Talking with G-d
I speak to You
Once upon a busy life—maybe even two, three times or more—some of us are struck with a sense of being so small within something much larger and wouldn't it be good for the two of us to have a chat. In other words, we would like to speak with G‑d.
It's not as outlandish as it seems; people do it all the time. Most never stop to think what is really going on, for if they did, they wouldn't be able to open their mouths. But it is so essential to human life, so we continue on nonetheless.
We call it prayer, and we believe the second party of this dialogue is just as eager to join—if not yet more eager than ourselves. Here we have chosen a small selection of articles, an introduction between the two parties of the dialogue.
The Torah refers to prayer as “the service of the heart,” an act suffused with love and reverence.
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Something phenomenal happens when a moment of anxiety turns into a prayer: We fulfill our deepest need: connection.
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Tell me that it is rational to talk to the Force of Being as though this were your closest confidant. Tell me that it is not absurd to plead with this force to adjust reality more to your liking...
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It was obvious that G‑d was there in the room. Because she was talking to Him.
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At that moment, the crumpled piece of paper was the most precious thing in the world.
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The essence of prayer has little to do with its content. This also explains why we pray when all is well.
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Even at the time you are committing the worst crime, your soul remains faithful to her Beloved Above.
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He told my friend, "That's okay. Just put on your tefillin and explain to Him you are having difficulties connecting during prayer. Express your frustration. Tell Him just what you told me."
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And suddenly, one night, don’t ask me how or why, the point widened. Suddenly You were everywhere, too many places for me to reach at once, for me to contain....
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In those days there was only one car service in Crown Heights, and it was run by chassidim, a class of people for whom time means nothing.
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These days, I don't believe that I am bothering G-d when I approach Him any time of day or
night for my requests or needs. No big stuff or small stuff differentiation.
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Ultimately brilliance can be a handicap, we can become straitjacketed by what we know...
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Whereas I used to groan as I glanced out the window into the semi-darkness, lately I have found a way to make waking up a more joyful experience, even when it happens at 5am.
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When we get to the climax of the prayer service, the top rung of the ladder, the Amida, what do we hear? Nothing. Just lips moving. But why? Why, after all the hub-bub, when we get to the heart of our personal conversation with G-d, do we finally go silent?
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If you are ready for the world to finally operate in harmony with its design and purpose – why mince words?
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There are two ways to ask for something. One is to kvetch. The other is a little more sophisticated.
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The lights go up, the cameras are off, you turn to the director's chair and say, "I don't like the way this scene is going. How about we try…" Sounds wild, right? Yet that's exactly what we do...
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I am human, and sometimes my mind wanders. So I’ve developed a few methods that help keep me focused during prayer.
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Grow up all you want, but never stop being a child. Because you’ll never understand that which you took for granted back then.
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Every morning I wake up groggy with little sense of my true self.
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Join the Discussion
"Some of G-d's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers" - Garth Brooks". Sometimes the answer is simply No and it is not for us to reason why but to know that everything that we are now experiencing will come to good in the end.
G-d Exists, and we exist, we just don't know how. And that knowledge is not something we can put into words, write on paper, or hold in our brains. And that's the relationship between G-d and us. Maybe, when we pray, sometimes we receive strength and peace. Maybe, when we pray, we just exist.
Paul: every time you pray you get connect with the now. the knowledge that you connect your mind with your heart and your heart to your neshama will make you change the maybe for I am sure. and you will feel the peace and strenght which come with praying yom yom. every day your feeling becomes stronger.with time ashem will talk to you very loud.
G*d speaks as quietly or as loudly as I need. Sometimes quietly and sometimes loudly. Our senses and minds are what they are, and even though I do not have a clear sense of "how" or "what" doesn't mean "if" is in question.
Paul, good evening. Jews have been praying for a very long time. all you have to do is follow their path.
With time all ifs will disappear. Jews have been very successful for more tan 5777 years, you cannot go wrong. Just do it. Naase venishmah. We will do and we will hear.
Jews have known the power of repeating the same words every day, yom yom since the time of the patriarch Abraham. Jews know how powerful is the connection with now. The power of now .Jews have only one day to live.
when you engage in prayer the important part is to know how you feel. what you think becomes important only after you finish shacharit. When you pray the heart takes over, it does the talking.
I do pray
then you do exist, welcome join a minyan....
Coincidence or Answer
Several years ago, after beginning to study Hebrew, I had been asking G-d to help me with a decision to leave another religion which I no longer believed in because their texts are mistranslated and do not agree with the Hebrew words in Tanakh. I opened my Tanakh to Devarim 30 and my eyes found verse 4
ד אִם-יִהְיֶה נִדַּחֲךָ, בִּקְצֵה הַשָּׁמָיִם--מִשָּׁם,
יְקַבֶּצְךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, וּמִשָּׁם, יִקָּחֶךָ.
I was overjoyed and I have not looked back since that day. I have never felt such a realization of G-d before in my life, but now I am aware of Him every day and pray to be aware of Him every minute.
Even if your exiles are at the end of the heavens, the Lord, your God, will gather you from there, and He will take you from there. (Chabad.org)
God really does hear you. 5 months ago, one of my cat's died suddenly. Although she was an elderly cat of 20 yrs & she used to belong to my boyfriend's sister. She was given to me 6 yrs ago. She was very sweet & lovable, not to mention a yellow belly who stayed in my room. When she suddenly passed away I had witnessed it, she was in my boyfriend's room & then she collapsed. I was in shock because I had never had experienced any thing like it before. .It took me awhile to get over the shock. Well about 3 to 4 months after her passing & my telling my boyfriend, his sister & everyone else I knew that I did not want another cat. Well let's just say that God had other plans, yes He did, because another little furry baby girl just so happened to walk in to my life. It was strange to say the least because I had started to have dreams about my elder cat & I said to myself what if one day I just so happen to find a cat that looked like my elder cat. Well it's been a month now since my furry girl came to live with us.
The Shema is like brushing your teeth. I don't feel complete without praying the Shema. This prayer is magical and makes you feel grounded with Judaism. Have a blessed day!
Praying
I was 14 years old, and i had never seen or spoken to my Dad before.
I realised that i wanted to atleast speak to my Dad.
So i said a personal prayer everyday in the morning and before i went to bed.
And about a year later i finally found my Dad on Facebook!
It was amazing.
G-d does listen to your prayers :)
My Conversations with G-d I have conversations with G-d as well as prayers and requests. My dog has been missing for a year and I constantly ask G-d to return her to me or to help someone find her and let me know about her so I can get her. And I thank G-d for many things. I discuss my life with Him. Do I get answers? Yes, but not about everything. I rely so heavily on Him and am so thankful I have such a loving relationship with G-d. I don't understand why some things happen in my life and I know that I may not ever understand, but I trust that He knows what is best for me and helps me with my life. I have such a deep love for and trust of G-d. I so look forward to discovering everything available in this website. Thank you so much for being here for all of us.
Well put. This is something that we all need to strive for having a deep love and trust for G-d. bless you.
Pray more I find this intriguing and most interesting. I would like to know more. I want to get to the place in my life where I can pray and feel that G-d is truly hearing me, I am so confused right now in my life. I have always been one to talk to myself and ask questions out loud but I never truly waited for an answer I sought one out, now I am waiting patiently for something I am unsure I am meant to have.
You have taken the first step in your healing by making yourself vulnerable in sharing that.
Talking to my self, I am really talking to God. Ever since I was a small child, I've always talked to my self. People ask me who I am talking to? I say that I am talking to God. Hey I believe that he is up there in heaven listening to every word I say. I know that he hears my thoughts and prayers.
Prayer
When I pray I pray many prayers for my loved ones, family friends strangers and thoses who do not know G-d. I keep a prayer diary with the date request, date answered and how it was answered.
G-d watches over His word to preform it so I study His word and He hears. Hw says He created the eye and ear so He sees and hears. He is compassionate above all. He looks on our hearts.
health My friend is having an asthma attack and I want so badly for her to feel no stress so she wouldn't have them. I am not very religious but all I can think to do is pray constantly. I am singing the shema, v'shamru, and sholom aleichem. I don't know if G-d will hear me, or if there is a G-d out there, and I am only a reformed Jew, but it seems that the prayers are all I have left when everything is going wrong. I pray primarily for the health of my close friends and family and their well-being. I want for them to be safe from harm. And if I can't prevent them from being safe from harm, then I want for there suffering to be less. They do not deserve such suffering. I pray to G-d that things will improve, for at least one of my friends, and I do not know how to make my prayer heard. I can only hope that it is. I will keep singing whatever comes to mind. The Lord is my Rock and My Redeemer. Amen.
Just the other day I was reading Psalm 16. G-d is our master. Who are we to demand things from G-d? On the other hand who are we to believe that we can exist without G-d? Model Ani (the morning prayer) says that G-d Breaths our soul into us new every morning. And at night our soul is with God. The Divine is within us and we are within the Divine as we breath. Prayer is about what we are and relationship.
Breath.
there is a big difference between night and day breathing. when we pray Mode any we resume the control over our breath. At night when we close our eyes we loose control over our breath.Jews believe that, when we sleep, ashem takes over the control of our breath, our life forcé.