Frank: As a young child, my mother, of blessed memory, had me recite a prayer in German each night before I climbed into bed for a good night’s sleep. Translated into English, the prayer said, “In God’s name, I lay myself down to sleep, and hope to reawaken happy and healthy.” As I grew older and ceased to recite this prayer, I began to question the value and essence of prayer and over the years have concluded that prayer is a vital aspect of a spiritual and meaningful life. As a learned Rabbi, my question to you is this: can we speak to God through the process of prayer and does God hear us?
Mark: The Siddur (the traditional Jewish prayer book) is the anthology of the Jewish people, a collection of the hopes and dreams, the longings, and aspirations of a myriad of prayers over two thousand years. Every single one of those prayers, whether petitionary in tone, or whether conveyed as an expression of gratitude, represents an attempt to communicate with our Creator.
The touching memory you shared about the bedtime prayer taught to you by your mother, reflects the daily prayers many are taught as children either when they lie down or when they awaken. We are encouraged to engage in conversation with our Creator on a sustained and regular basis, just as more observant Jews will recite prayers three times a day as a community gathered in synagogue. Most faiths have both rituals, personal and communal prayerful attempts to speak to God.
Somehow, as we grow towards maturity, many of us let these rituals fall by the wayside. We feel as though such attempts at prayer are no longer relevant in our lives. We feel as though the words no longer bear meaning or relevance. Or perhaps, we no longer believe in the efficacy of prayer: We grow increasingly uncertain as to whether God hears our prayers, or responds to them, or whether there really is a God at all.
Prayer still has currency; it still has worth and value. Sometimes, we need a recalibration to remind ourselves of the importance of humility and the related sense of gratitude.
In that way, our prayers are heard. If it is possible that God created us, as well as the world around us, then I suppose it is equally possible that God could listen to our supplications and our expressions of gratitude.
Does it matter? Even if that turns out not to be true, then certainly we hear our prayers, as does the Divine image within us. When we gather as a community of worshippers, we hear the combined prayers of a people who have honed those words over thousands of years. That, I believe, has value, too. Together, our voices echo the sacred sounds that have tried to reach our Creator for centuries. In that, we take enormous comfort, whether God listens to those sentiments, or not. We hear, we listen, and, sometimes, that can be enough for us.
Frank: I agree with you that God hears our prayers. However, the God I believe in is embedded in my DNA and so if God resides within me and if I am responsible for my actions, then prayer was not something I could use to seek help from an outside source. Prayer became a process whereby I could turn inward and examine what I was seeking or needing to understand. I was praying to the God within me, listening to God’s still small voice, helping me answer the questions I needed answers for and to calm my restless soul. Our Reform Judaism prayer book supports this concept: “Prayer may not bring water to parched fields nor mend a broken bridge nor rebuild a ruined city. But prayer can water an arid soul, mend a broken heart, rebuild a weakened will.”
Over the years, I have used prayer as a method to turn inward and examine the God within me and to help guide me through issues that caused me emotional pain. There are other times when I use prayer to meditate on the beauty and wonder of life as well as to find an inner peaceful moment of self- reflection. I do not use prayer to ask an outside source for what I wish to happen or thank an outside source for what has already happened. I use prayer to quietly examine the spiritual feelings within me and allow those feelings to dictate my course. Praying for me can be happen in numerous places, especially where the beauty of nature exists. However, it is when I sit in a synagogue reciting the mantra of ancient words that I learned as a young child that prayer seems to flow more easily and with more reflection and intensity. It is the God within me that is comforted by this holy sanctuary.
Rabbi Mark Schiftan can be reached at mschiftan@aol.com
Dr. Frank Boehm can be reached at frank.boehm@vumc.org
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