zepeek MEDITATIONS BEFORE PRAYER PREPARATION FOR PRAYER
We should purify our heart before we pray.
Exodus Rabbah None may stand up to say the Tefillah (the statutory prayer, the Amidah) save in a sober mood. The pious of old used to wait an hour before they said the Tefillah , that they might direct their heart toward God. Mishnah Berachot 5:1 Our Rabbis taught: we should not stand up to say the Tefillah while immersed in sorrow, or idleness, or laughter, or frivolity, or chatter, or idle talk, but only while rejoicing in the performance of some religious act. Berachot 31a R. Meir said: Our words should always be few towards God. ‘Be not rash with your mouth and let not your heart be hasty to utter a word before God; for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes through a multitude of business; and a fool’s voice through a multitude of words’ (Ecclesiastes 5:1–2). Berachot 61a When you cannot pray with the proper concentration, try your utmost to speak the words in a spirit of belief in their truth. Nachman of Bratzlav The Tzanzer was asked by a Chasid: ‘What does the Rabbi do before praying?’‘I pray,’was the reply, ‘that I may be able to pray properly.’ Chasidic Rabbi Simon says: When you pray do not make your prayer a fixed formal thing, but an appeal for mercy, a supplication before God. Sayings of the Fathers 2:18 Those who are about to pray should learn from a common labourer, who sometimes takes a whole day to prepare for a job. A wood–cutter who spends most of the day sharpening the saw and only the last hour cutting the wood, has earned his day’s wage. Mendel of Kotzk Forget everybody and everything during your worship. Forget yourself and your needs. Forget the people of whom you have need. Then in truth you may worship God. <<<
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