Prayers Connect us

Rabbi Dr. Jana L. De Benedetti

Our prayer book is called a “siddur,” which you may recognize is close to the word “seder.” At a Passover seder our story and rituals always unfold in the same order. In a worship service or in daily rituals our prayers follow a specific order. A siddur includes mostly prayers for public situations: Sabbath, Holy Day and weekday services. Usually the siddur also includes words that help for private moments as well, such as how to bless the food, things to say before going to sleep at night – and when waking in the morning, expressions of joy for happy occasions and words to help during difficult times. There are prayers for every day miracles, like thanking God for removing sleep from the eyes, for making firm our steps, and even for recognizing moments in our day when our bodies are functioning appropriately.
Sometimes I am bothered by using someone else’s words when I pray. I find myself concentrating on how something is said or that a concept is uncomfortable to me, or that the words do not match my needs at the moment. At times like that I try to open my mind to other ways of thinking, but I also appreciate that I have the freedom to use my own words whenever I speak to God.
There are, however, many reasons why it is wonderful to have words already available for prayer. It helps us to focus. It reminds us of many ways that God is in our lives – not just the few things that we happen to be thinking about, but an overwhelming collection of things to be thankful for or be concerned about or reflect upon. On Shabbat, for example, I may not need to be reminded about how awesome it is to take a special day and set it apart. I appreciate that also included in the worship service are prayers for people who are oppressed or ill, and prayers that request peace in the world, and prayers that remind us of loved ones no longer praying next to us, and opportunities to think about and pray for so much more.
I also truly love that the prayers – and even the same exact words – that I say are the same prayers being said all over the world and have been said the same way for thousands of years. It is the primary time when we can feel connected not just to God, but to everyone else who is connected to God like us.
Most important, prayer keeps us walk humbly with God. We talk. God listens. Taking time to pray gives us a moment to listen for God. It has been said that prayer does not change God, but hopefully it can change us to see the world with new enthusiasm.
There is a tradition in Judaism to try to say at least one hundred blessings a day. There are more than one hundred blessings already written for us. We can either use these or find our own words. The important part is to find at least one hundred opportunities to praise God each day, or to put it another way – realize that God is blessing you in at least one hundred ways each day. It isn’t hard to do. When you are in the habit of finding ways to be in awe of God and thankful for the experiences of life you find that your life is more awesome.