March 8

Prayer is a reminder to yourself of your relationship to the eternal, to God.

1

Life confuses us, irritates us, scatters our thoughts. This is what makes prayer so useful for the soul. Prayer is a fortifying elixir, it returns to us courage and calm. It reminds us of our sins, of our obligation to forgive everyone, it says to us: “You are loved—so love others; you have received—so give back; you must die—so do your task; vanquish anger with magnanimity, evil with goodness. Why do you care about other people’s false judgements about you? You are not obligated to please them, nor to be successful. Do what must be done; whatever will be, will be. Your witness is your conscience, and your conscience is God, who speaks within you. Recall and refresh all this within you—that is what prayer is.”

— Amiel

2

Know that we pray to God and express our desires before him not so that his will may be altered, but so that by appealing to him we acknowledge him, and by acknowledging his power we purify and elevate our souls.

— The Talmud

3

Prayer appeals to a personal God not because God is personal (I even know for certain that he is impersonal because personality is a limitation, and God is limitless), but because I am a personal being.

I have a green piece of glass over my eye, and so everything appears green to me; I cannot but see the world in green, even though I know that it is not so.

4

Prayer is a clarification of your relationship to the Universal Source, it is a clarification of your connection to other people and of your duties to them as children of the same Father, of settling scores with yourself on all your actions and a contemplation of your dark past so that you can avoid making the same mistakes again.

— The Talmud

5

It is good to pray at a specific time. But if you cannot collect your thoughts, then it is best that you do not pray and do not repeat words with just your tongue.

6

Prayer is good and necessary in solitude, but it is most necessary amid the bustle of society, when you are anxious, distracted and irritated. To think in such moments of your soul and of God—that is the best and most necessary prayer.

Do not think that you can please God through prayer rather than obedience. Prayer is only a reminder to yourself about what you are and what your life’s task is.