Another Question re: prayer from a Newbie

[Sarahphim]

Shalom!:wave:

I have been studying the helpful answers to my previous post and looking through the posts on this forum and have another question:confused: -- about prayer.

I generally pray spontaneously as a Christian, sometimes relying on scripture to form a prayer, so I was wondering if in MJ you use any form of formal prayer from a siddur on a daily basis? I just ordered the Artscroll complete siddur to use for holidays and shabbat but was wondering how to incorporate this into a daily prayer and time of meditation. Thanks in advance for your help!:pray:

Sarahphim

[CharlesYTK]

I use the both spontaneous prayer and more structured prayer as from the Siddur. We should all pray he Shema daily 3 times. We should pray daily for the peace of Jerusalem and the protection of Israel and for the revelation in them that Yeshua is Messiah. We also use the Baracha in many forms. This basic prayer format is used for almost everything and continually affirms who God is. "Blessed are you O Lord our God King of the Universe,. . . ." Baruch atah Adonai Eliheynu, Melech ha Olam" followed by the specific prayer.

I love the line in Fiddler on the Roof where the Rabi is asked, "Rabbi, is there a special prayer for the czar?". The Rabbi thinks for a moment and says boldly, "As Yes, 'May the Lord bless and Keep the czar', (then he humps over and whispers the rest)
'Far away from us!'"

[By Grace]

I haven't looked at a siddur very closely. Is it basically taken right out of Scripture, kind of like "The Lord's Prayer"?

[visionary]

Romans 12:12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.

[debi b]

Prayer is both ritual and spontaneous. Prayer is usually communal and in the plural. Prayer is usually blessing Elohim, thanking Him and speaking in the past tense. Prayer is much like the feasts in that it is also assigned to 'set times'. Prayer is part of discipline, to train one to daily communicate with the Creator. Much of Hebrew prayer is thankfulness, thanking Him for what He has done. Acknowledging what He has done builds strength and trust for what He will do. To have confidence in the future is to have a rock solid foundation laid in the past.

I really appreciate the description of the function of prayer from the Artscroll Siddur:

It’s Hebrew name is Tefillah, a word that gives us an insight into the Torah’s concept of prayer. The root of tefillah is pey-lamed-lamed to judge, to differentiate, to clarify, to decide. In life, we constantly sort out speculations, fact from fancy. The exercise of such judgment is called p’lilah. Indeed, the word p’lileem (from pey-lamed-lamed) is used for a court of law (Ex 21:22), and what is the function of a court if not to sift evidence and make a decision? A logical extension of pey-lamed-lamed is the related root pey-lamed-hey, meaning a clear separation between two things. Thus, prayer is the soul’s yearning to define what truly matters and to ignore the trivialities that often masquerade as essential.

People always question the need for prayer – does Adonai know our requirements without being reminded? Of course He does. If prayer were intended only to inform Adonai of our desires and deficiencies, it would be unnecessary. Its true purpose is to raise the level of the supplicants by helping them develop true perceptions of life so that they can become worthy of His blessing.

[ShirChadash]

Ditto those who said, "we do both" :)

I love to pray in Hebrew -- even before I ever knew any words of Hebrew, my spirit responded to Hebrew in music (Haleli nafshi et Adonai! Praise the Lord, my soul! Had me crying on the floor, hands raised, praising G-d and blessing His name... and I had noooo clue what the words meant. I had to ask here, LOL. Ys, I'm strange this way. :) ) Hebrew is the love-language between G-d and man, IMO. And so we are learning the daily prayers in the Siddur, we pray the proscribed blessings in Hebrew as well, but I still pray spontaneously and in English all throughout my day. I think this is as is ideal -- not *only* formalized prayer, but that doesn't mean *never* formalized prayer. :)

[Sarahphim]

:clap: Thank you CharlesYTK, Pray4Issrel, By Grace, debi b and Zemirah for your suggestions; I just ordered the artscroll siddur and haven't seen it yet but I am familiar with the Shema and some of the blessings that are recited, having been to a shabbat service a few times. This is most helpful; I will take this learning slowly as was suggested to me in the last post but I am looking forward to incorporating some of these ideas into my daily prayer. I am most grateful for this forum and for your encouragement. God bless.:pray:

Shalom,

Sarahphim

[Sarahphim]

I love the line in Fiddler on the Roof where the Rabi is asked, "Rabbi, is there a special prayer for the czar?". The Rabbi thinks for a moment and says boldly, "As Yes, 'May the Lord bless and Keep the czar', (then he humps over and whispers the rest)
'Far away from us!'"
:amen: LOL. That is great. It is one of my favorite movies! Thanks.

Saraphim

[ShirChadash]

LOL one of my favs too -- and that line is SOOOOO classic and so funny! I think I'll go rent it again, now that you mention it. :D