The Value of Prayer and Study

Rabbi Louis Finkelstein said: "When I pray, I speak to God; when I study, God speaks to me." Prayer is a time of developing your relationship with YHWH. It is an opportunity to bask in the presence of your Creator. I once knew a man that prayed an hour every day. He would pace and pray. For a solid hour he talked nonstop. There was no time for YHWH to communicate with him. Have you ever had a conversation with someone who monopolized the conversation? You get bored quickly. I wonder does YHWH feel the same? I suggest that prayer should be a time of worship, adoration, and praise for all that YHWH has done for you. I ask Him for something one time and thereafter thank Him that it is done. If I have faith to believe that what I am asking for is His will, I should believe that the answer is complete and settled even if if I don't see the manifestation. To continue to ask YHWH for something that He has already promised to do is to doubt His Word. It is almost as if you think that if you annoy Him long enough, He will give in and give you what you want. That is a work based prayer. One's prayer life can be enjoyed when one does not think that he or she is trying to convince YHWH to do His will. You will not have to spend an hour asking for the same thing day in and day out. Ask once, ask in faith, and act on that faith and spend the rest of the time in worship and praise.

When you are studying, you should be attentive to hear YHWH's voice. When you open the sacred text, be mindful of what you hold in your hands. We need a real appreciation of the importance of the Word. Too often, we read in a hurry never searching for the real meaning behind the text. We are privileged to be able to have the sacred words of YHWH in our possession. As we begin to meditate on them, i.e. in Hebrew this means to mutter to one self, they will begin to challenge, change, an convict us. We will be challenged to be more obedient. We will change our behavior to conform to the Word. Finally, we will be convicted of attitudes and actions that need to change in our lives.

Speak to YHWH and allow Him to speak to you. In prayer, allow your heart to open to Him. Release your inner most thoughts and feelings. Do not be ashamed to be honest with Him. In study, view every opportunity as a divine encounter with the living YHWH. He has been speaking to His children for thousands of years and He still has plenty to say to you.