Pray thou God for this attainment.
Bahá’í Faith, `Abdu’l-Bahá
Set your faith fast on Me! Fix heart and thought on Me! Adore Me! Bring offerings to Me! Make Me prostrations! Make Me your supremest joy! And, undivided, unto My rest, your spirits shall be guided.
Hinduism, Bhagavad-Gita
Closing Prayer
Make firm our steps, O Lord, in Thy path and strengthen Thou our hearts in Thine obedience. Turn our faces toward the beauty of Thy oneness, and gladden our bosoms with the signs of Thy divine unity. Adorn our bodies with the robe of Thy bounty, and remove from our eyes the veil of sinfulness, and give us the chalice of Thy grace; that the essence of all beings may sing Thy praise before the vision of Thy grandeur. Reveal then Thyself, O Lord, by Thy merciful utterance and the mystery of Thy divine being, that the holy ecstasy of prayer may fill our souls – a prayer that shall rise above words and letters and transcend the murmur of syllables and sounds – that all things may be merged into nothingness before the revelation of Thy splendor. Lord! These are servants that have remained fast and firm in Thy Covenant and Thy Testament, that have held fast unto the cord of constancy in Thy Cause and clung unto the hem of the robe of Thy grandeur. Assist them, O Lord, with Thy grace, confirm with Thy power and strengthen their loins in obedience to Thee. Thou art the Pardoner, the Gracious.
Bahá’í Faith, `Abdu’l-Bahá
- Cover – Firm in Thy Faith
- Local Cover – Firm in Thy Faith
- Program – Firm in Thy Faith
- Program (rtf) – Firm in Thy Faith
- Readings – Firm in Thy Faith
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