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What is prayer & what affects does it have?
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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| Fundamental
guidance on what to say & do in the Temple: |
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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