Jewish prayer is a discipline. Don't just wait for the mood to strike

Prayer is subordinate to study, but taken together, Jewish Prayer and Torah study are the yin and yang of religious life.

The Jewish Prayerbook, the Siddur, did not compete with study for the Jewish soul; rather, it reinforced Torah study.

It was designed to incorporate excerpts from Torah, Mishnah and Talmud, in order to fulfill the Jew's minimum daily requirement of "learning."

The Siddur championed the person's prayer to God for a sharp mind and an understanding heart, elevating it to first place of all the nineteen petitions Jews include in their "Silent Devotion" three times every day.

But the unique Jewish experience of prayer does not come as easily as studying Torah. Praying is a flow and a sway; it evokes a sentiment, a way of relating to God, a priority of concerns, an expression, a mood that is embedded in the soul of the Jew.

However, praying cannot be confined to moments of inspiration or desperation -- praying only when one is moved by events and "feels like" praying. Anyone who waits for the mood to strike -- a visit to the Grand Canyon, a magnificent twilight, the baby-freshness of a rosy-fingered dawn -- is not a praying person, and probably will not be able to pray authentically even when the mood arrives.

complete article here:
http://www.aish.com/literacy/mitzvah...sm__Prayer.asp

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