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| Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum |
Prayer is the root of all attachment and
devotion to God. Prayer is the gate through which we approach God, and through
prayer we may come to know Him.
Likutey Moharan II, 84
Prayer helps for everything. Even if a
person is unable to study Torah, he will be able to do so if he prays for it.
Everything good can be attained through prayer: Torah, devotion, holiness...
everything good in all the worlds! Amen.
Likutey Moharan II, 111
“Every person must say: The whole world
was created for me” (Sanhedrin
37a).
If the world was created for me, it is therefore
my constant obligation to examine and consider what is needed to repair the
world and provide everyone’s needs, and to pray for them.
Likutey Moharan 1, 5
The secret of prayer is to be bold. We
must have the audacity to ask God for everything we need – even if we need to
ask Him to work miracles for us. Only with boldness and daring can we stand up
and pray to God.
When we consider God’s utter greatness –
if we can form any conception of it at all – and think of our own smallness and
worthlessness, how can we stand up and pray before Him? Even so, when we pray,
we must cast our timidity aside and boldly ask God for everything we need. Only
with bold assertiveness can we overcome the obstacles and barriers that stand
in the way of our service of God.
Likutey Moharan I, 30
Never insist on anything in your prayers.
Ask for what you want as a request. If God grants it, He will grant it. And if
not, then not!
Regardless of what you need – livelihood,
children or anything else – it is forbidden to insist stubbornly that God should
fulfil exactly what you are asking for, because this is like taking something
by force: it is a kind of robbery. Just pray and entreat God for kindness and
mercy.
Likutey Moharan I, 20 & 196
God does us a great kindness by allowing us
to use human terms when addressing Him in prayer and by answering our requests.
If it were not for His kindness, it would be completely inappropriate to
address Him with names, descriptions and praises consisting of mere words and
letters. The fact that we are able to do so is all due to God’s kindness.
The realization que, although God is
exalted beyond all human titles and praises, it permits us to address Him in
human terms in order to bind ourselves to Him, shouldnt be sufficient to
inspire us to pray with fervor and passion. This is a sign of His great love
and tender mercy. We should therefore at least be sincere when we address Him
this way, since it is only through His love and mercy that we are able to do so
at all.
Likutey Moharan I, 15
Pray with great strength, putting all
your power into the words of your prayers.
You must force yourself to pray. Some
people say that a person should not force himself to pray, but the opposite is
true. You must force yourself to put all your strength into your prayers.
True devotion is to bind the thought to
the word, focusing your mind on the words of the prayers by listening and
paying careful attention to what you are saying. This way your inner power will
enter your prayers automatically.
All your inner power waits for the moment
when it is drawn into words of holiness. When
you focus your thoughts on what you are saying, this power rushes forth into the
words. Simply pay attention to the words and your inner power will enter your
prayers without your having to force it.
Sichot Haran #66
FROM: The
Essential Rabbi Nachman, edited by Azamra – Avraham Greenbaum.
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