Businesses shaken, earnings diminished, affairs scattered: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá prays over hardship in exactly those plain words, asking God to gather what is scattered and turn difficulty into ease. Prayer for prosperity never pretends that material need is unspiritual. A man whose patience under poverty is spent, a family needing protection, a new company needing resources, a friend who simply wants worldly comfort, all find their place before God, who feeds the birds of the air each day. Yet the same prayers keep widening the request. Bahá’u’lláh asks for what will profit him in this world and the next, in every world of God, and what will establish him in service among his fellow creatures; true riches are named alongside means, and spiritual independence alongside wealth. The Qur’an draws the same contrast between a supplicant who asks only for the bounty of this world and one who seeks good both here and hereafter [1]. Praying this way becomes an education of desire, teaching a person what to want and how to use what arrives. The path continues into the status of material wealth, the relationship between wealth and poverty, and the broader life of prayer.
Lord! Their businesses have been shaken, their earnings diminished, and their affairs scattered, so gather what is scattered by Thy grace, O Giver, O Provider, and change their hardship to ease, their difficulty to comfort, bless them with abundant life and happiness, deliver them from anxiety, recklessness and suffering, ordain for them in Thy kingdom every good, and ward off from them by the power of Thy might every harm, that they may continue journeying on the exemplary path and become independent of others in this worldly life and spread the sweet fragrances wafting from the Garden of the Most Glorious.
O Lord, his patience is exhausted from hardship, and his tribulation has intensified through poverty, and he is afflicted with adversity after prosperity and constriction after ease, and he has no patience left for this trial. Therefore open unto him the gates of heaven and grant him through Thy mercy from Thy bounties, and transform his hardship into ease and affluence, and elevate his station among the princes, and make him a sign of Thy greatest gift among all people until his peers envy him and his relatives rejoice in him.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1907-May-20, to Ali Muhammad Shirazi -- AB02302)
03
Lord! Pitiful are we, grant us Thy favor; poor, bestow upon us a share from the ocean of Thy wealth; needy, do Thou satisfy us; abased, give us Thy glory. The fowls of the air and the beasts of the field receive their meat each day from Thee, and all beings partake of Thy care and loving-kindness.
"These bitter days, more bitter than poison, shall pass
Once again days sweet as sugar shall come."
Through God's grace, I also seek worldly comfort for thee.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1909-May-30, to Fadl Ali Shamsabadi -- AB06695)
The available source contains an omission or incomplete wording; sentence boundaries need review.
05
O God! Make these poor ones wealthy and these oppressed ones honored. Grant these wandering ones stability and these sorrowful ones eternal joy.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1920-Aug-19, to Baha'is of Sarjam et al -- AB01612)
06
O Lord! Make every needy one wealthy, and grant healing to every afflicted one. Guide every poor one to the treasury of the spirit, and free every captive from the chains of limitations.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to Mirza Abdu'l-Husayn (related to Ammih) -- AB07374)
07
Grant him means and bestow upon him wealth, grant him true riches from Thy celestial treasury and spiritual independence.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to Hasan Bazzaz Tihrani -- AB12715)
08
O God! O Bestower of gifts, Remover of veils, Enricher of the poor, Provider for the weak, Quickener of decayed bones, Opener of the gates of bounty and blessings to all nations! I beseech You by Your Most Great Name and by the mystical symbol to open upon us the gates of blessings from all directions, and make for us a way out, and provide for us from whence we know not, and enrich us through Your riches, O All-Possessing One, O Generous One, O Gracious One!
Make for us a sign of blessing, manifest and evident to all eyes, and illumine our faces with the lights of bounty, and open for us the treasures of mercy in hearts, of divine gifts in spirits, and of wealth in bodies. Verily You are the Bestower, the All-Bountiful.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to Usku'i, Ali Asghar et al -- AB07162)
09
My Lord, these are servants who have spent their wealth in Thy path and have given what they possess in Thy love so that good may be established among Thy creation and that the cooperation and mutual assistance which Thou hast commanded Thy servants in Thy Books and Tablets may come to pass. My Lord, accept from them this spending and send down upon them a blessing from Thee in this radiant age so that the people of the world may follow their example and spend their wealth in the path of righteousness and in aid of their fellows.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1907-Feb-28, to Baha'is of the world -- AB04952)
10
Say: O my God! I beseech Thee by Thy Name, the All-Encompassing over all things, to ordain for me that which shall profit me in this world and the next, and shall establish me in Thy service amongst Thy creatures.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1290-05-15 [1873-Jul-11], to Mirza Kuchak -- BH10905)
11
O my Lord! I beseech Thee by the lights of Thy countenance and the mysteries of Thy Book to ordain for me that which will benefit me in my life and after my death.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1306-08-01 [1889-Apr-2], to Mirza Ali Servant of Khadijih Bagum -- BH05417)
12
I beseech Thee by Thy mercy which hath preceded all existence, both seen and unseen, to ordain for me that which shall profit me in every world of Thy worlds.
(Bahá’u’lláh, to Mirza Nabil Qabl-i-Ba et al -- BH10060)
13
I beseech Thee, O Cleaver of the Dawn, by the pearls of the ocean of Thy knowledge and by the mysteries hidden in Thy knowledge and the penetration of Thy Command and the power of Thy Pen, to ordain for me what is best in this world and the next.
I beseech Thee by the ocean of Thy bounty and the heaven of Thy generosity to ordain for me that which will draw me nigh unto Thee, and to decree for me, O my God, that which shall profit me in this world and the world to come.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1298-06-03 [1881-May-3], to Mirza Nasrullah son of Mirza Aqa the martyr -- BH09967)
15
Lord! Turn me not away from the ocean of Thy wealth and the heaven of Thy mercy, and ordain for me the good of this world and hereafter.
I entreat Thee, O my Lord, by Thy Most Great Name whereby Thou didst separate light from fire, and truth from denial, to send down upon me and upon such of my loved ones as are in my company the good of this world and of the next. Supply us, then, with Thy wondrous gifts that are hid from the eyes of men.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1290 [1873] or earlier, to Mirza Muhammad Haraj -- BH07661)
17
Moreover, I beseech Thee, O Lord of eternity, by the Most Great Name through which Thou hast illumined the world, to ordain for me the good of this world and the world to come.
I beseech Thee by the ocean of Thy bounty and the banners of Thy signs to ordain for me the good of the hereafter and of the first life. Verily Thou art the Protector of all beings. There is none other God but Thee, the Compassionate, the Generous.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1307-07-15 [1890-Mar-7], to Aqa Mirza Muhammad Hasan -- BH04714)
19
I beseech Thee by the ocean of Thy verses and the heaven of Thy clear proofs and the sun of Thy favors to ordain for me through Thy Most Exalted Pen the good of the hereafter and of the first life, and that which Thou hast ordained for those who circle round Thy Mighty Throne and Thy Lofty Seat.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1304 ? [1886-1887], to wife of Ali Qabl-i-Naqi -- BH05950)
20
When thou hast attained unto it, say:
My God, my God! Thou seest me clinging fast to Thee and to Thy sovereignty. I beseech Thee by the Word which Thou hast made a sword for the ungodly and a mercy for them that believe in Thy unity, to ordain for me through Thy Most Exalted Pen the good of this world and of the world to come.
The available source contains an omission or incomplete wording; sentence boundaries need review.
21
O my Lord! Have mercy upon Thy servant who hath turned unto Thee and hath clung to the hem of the robe of Thy bounty. Then ordain for him that which shall profit him in this world and the world to come.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1307 ? [1889-1890], to Mashhadi Abbas -- BH07387)
22
I ask Thee, O Forgiver of the world and Helper of the nations, Who hath appeared through the Most Great Name, to forgive me and those who have turned to Thy most exalted horizon and held fast to the cord of Thy loving-kindness, O Creator of heaven! Then ordain for me the good of this world and the next.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1301-01 [1883-Nov], to Aqa Mirza Ali Nayib -- BH05602)
23
I beseech Thee, O Thou Lord of the worlds, by the waves of the ocean of Thy bounty and the mysteries of Thy Book, to ordain for me through Thy Most Exalted Pen the good of this world and of the world to come.
I beseech Thee by Thy Most Exalted Word whereby Thou hast guided Thy servants and drawn them nigh unto Thee, that Thou write down for me the good of this world and the world to come.
I beseech Thee by the heaven of Thy bounty, and the ocean of Thy giving, and the Sun which hath shone forth from the horizon of Thy favors, to ordain for this servant, who hath clung to the hem of Thy generosity, that which shall profit him in this world and the next.
I beseech Thee by Thy most sweet call, and by the Name of Thy Most Great, Most Glorious Name, and by Thy [perspicuous] Book and Thy firm [and steadfast] Cause, to ordain for Thy loved ones the good of this world and of the world to come. Then open before their faces the doors of Thy grace and blessing.
I beseech Thee, O my Lord, by the waves of the ocean of Thy bounty and the effulgences of the Day-Star of Thy grace, to open before my face and the faces of my children the doors of Thy mercy and loving-kindness, and to ordain for us from the Pen of destiny that which shall profit us in every world of Thy worlds.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1307 ? [1889-1890], to Haji Mirza Aqa Afnan -- BH02205)
28
I beseech God to shower every good upon you and your family and children, and that God's protecting gaze may surround them from all directions.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1900 or <, to Ellen Moore -- AB09621)
29
I beseech Thee by Thy Hidden Book, which none has comprehended save Thyself, to ordain for this handmaiden of Thine and Thy other handmaiden the good of the world to come and of this world.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1307 ? [1889-1890], to wife of Haji Siyyid Mirza -- BH07336)
30
We beseech God to aid her, prosper her, and ordain for her what shall be best for her in the Hereafter and in this world.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1305 ? [1887-1888], to Shaykh Kazim Samandar et al -- BH01449)
31
Then accept from them what they desired in Thy love and good-pleasure, and ordain for them the good of this world and the world to come through Thy bounty and favors and care and loving-kindness.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1290 [1873] or earlier, to Siyyidih Ardikani -- BH08155)
32
We beseech God to assist thee and ordain for thee that which shall gladden thine eyes and the eyes of them that love thee.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1307 ? [1889-1890], to Muhammad Ibrahim known as Haji Khalil -- BH09651)
33
O Lord! Protect them in the cave of Thy protection and shelter, encompass them with the care of the eye of Thy providence and guardianship, make their affairs easy, strengthen their backs, reinforce their support, perpetuate their glory, grant them the good of this world and the next, illumine their faces in Thy Kingdom, shower upon them Thy bounty and blessing, increase the abundance of their sustenance and the elevation of their station, sanctify their spirits and purify their hearts from all else save Thee.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1895-Aug or <, to Jinab-i-Ghayn Lam et al -- AB05010)
34
Send down upon them a blessing from Your heaven and make them treasuries of wealth and mines of faithfulness, and confirm whatever they love among humanity and with which they are content from Your great mercy and Your mighty gifts.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to Mihdi son of Muhammad Ali Makhmalbaf et al -- AB00935)
35
Give the thirsty to drink from the Salsabil of grace and make the poor rich from the treasure of the Kingdom.
O Lord! They are poor - enrich them from the treasures of Thy Kingdom; they are lowly - exalt them through the outpourings of Thy Realm Above; they are thirsty - give them to drink from the Spring of Tasnim; they are naked - clothe them in the raiment of sanctity.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1913-Oct-26, to Naraqi, Haji Aqa Khan et al -- AB12360)
37
O Lord! We are poor - make us wealthy.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1920-Jul-20, to Bihmard Jamshid et al -- AB10446)
38
O God! Do not deprive the poor one from the gate of Thy riches, and do not forbid him from the ocean of Thy bestowals.
I beseech Thee by the Divine Lote-Tree and its branches, O Lord of all beings, to ordain for me from the heaven of Thy bounty and the ocean of Thy grace that which I desire. My Lord! Everything testifieth to Thy bounty and grace. Thou beholdest me turning unto Thee and clinging to the hem of Thy generosity, Thy mercy and Thy favor. Ordain for me through Thy pen of destiny that which will render me independent through Thy riches.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1298-06-03 [1881-May-3], to Muhammad Hasan Tanbakukub -- BH04409)
41
I beseech Thee to write down for me that which will make me rich through Thy riches and mighty through Thy might.
Then open before their faces the doors of Thy riches. O Lord! Thou seest them holding fast to the cord of Thy bounty and clinging to the hem of Thy generosity.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1306 ? [1888-1889], to Baha'is of Alexandria et al -- BH01844)
43
Say: "My God, my God! I beseech Thee by Thy Name, the Dominant over all names, and by Thy sovereignty which hath encompassed all things, to open before my face the door of Thy bounties, favors and gifts.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1307-08 [1890-Mar], to Aqa Ali Muhammad -- BH01643)
44
I beseech Thee by Him through Whose advent the celestial spheres were honored and the heaven was adorned, to open before my face the doors of Thy mercy and Thy bestowal and Thy grace and Thy wealth.
We beseech Him to open before thy face the gates of bounty and bestowal, and to cause to descend from the clouds of His mercy the rains of glory and exaltation.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1307 ? [1889-1890], to Mirza Buzurg Afnan -- BH05204)
46
We read it and make mention of thee, and beseech Him, exalted be He, to open before thy face the gates of joy and delight, and to send down upon thee from the heaven of His grace that which befitteth His generosity and favors.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1299 ? [1881-1882], to Aqa Ghulam-Husayn -- BH06392)
47
The servant asks his Lord to open upon your faces the doors of blessing and bounty and that whereby your hearts may rejoice.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1305-12-27 [1888-Sep-4], to Muhammad Ali Isfahani -- BH02008)
48
For each one We seek bounty and blessing and wealth and glory.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1307 ? [1889-1890], to Siyyid Ali Yazdi Husband of Hubbiyyih -- BH02620)
49
Soon will He open the doors of prosperity upon the faces of His loved ones and His friends with the keys of His gifts and favors. Verily He is the Powerful, the Almighty, and worthy to answer prayer.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1307 ? [1889-1890], to daughter of Mirza Muhammad Vakil -- BH06814)
50
Soon the Lord will extenuate thy straightened circumstances even in this world.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1903-Jun-09, to Corinne True -- AB03258)
51
From the favors of the Lord of Bounties, I beseech that the doors of blessing may open and abundance of sustenance become manifest.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1919-Jul-08, to Fazlullah Banan -- AB08602)
52
O Jinab-i-Muhammad-Taqi, I beseech from the threshold of the Most Holy One abundant blessings for you so that the means of expanded livelihood may be provided.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to Ali Naqi, son of Rida Usku'i et al -- AB06058)
53
And praise be to God, the prayer and request for blessing in the commerce of the loved ones was answered at the Sacred Threshold of the Most Glorious Beauty.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to Afnan, Mirza Mahmud son of Muhammad Taqi Afnan -- AB08368)
54
O Lord of verses and Manifestor of clear proofs! I beseech Thee to shower blessings upon this new company, to expand its resources, and to open before it the gates of ease and expansion. Verily, Thou art the Helper, the Almighty.
O Lord! Send down upon them Thy blessing and recompense them with benevolence, bounty and abundant wealth.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1918-Dec-04+, to Bashir Ilahi, Mirza Aqa (Bashirus-Sultan) et al -- AB12558)
56
I have beseeched God to look upon thee with the eye of His mercy, to facilitate thy hopes, to transform hardship into ease, and to prepare for thee a way of right guidance in thy affairs.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1908-Nov-15, to Edwin Fisher -- AB12577)
57
O Lord! Assist them all to achieve all hopes and open before them the door of comfort and ease. Verily Thou art the Generous, the Merciful, the Bestower.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1900 or <, to Aqa Abdu'l-Ali -- AB06154)
58
In all conditions, I have asked and continue to ask from the Self-Sufficient, the Exalted, for health, honor and bounty for that spiritual friend.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1305-10-02 [1888-Jun-12], to Rida father of Aqa Inayatullah -- BH03267)
59
We beseech God to grant thee what thou hast desired from the heaven of His bounty and the ocean of His bestowals.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1309 ? [1891-1892], to Mirza Muhammad Rida Qannad Shirazi -- BH10435)
60
We beseech God, glorified be His majesty, to make it blessed and to make the ultimate consequences of the journey the greatest good.
(Bahá’u’lláh, to Mirza Muhammad Ali the Greater Branch -- BH10097)