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What
is prayer & what affects does it have?
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Prayer
is an expression of a relationship between our creator
and us. What is that relationship? God is our Father
and we are His children. As children are dependent to
their father, we are dependent to God. Consequently,
it is a relationship of dependency.
If
we convince ourselves that we are making it on our
own, that God is not watching, not running the show.
But if we desire to perform that way, sometimes God
lets us.
The
Almighty gave us free will, and He generally keeps
out of our lives until we acknowledge the relationship.
We learn this from the opening sentences of the Bible:
"This
is the history of the heavens and the earth when they
were created, on the day the Lord God made earth and
heaven. All the plants of the field were at this time
in the ground and all the vegetation of the field had
not yet sprouted for the Lord God had not brought rain
upon the earth as there was no human being to work the
soil". [Genesis 2:4-5]
One
of the greatest Biblical commentators, from the 11th
century the great Rashi, explains that God had not
brought rain because He wanted the first human being
to pray for it. Indeed, when Adam recognized the need
for rain in the world, he prayed for it.
This
is the first hint that the basic relationship between
humanity and God is expressed through prayer.
When Adam prayed, he acknowledged that he created a
relationship with God, he is dependent on God and he
must ask God for what he needs. As soon as Adam prayed,
God begins to relate to him directly and of course answers
his prayer. Indeed, it rains and all the undergrowth
begins to sprout.
The Bible says, what happens to us is a direct consequence
of our relationship with our Creator, because it is
God who is in charge of all that happens in the physical
world.
As
a result, what happens to me and how that which happens
to me affects me is determined by my relationship
to the Almighty. My relationship to the Almighty is
monitored by my prayers, because that's how I interact
with Him directly and immediately - it is how I speak
to Him, it is how I hear Him, it is how I develop
an emotional relationship with Him.
Any grown-up knows from life experience, for any relationship
to stand a chance, it has to be real.
One can choose to pray through the recitation of blessings
and psalms - in fact, the Sages advise it - but prayer
can never be a "formality." It is not dashing
off a bunch of words in a prescribed sequence. It
is speaking to God - to our Creator, to our Father,
to the Almighty - from the innermost recesses of our
being.
The shortest prayer recorded in the Bible is the prayer
of Moses when he discovered that his beloved sister
Miriam has been afflicted with leprosy. He cries out
to God from the depths of his being: "Please,
Lord, heal her now."
His prayer is as searing as it is simple, and it captures
his anguish and his complete faith in God that his
prayer can and will be answered. And it is.
Helen had such an experience when she learned that
her son David had been diagnosed with a malignant
tumor in his brain. The doctors advised that there
wasn't much hope. Helen began praying for a miracle
with all her strength.
But
Helen refused to believe it. She said she began praying
for a miracle with all her strength: "My intensity
was of the highest degree there could be in this world.
I sobbed my heart out not once but a hundred times
a day. If I rolled over in bed, I prayed to God. If
I sat up in bed, I prayed to God. I was praying every
minute and I didn't stop praying."
Not
only that she asked everyone she could think of to
pray too.
And
it paid off - God answered her heartfelt prayer. David
underwent successful surgery and radiation treatment.
He is well on the way to recovery now, but Helen hasn't
stopped praying.
Of
course, the emotions we pour into our prayers when
we plead for the recovery of a loved one from a serious
illness cannot be readily mustered on an every day
basis. But we can go a long way to prepare ourselves,
to create for ourselves an atmosphere of undisturbed
concentration, to be aware of the words we speak and
to whom we address them.
One
of the most renowned of the Hassidic masters, Rabbi
Nachman of Breslov, advocated finding a secluded place
for prayer, and there trying to address God from the
heart, not worrying too much about the words at first:
"As
often as you can, take a trip out to the fields to
pray. All the grasses will join you. They will enter
your prayers and give you strength - when no words
come, do not despair. Come back day after day to your
secluded spot and wait. Just wanting to speak to God
is in itself a very great thing. Even if all you can
say to God is 'Help!' it is still good. Repeat this
over and over again, until God opens your lips and
words begin to flow from your heart."
Rabbi
Nachman's message is as simple as it is powerful: Be
real before God and He will always meet you halfway.
How
does God answer our Prayers?
Many people are frustrated by prayer because
they feel those prayers are not heard by God.
Five key tools for getting your prayers answered.
Let's clear up one thing: Our Creator wants to answer
our prayers. He is our Father in Heaven, and we are
His children. He loves us unconditionally. So why does
it seem that God disregard so many prayers? And if He
already knows what we want, why is prayer necessary
in the first place?
The
infinite love
Even those who stay far from a
synagogue intuit the existence of God. As the saying goes,
there are no atheists in a foxhole. When a guy is dug
in and the enemy is coming, he will cry out:
What does he Really want to say?"Hello my Creator: Although
I have disregarded You all these years, denied Your existence,
and not appreciated all You have done for me, I'm in trouble
now. And I know You're the only one Who can help." To pray
properly, you have to understand that not only God loves you,
but also His love for you is infinite.
Your Creator has given you eyes, ears, intelligence, life itself!
Don't you think he loves you? Every morning, a Jew recites blessings
of thanks to God for all the gifts He has bestowed upon us.
These blessings remind us of how deeply God loves us. If we
appreciate what God can do for us, it is crazy not to stay in
touch.
Why do we need to pray
Whenever we pray, of
course, we are not pointing out anything new to our Creator.
The Almighty does not need us to remind Him of our needs. So
why doesn't the Almighty just give without our asking?
Simply because prayer helps us refine and affirm what we want
out of life. It's a process of maturity. If a billionaire handed
over to his child unlimited cash on a silver platter, his child
would grow up spoiled and irresponsible. So too, if God gave
us everything automatically, we may never define for ourselves
what we want in life. True, life would be easy. But we would
not grow. Since our Creator has our best interests at heart,
He wants us to earn it. Because that's what will make us great.
Why do we have problems?
God has all the right connections. He can find
you the right spouse. He can solve your financial problems.
So why in the world do we have all these problems?
Because no matter how brilliant or powerful you are,
you will never be able to live your children's lives
for them. In fact, part of genuine love your children
is to allow them to branch out on their own, to be independent.
If we were just robots, mechanically following every
instruction, the world might be neat and tidy. But life
would have neither significance nor meaning. God wants
us to be independent, to think and make our own choices.
We
human beings have free will to make decisions that are
eternally meaningful. We can choose to move away from
God -- and He will let us do that. Not because He wants
that to happen, but because He wants us to have independence
-- even at the risk of it being misused. We may suffer
the consequences, but it keeps our independence intact.
An answer to your prayers
Have you ever had a prayer
answered? Stop for a moment and consider the implications...
You
live in a small town in Midwestern America. There is
an extremely large and unsightly pothole in front of
your house. For the last four months the local municipality
has ignored your insistent requests to have it fixed.
Finally, in an act of frustration, you call the White
House and ask for the president.
To your utter amazement, the president himself gets
on the phone. You quickly explain your problem. The
president listens for a minute and then hangs up. You
don't really expect anything to be done about it.
The next morning you look out your window and, lo and
behold, the army corps of engineers is busy at work
fixing your road. The President of the United States
took your request seriously and sent in the troops to
help!
That is what it means to get your prayer answered.
Now who is the one person who can always get through
to the president? The president's son, of course.
That is our relationship with God -- Father and child.
Just as a parent fulfills a child's request, so too
God answers prayers. The Infinite Genius Who created
every molecule on this earth, can alter the course of
existence in order to answer your prayer.
To really talk to God, you need to know He is willing
and able to do it all. Otherwise, you're only talking
to your finite concept of God -- and not to our true
Father in Heaven.
The prayer of an atheist
Here is a true story about a young
man who got his prayers answered:
Many people who visit Jerusalem are tourists who come
to get a sense of Jewish culture and history. One day,
a young tourist named Jeff came.
"What are you doing?" I asked him.
"I'm working for my MBA at Harvard University.
And I'm an atheist."
"Fantastic! A real atheist! Whoever was able to
convince an atheist like you to speak to a rabbi like
me deserves a medal. "Nah," Jeff says, "he
doesn't deserve anything. I'll tell you how I came..."
Jeff had been in Norway, visiting his Norwegian fiance.
And he decided it was now or never: either he is going
to come to Israel or he'll never make it.
So he headed for Jerusalem and the Western Wall. He
figured he would stop by the Wall to see some old stones.
Yet upon his arrival he was amazed. He felt something
heavy. He was moved.
Jeff stood before the Wall, and made up an atheist's
prayer. He looked at the stones and said:
"God, I don't believe in You. As far as I know,
You don't exist. But I do feel something. So if I'm
making a mistake, I want You to know, God, I have no
quarrel against You. It's just that I don't know that
You exist. But God, just in case You're really there
and I'm making a mistake, get me an introduction."
Jeff finished his prayer, and a students who happened
to be at the Wall, saw Jeff and thought, "Perhaps
he'd be interested in learning some Torah."
Jeff whirled around and shouted, "What in the blankety-blank-dash-bang
do you want?!"
He tapped Jeff on the shoulder, startling him so much
that he jumped three feet in the air. Jeff whirled around
and shouted,
"What in the blankety-blank-dash-bang do you want?!"
"I'm sorry. I just want to know if you'd like to
learn about God."
That question hit Jeff like a two-by-four right between
the eyes. He had just finished asking God for an introduction,
and immediately someone was offering to introduce him
to God.
Jeff studied in Israel for the next six weeks. He was
a very serious student, and went back to the States
with a commitment to continue learning. A year later,
Jeff came back to Israel and told me the end of his
story.
During that previous summer he had been meandering through
the cobblestone alleyways of the Old City in Jerusalem,
when he saw a pretty, sweet, religious girl walk by.
He said to himself, "Look at the charm of this
Jewish woman. May the Almighty help me meet someone
like this."
One Sabbath morning during the next year, Jeff entered
a synagogue in Boston for prayer services. Standing
there was the same young woman he had seen in the Old
City. He made his way over to her and said:
"Excuse me, but I believe I saw you last summer
in Jerusalem."
She answered, "You're right. I saw you, too."
They are now married and living in New Jersey.
Remember Jeff's prayer. If you know any atheists, you
can teach it to them. Because when you are sincere with
God, your prayers are answered. The Almighty is near
to all those who call unto Him in truth. (Psalms 145:18)
Nothing God does is by accident. If things don't go
smoothly for you, your first reaction should be: "What's
going on? Why is God doing this? Why is He trying to
get my attention?"
God is not hurt when we ignore Him. We are. God has
no needs and doesn't need a relationship with us. It
is we who need a relationship with Him. Our greatest
pleasure is being in touch with God. That's why at times
he arranges small mishaps to get our attention. All
for our own benefit.
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| Sources
and History: |
Certainly
the oldest prayer recited daily in Jewish prayer is
the Shema.
This consists of Deut. 6:4-9, Deut. 11:13-21, and
Num. 15:37-41. Note that the first paragraph commands
us to speak of these matters "when you retire
and when you arise." This commandment is
reciting twice a day, morning and evening.
The next major development in Jewish prayer occurred
during the Babylonian Exile, 6th century B.C.E. People
were not able to sacrifice in the Temple at that time,
so they used prayer as a substitute for sacrifice.
"The offerings of our lips instead of bulls,"
as Hosea said. People got together to pray three times
a day, corresponding to the three daily sacrifices.
There was an additional prayer service on Sabbath
and certain holidays, to correspond to the additional
sacrifices of those days. Some suggest that this may
already have been a common practice among the pious
before the Exile.
After the Exile, these daily prayer services continued.
In the 5th century BCE, the Men of the Great Assembly
composed a basic prayer, covering just about everything
you could want to pray about. This is the Amidah-Shemoneh
Esrei,
which means "18" and refers to the 18 blessings
originally contained within the prayer. This prayer
is the cornerstone of every Jewish service.
The
blessings of the Shemoneh Esrei can be broken down
into 3 groups: three blessings praising God, thirteen
making requests (forgiveness, redemption, health,
prosperity, rain in its season, ingathering of exiles,
etc.), and three expressing gratitude and taking leave.
The 19th one the additional one One of the thirteen
requests (the one against heretics) was added around
the 2nd century C.E., in response to the growing threat
of heresy (primarily Christianity), but at that time,
the prayer was already commonly known as the 18 blessings,
and the name stuck, even though there were now 19
blessings.
Another important part of certain prayer services
is a reading from the Torah (first 5 books of the
Bible) and the Prophets. The Torah has been divided
into 54 sections, so that if each of these sections
is read and studied for a week, we can cover the entire
Torah in a year every year (our leap years are 54
weeks long; regular years are 50 or so, we double
up shorter portions on a few weeks in regular years.
At various times in our history, our oppressors did
not permit us to have public readings of the Torah,
so we read a roughly corresponding section from the
Prophets (referred to as a Haftarah). Today, we read
both the Torah portion and the Haftarah portion.
These are read on Mondays, Thursdays, Sabbath and
some holidays. The Torah and haftarah readings are
performed with great ceremony: the Torah is paraded
around the room before it is brought to rest on the
(bimah) podium, and it is considered an honor
to have the opportunity to recite a blessing over
the reading (this honor is called an aliyah). For
more information, see Torah Readings.
That's the heart of the Jewish prayer service. There
are a few other matters that should be mentioned,
though. There is a long series of morning blessings
at the beginning of the morning service. Some people
recite these at home. They deal with a lot of concerns
with getting up in the morning, and things we are
obligated to do daily. There is a section called (Pesukei
d'Zimra) verses of song, which includes a lot
of Psalms and hymns. I like to think of it as a warm-up,
getting you in the mood for prayer in the morning.
There are also a few particularly significant prayers.
The most important is the Kaddish, the only
prayer in Aramaic to my knowledge, which praises God.
Here's a small piece of it, in English:
May His great Name grow exalted and sanctified in
the world that He created as He willed. May He give
reign to His kingship in your lifetimes and in your
days, and in the lifetimes of the entire family of
Israel, swiftly and soon. May His great Name be blessed
forever and ever. Blessed, praised, glorified, exalted,
extolled, mighty...
There are several variations on it for different times
in the service. One variation is set aside for mourners
to recite, the congregation only providing the required
responses. Many people think of the Kaddish
as a mourner's prayer, because the oldest son is obligated
to recite it for a certain period after a parent's
death, but in fact it is much broader than that. Someone
once told me it separates each portion of the service,
and a quick glance at any siddur (daily prayer book)
shows that it is recited between each section, but
I don't know if that is its purpose.
Another important prayer is Aleinu, which is
recited at or near the end of every service. It also
praises God. Here is a little of it in English, to
give you an idea:
It is our duty to praise the Master of all, to ascribe
greatness to the Molder of primeval creation, for
He has not made us like the nations of the lands...
Therefore, we put our hope in you, Lord our God, that
we may soon see Your mighty splendor... On that day,
the Lord will be One and His Name will be One.
Most holidays, we also recite Hallel, which
consists of Psalms 113-118. Many holidays have special
additions to the liturgy. See Yom Kippur Liturgy for
additions related to that holiday.
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Some
info what to say & do in the Temple:
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Newcomers
may be a little confused in the synagogue. When do I say "Amen"?
When do I stand or bow? Here are some basic things to do. Not all
of them are easy to spot the first time. But it's easy to catch
on.
Saying "Amen"
Generally, you reply
"amen" whenever someone else concludes a blessing . It's
sort of the Hebrew equivalent of saying "ditto": when
you say "amen," it's as if you said the blessing yourself."
The "amen" most likely be found at the end of a current
sentence, or at the end of a current paragraph. Keep in mind that
you only say "amen" when someone else concludes a blessing.
After all, it would be silly to say "ditto" after something
you yourself said! (One exceptions during the after blessing)
When the cantor says "v'imru amen" (let's say "amen"),
you join in on the word "amen," so watch for the word
"v'imru." This comes up several times in the Kaddish prayer.
There is also an additional "amen" within Kaddish: right
at the beginning, after "sh'mei rabbah."
Saying
"kayn y'hee ratzon"
During the repetition
of the Shemoneh Esrei, when the leader recites the three-part priestly
blessing (May the Lord bless you and safeguard you... May the Lord
illuminate His countenance for you and be gracious to you... May
the Lord turn His countenance to you and establish peace for you...),
the congregation replies kayn y'hee ratzon (so be it) after each
of the three blessings.
Saying "Barukh Ado... ha-m'vorakh l'olam va-ed"
When someone recites
"Borkhu et Ado... ha-m'vorakh" (Bless the Lord, the Blessed
One) the congregation responds "Barukh ha-m'vorakh l'olam VA-Ed"
(Blessed is the Lord, the Blessed One, forever and ever). There
are two times when this happens: in the transition from P'sukei
d'Zimra to the blessings over the Shema, and as each person blesses
the Torah reading called Aliyah. [The Ado...
is the first part of one of Gods holy names, which can only be said
during real prayer]
Standing
1) When the Ark is open.
2) When the Torah is being carried around the room.
3) During the Shemoneh Esrei - The Amidah.
4) Kedushah during the reader's repetition (Kedushah
is the part that includes the
"Kadosh, Kadosh,Kadosh" (Holy, Holy, Holy)
blessing).
5) During the Aleinu prayer, near the end of any service.
There are a few other prayers that require standing, but these are
the most notable.
In addition, in some synagogues, it is customary for everyone to
stand when Kaddish is recited, except for the Mourner's
Kaddish, where only the mourners stand. The prayer is usually
rather clearly marked as Kaddish, and begins "Yitgadal
v'yitkadash Sh'mei Rabbah" (May his great name grow exhalted
and sanctified).
Bowing
Judaism has a special procedure for bowing during prayer:
first you bend the knees abit in, then you bend forward while straightening
the knees, then you stand up.
During the Aleinu prayer, when we say "v'anakhnu korim
u'mishtachavim u'modim" (which quite literally means, "so
we bend knee and bow and give thanks").
Four times during the Shemoneh Esrei
1) at "Blessed art Thou, Lord" in the beginning of the
first blessing;
2) at "Blessed art Thou, Lord" at the end of the first
blessing;
3) at "We gratefully thank You" at the beginning of the
Modim blessing and at "Blessed
art Thou, Lord" at the end of the Modim blessing).
4) There is also a special bow during the Oseh Shalom blessing:
at "He who makes peace in his heights," bow to the left;
at "may he make peace," bow to the right; at
"upon us and upon all Israel" bow forward.
After P'sukei d'Zimra but before the Shema's blessings,
the leader recites the Borchu blessing, during which he bows.
The congregation responds with "Barukh Adoshem hamevorakh
l'olam VA-Ed" and bows.
During Torah readings, when a person recites a blessing over
the Torah, this same Borchu and it's congregational response
are recited, with the same bowing. Often, the bow here is less obvious:
seated congregates just sort of lean forward out of their chairs.
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