Prayer is sifting the day
Jacob has left Beersheva and is on his way to Haran when, unexpectedly he "yifga ba’makom" – he collides, has a physical-emotional encounter, with the place! He sleeps and has the first dream/vision described in the Bible - one of beautiful imagery and symbolism. Jacob awakes and, filled with awe, proclaims: “Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not!” (28:17).
Rashi, the renowned medieval commentator, points out that yifga is also a root word of prayer. For example Ruth pleads with Naomi: “Do not entreat/pressure (tifga) me to leave you” (Ruth 1:16). Jacob’s prayer was not prayed in a calm, relaxed manner. There was pressure. He was startled and overcome by this encounter. His prayer was a struggle, a plea, a pressing through previous boundaries of awareness.
The common Hebrew word for prayer is tefilah, the root of which is peh-lamed-lamed, which means to judge, clarify, decide. The word plilim is used for a court of law in the Torah (Exodus 21:22). The issues of life demand a constant clarifying of what is important; a sifting of the abundance of information and stimuli which inundate us every day. Thus, “Prayer is the soul’s yearning to define what truly matters and to ignore the trivialities that so often masquerade as essential”.
Another beautiful definition of prayer is:
Prayer, then, is not a list of requests [for God knows our needs before we ask] it is an introspective process of discovering what one is, what one should be, and how to achieve the transformation. Indeed the commandment to pray is expressed by the Torah as a service of the heart (lev) and not of the mouth [alone].
Prayer is a means of communicating with our Father in heaven and sharing our needs but, more importantly, as Jacob illustrates, it is a means of strengthening our perception of Who God is, and re-evaluating one’s heart in His Presence and one’s place in His purposes. In fact, to pray is to reconnect with the very purpose of life itself.
Created over 2 years ago
