Regular Prayer is Food For the Soul

Do you have the habit of praying regularly? If the answer is no, why not? Habitual, sincere prayer is the calling and need of every one of God’s children. Prayer, personal and regular, is not merely a recommended idea it is the command of God and is our need. It forms the very backbone of our spiritual life and helps to build a personal relationship with our Creator.
In the Book of Daniel chapter 6 we read about a plot had been laid against Daniel by wicked princes who were motivated by jealousy against him. These princes and presidents supervised the tax revenues that were received into the kingdom. Very often that tax money which they were entrusted to regulate would stick to their fingers. The king would often suffer damage or loss. But Daniel, who was exalted to prominence among them, was a faithful man. Daniel was the leading member of a triumvirate, a prime minister, so to speak. And his enemies could find no fault or error in him, for, we read, there was an excellent spirit in Daniel. Daniel was faithful. He did not say, “Well, I’m working at higher levels of government now, and I suppose I had better do business. I can’t avoid all the corruption around me in this office. After all, business is business. Just don’t let me know about it. I’ll turn my face at the appropriate moment.” Daniel did not take that approach. There was an excellent spirit in him. And at its heart was prayer. He applied that habit of prayer also to his workplace and to his life in the midst of the world. The evil princes persuaded King Darius to pass a law that no one was allowed to pray to any other god but to the King for thirty days on penalty of being thrown into a den of lions.
“And when Daniel knew that the law was signed, he went into his house – now his windows were open in his upper chamber towards Jerusalem – and he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did before.” (Dan. 6:11).
We look at the characteristics of Daniel’s prayer-life. First of all we see that it was habitual. We read that Daniel “kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did before.” There was in his life regular, fixed, set times of prayer. This was something which his enemies knew before and which even the king knew. For they reported to the king that Daniel makes his petitions three times a day. And the king says to Daniel in verse 16, “Your God whom you serve continually.” These scheming princes did not have to stake out Daniel’s house to find out when Daniel was going to pray. They could not miss it. They knew exactly when he would be praying. So they convinced the king that, for thirty days, anyone who is found praying to any god but to the king should be put to death. They knew Daniel’s habits of regular prayer. For Daniel was faithful in private, personal prayer. It was a fixed pattern in his life.
Yes, there are times in our lives when prayers are occasioned by crises or when our conscience is troubled under the weight of our sins. But there must also be, as the backbone of our life, planned, predictable moments of prayer. We are to have fixed habits: as we sleep, as we eat, shower, shave, and comb, as we leave for work or school. Daniel, three times a day as before, even after the king made his decree that no prayer could be made, Daniel prayed at these set times.
Prayer is a positive commandment we mention at least twice daily in the Shema: “You shall serve Him with all your heart.” Deuteronomy 11:13. The Talmud Taanit 2b explains service of the heart is prayer. Rambam (Maimonides) explains that the heart is meant the mind i.e. one needs to focus the mind on the Prayer this means to meditate on the words and means to speak to G-d and let your deepest feelings come forth. It means telling Him whatever is on your mind, to praise Him, thank Him, to admit ones failings and to ask Him for your needs.
In ancient times – from the days of Moses through the First Temple Era – Jews would fulfill the Biblical commandment of prayer in exactly this very personal way. However, after the Jews were exiled to Babylon, the general population lost the art of arranging meaningful prayers on their own. Their once pure Hebrew with which they could describe the loftiest of holy concepts became muddied and the common Jew was no longer able to compose eloquent praises or supplications.
Ezra the Scribe and his court composed a standard text for every Jew. By using this script which includes in it general references to all matters one might wish to discuss with G-d, everyone would be sure to address G-d as articulately as possible. Each Jew’s personal signature, so to speak, would be in the feelings aroused in the heart during prayer.
Ezra and his court also enacted that Jews should pray at set times. Today one prays three times every day — morning, afternoon and evening — and four times on Shabbat, Biblical Holidays and Rosh Chodesh and five times on Yom Kippur – The Day of Atonement. Nevertheless, if one feels like speaking to G-d at any other time, one may and should do so as well. Indeed, that is the actual mitzvah from the Torah; that’s what it means to serve G-d with the heart.
And if you feel that your prayers are not answered, never give up but keep praying as does King David Psalm 55:16, 17: “As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.” Similarly in Psalm 88:13, 14, “But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee. LORD, why do you cast out my soul? Why do you hide your face from me?” There the psalmist is in the deep hole of despair. He saw no light. He was tempted to give up on prayer. But he says, “Nevertheless, I will continue to pray. I am committed to pray. In the morning You shall find my prayers ascending to You, O Lord.”