{"id":80386,"date":"2020-09-24T14:26:09","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T11:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=80386"},"modified":"2020-09-24T14:26:09","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T11:26:09","slug":"prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/prayer\/","title":{"rendered":"Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our Psalm includes a basic statement about how God listens to human prayer: \u201cYou will listen to the entreaty of the lowly, O Lord. You will make their hearts firm. You will incline Your ear\u201d (<\/span>10:17<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Significantly, the Rabbinic Sages interpreted the final phrases of this verse to refer not only to how God listens to prayer, but also to teach how we should incline our heart in prayer. According to<\/span> Talmud Bavli 31a<\/span><\/a>, one who prays should focus his heart toward Heaven. Abba Shaul added that an indication (<\/span>siman<\/span><\/em>) of this is found in the verse: \u201cYou will make their hearts firm. You will incline Your ear\u201d (<\/span>Psalms 10:17<\/span><\/a>) \u2013 that is to say that if the one who prays \u201cinclines his heart\u201d while praying, then God will incline His ear to that prayer (<\/span>Steinsaltz on Berakhot 31a<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Midrash Deuteronomy Rabbah 2:1<\/span><\/a> on Deuteronomy 3:23 asks whether it is permissible to recite the \u201csilent\u201d <\/span>Amidah<\/span><\/em> in a loud voice? The answer is provided by the story of Hannah: \u201cNow Hannah was praying in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice could not be heard\u201d (<\/span>I Samuel 1:13<\/span><\/a>)\u2026Solomon petitioned God to hearken to both <\/span>rinnah<\/em> <\/span>(\u201csong\u201d) and <\/span>tefillah<\/span><\/em> (\u201cprayer\u201d) [see\u00a0 <\/span>I Kings 8:28<\/span><\/a>] \u2013 <\/span>Rinnah<\/span><\/em> means praise of the Holy One, blessed be He, while <\/span>tefillah<\/em> <\/span>refers to a person\u2019s praying for his own needs. Abba Shaul said, it is a good sign during prayer that a person is able to direct his heart to prayer. For then he may rest assured that God will answer his prayer, as it says: \u201cYou will make their hearts firm. You will incline Your ear\u201d (Psalms 10:17).<\/span><\/p>\n

This statement of Abba Shaul (who lived in the Land of Israel in the Mishnaic Period) is also cited in reference to another Halakhah about prayer.<\/span> Midrash Tanhuma Chayei Sarah 1<\/span><\/a> teaches that if one is riding upon a donkey when the time for prayer arrives, he should dismount. However, if he is unable to dismount because of his concern for the merchandise loaded on the donkey, or because he fears bandits in the vicinity, he should pray while mounted. Rabbi Yohanan interpreted this statement to indicate that one\u2019s mind should be completely at ease while praying to God. For, as Abba Saul taught, if a man is able to direct his mind in prayer he can be sure that his prayer will be heard by God, as it says: \u201cYou will make their hearts firm. You will incline Your ear\u201d (Psalms 10:17).<\/span><\/p>\n

A lesser known Rabbinic text,<\/span> Huppat Eliyahu Rabbah 44<\/span><\/a>, states that one of the three things that \u201clengthen a person\u2019s life\u201d is lengthening one\u2019s prayer. For the Sages have said that anyone who devotes close attention to his prayer (<\/span>ha-me\u2019ayen bi-tefillato<\/span><\/em>), his prayer will be accepted by God, as it says: \u201cYou will make their hearts firm. You will incline Your ear\u201d (Psalms 10:17).<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":37329,"id":37329,"title":"hagar2","filename":"hagar2.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/what-is-with-you-hagar\/hagar2\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"hagar2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":37311,"date":"2018-08-09 06:15:39","modified":"2022-03-05 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