Focus on Faith

Someone asked: “What is greater than prayer?”
Rumi said: One answer is that the soul of prayer is greater than prayer, as I have already explained. A second answer is that faith is greater.
Prayer is a series of daily actions, while faith is continuous. Prayer can be dropped for a valid reason, or can be postponed, but it is impossible to drop or postpone faith for any excuse. And where prayer without faith gains nothing, as in the case of hypocrites, faith without prayer is valuable.
Another point: while the prayer of every religion is each quite different, still, faith does not change from religion to religion. The states that it produces, its place in life, and its effects are the same everywhere. There are other advantages to faith, but their discovery depends upon the inward awareness of the listener. ,
Each listener is like flour in the hands of a dough-maker. Words are like water sprinkled on the flour according to the moisture needed. But unless the water soaks in, it cannot make dough.
Fihi Ma Fihi - Discourse 8