The Obligation To Pray

B''H

The last Shabbos as I was enjoying the oneg with my friends at shul my wife let my baby daughter roam around on her own. Even at ten months she already loves books and when she sees a bookshelf she loves grabbing all the books off and pretending to read them. As I cleaned up the mess she had made I noticed she had pulled down an unfamiliar book. I must have looked through the synagogue's modes library many times in the last five years I've been a member, yet somehow I had never seen this book. The book was called Art of Jewish Prayer.  I found the following passage to be too good not to post here. It takes a number of concepts I have read from various sources and explains them such a wonderfully clear and concise way and brings in some new things I'd never considered about man's relationship with G-d. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

    One of the 613 commandments of the Torah is the requirement to pray. The Torah tells us in Deuteronomy that every Jew is required to "serve God with his whole heart and with his whole soul. The Talmud asks, "What is meant by serving G-d with one's heart?" It concludes that this verse means we are required to pray. This is one of the two sources of the Jews' obligation to pray. 

    The second source comes from the Prophets. It refers to our obligation to pray after we have sinned as a means of spiritual growth. This second source refers to our having turned from G-d, and our asking G-d to help us return. We can always ask God to assist us in our spiritual growth, even when by straying we have removed ourselves from our spiritual roots. 

    We can only call out to G-d truthfully if we are ready for spiritual elevation and personality modification. We must have a certain humility, and recognition of G-d's power, in order to be able to relate to Him. A relationship with G-d requires many of the same elements that a relationship between two people requires. They both require communication of feelings from one person to the other, and the desire for one person to ask the other for help at times. When we open ourselves up in any relationship, not only do we become closer to the second person, but the second person becomes closer to us as well. Similarly, the more we share what is in our hearts with G-d, the closer He can be to us. 

    Conversely, the more we hide ourselves from G-d and keep our feelings private, the more distance we maintain between ourselves and Him. If we hold back, we prevent G-d from being close to us. The reality of G-d for us is created by our willingness to share our inner selves with Him. The more we share our thoughts and feelings with G-d, and the more we develop ourselves to make these thoughts and feelings acceptable to Him, the more we deepen our relationship with Him. 

    "G-d is close to those who call Him". We try to create a bond with G-d, and He meets us halfway. This means that when we begin to pray, we often find it difficult to imagine having a relationship with G-d, but as soon as we begin sharing our feelings with Him, He quickly responds by allowing us to feel His nearness and His reality. The more we allow ourselves to let go of our privacy and share our innermost selves with G-d, the more we overcome the distance that we feel between ourselves and Him. 
    
    Many times in life we busy ourselves because we are afraid to look at ourselves. We do the same thing when it comes to ourselves to G-d. We are afraid to let go of what we feel is our ultimate control over ourselves. we distract so that we can run away from G-d and not face who we are and who we should be. If we would only start to express our feelings and emotions when we pray to G-d, His "abstractness" would quickly be replaced by a sense of his immanence and reality 

Kirzner, Yitzchok, and Lisa Aiken. Art of Jewish Prayer . Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1991. Print.