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We are changed by prayer.

      12. IS PRAYER ANSWERED?

      IS PRAYER ANSWERED? IF GOD IS CHANGEless, how can we change Him by what we say? Even discounting this, why do we need to articulate our requests? Surely GOD, who sees the heart, knows our wishes even before we do, without our having to put them into words. What we wish to happen is either right or wrong in the eyes of GOD. If it is right, GOD will bring it about even if we do not pray. If it is wrong, GOD will not bring it about even if we do. So why pray?

      The classic Jewish answer is simple but profound. Without a vessel to contain a blessing, there can be no blessing. If we have no receptacle to catch the rain, the rain may fall, but we will have none to drink. If we have no radio receiver, the sound waves will flow, but we will be unable to convert them into sound. GOD’S blessings flow continuously, but unless we make ourselves into a vessel for them, they will flow elsewhere. Prayer is the act of turning ourselves into a vehicle for the Divine.

      Speaking from personal experience, and from many encounters with people for whom prayer was a lifeline, I know that our prayers are answered: not always in the way we expected, not always as quickly as we hoped, but prayer is never in vain. Sometimes the answer is No. If granting a request would do us or others harm, GOD will not grant it. But No is also an answer, and when GOD decides that something I have prayed for should not come to pass, then I pray for the wisdom to understand why. That too is part of spiritual growth: to accept graciously what we cannot or should not change. Nor is prayer a substitute for human effort: on the contrary, prayer is one of the most powerful sources of energy for human effort. GOD gives us the strength to achieve what we need to achieve, and to do what we were placed on earth to do.

      Prayer changes the world because it changes us. At its height, it is a profoundly transformative experience. If we have truly prayed, we come in the course of time to know that the world was made, and we were made, for a purpose; that GOD, though immeasurably vast, is also intensely close; that “though my father and mother may reject me, GOD will gather me in”; that GOD is with us in our efforts, and that we do not labour in vain. We know too that we are part of the community of faith, and with us are four thousand years of history, and the prayers and hopes of those who came before us. However far we feel from GOD, He is there behind us, and all we have to do is turn to face Him. Faith is born and lives in prayer, and faith is the antidote to fear: “The LORD is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?”

      It makes a difference to be brushed by the wings of eternity. Regular thrice-daily prayer works on us in ways not immediately apparent. As the sea smoothes the stone, as the repeated hammer-blows of the sculptor shape the marble, so prayer -cyclical, tracking the rhythms of time itself – gradually wears away the jagged edges of our character, turning it into a work of devotional art. We begin to see beauty of the created world. We locate ourselves as part of the story of our people. Slowly, we come to think less of the “I”, more of the “We”; less of what we lack than of what we have; less of what we need from the world, more of what the world needs from us. Prayer is less about getting what we want than about learning what to want. Our priorities change; we become less angular; we learn the deep happiness that comes from learning to give praise and thanks. The world we build tomorrow is born in the prayers we say today.

      When, at the end of his vision, Jacob opened his eyes, he said with a sense of awe: “Surely GOD is in this place and I did not know it.” That is what prayer does. It opens our eyes to the wonder of the world. It opens our ears to the still, small voice of GOD. It opens our hearts to those who need our help. GOD exists where we pray. As Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk said: “GOD lives where we let Him in.” And in that dialogue between the human soul and the Soul of the universe a momentous yet gentle strength is born.

      KEYWORDS OF PRAYER

       The names of GOD

      The two key names, in prayer as in the Torah, are 1. the Tetragrammaton,

, the “four letter” name, and 2. Elohim. They are different in meaning and tone. The Sages understood the Tetragrammaton as GOD’S compassion. Elohim is GOD’S attribute of justice.

      Judah Halevi (Kuzari, IV:1) made a more fundamental distinction. The ancients used the word El or Eloah to designate a force of nature: the sun, the sea, the storm, and so on. These they personified as gods. Often, therefore, el, or elil, denotes an idol. In Hebrew, monotheism’s mother tongue, Elohim in the plural means “the One who is the totality of powers, forces and causes in the universe” It refers to GOD as we experience Him in creation and its natural laws, as well as in justice and its moral laws (it sometimes also has a secular sense, meaning those who hold positions of power, usually judges).

      The Tetragrammaton not only has a different meaning, it is also a word of a different grammatical type. It is GOD’S proper name, standing in relation to Him as the names Abraham or Sarah attach to human beings (hence it is sometimes referred to as Hashem, “the name”). The use of a proper name in connection with GOD means that a direct relationship between us and heaven is possible. We can speak to GOD, and He listens. There is a direct connection between the Tetragrammaton and the word “You”. Only a being that has a proper name can we address as “You”. Hence, in prayer, “You” is always directed to the Tetragrammaton; Elohim goes with the third-person, “He”. Thus Elohim signifies GoD-as-law, natural or moral. The Tetragrammaton refers to GOD as we encounter Him in intimacy, compassion and love.

      Though I have followed convention, rendering the Tetragrammaton as “Lord” it should be remembered that “Lord” is not a translation but a substitution. So holy was the Divine name that it was used only in the Temple. In all other contexts, it was (and still is) pronounced as Adonai, which means “my LORD.”

      The use of the word Eloheinu, “Our GOD” signifies our acceptance of GOD as sole object of our worship. Formal acknowledgement of this fact – in the first line of the Shema – is a pledge of loyalty and service, called by the Sages, “Acceptance of the yoke of Divine kingship”.

      The word

“King” when applied to GOD means, first, that GOD is the sole ultimate Sovereign of the people Israel, who accepted His kingship and covenant at Mount Sinai. At that ceremony, GOD undertook to guide the Israelites’ destiny, while the people accepted their vocation as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”, bound by GOD’S laws. The second and wider meaning is that GOD is Sovereign over the universe and all humanity – with whom, via Noah, He made a covenant after the Flood (Genesis 9). That covenant, with its seven laws, embodies the fundamental principles of human conduct under GOD. Though GOD’S sovereignty is not yet recognised by all, it will be in the end of days. Hence our prayers often end with the prophecy of Zechariah (14:9), “Then the LORD shall be King over all the earth” The sovereignty of GOD is the ultimate sanction against tyranny. It implies that all human authority is delegated authority, to be exercised only within the constraints of the covenant.

      Sometimes GOD is referred to as

which, though I have followed convention by translating it as “Creator”, literally means “Owner” of heaven and earth. This represents the idea that because GOD created the universe, He owns it. The world and its benefits do not belong to us. What we possess, we hold in trust from GOD. This is the legal basis of Divine sovereignty of the universe – similar to the ancient concept of “eminent domain” by which all ownership of land within a country is ultimately vested in its head of state. As Sovereign of the universe, GOD rules by right, not power.

       Attributes of GOD

      Many

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