The force of gravity continues to act on the filings just as before.

What has happened is that a superior force has been brought into play--another force whose action is just as regular and calculable as that of gravity.

The Baha'i view is that prayer brings into action higher forces, as yet comparatively little known; but there seems no reason to believe that these forces are more arbitrary in their action than the physical forces.
The difference is that they have not yet been fully studied and experimentally investigated, and their action appears mysterious and incalculable because of our ignorance.
Another difficulty which some find perplexing is that prayer seems too feeble a force to produce the great results often claimed to it.

Analogy may serve to clear up this difficulty also.

A small force, when applied to the sluice gate of a reservoir, may release and regulate an enormous flow of water-power, or, when applied to the steering gear of an ocean liner, may control the course of the huge vessel.