Let's Start Praying More (Part 13)

 
PRAYER FROM THE HEART (KAVANNAH)
 
“On the biblical verse ‘And serve Him with all your heart’ (Deut 11:13), the rabbis commented ‘What is service of the heart? This is prayer’ (Ta’an 2a). ‘Service’ (avodah) in this context is connected with the Temple and its worship, for which prayer is seen as a substitute.” (Encyclopaedia Judaica, Volume 16, page 59)
 
With the previous discussion on the prerequisites to effective prayer, a believer could become discouraged thinking he is unworthy of a response. To such a concern, Jesus told the following parable contrasting the person who thinks that he has all the merit necessary for effective prayer with the person who has the right heart.
 
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:10-14)
 
In prayer, as in offerings and giving, it is not the person who goes through the motions but the person whose motivation is pure and heart is right before God. As written in the Talmud, “When one prays, he must turn his eyes downward and his heart upward, (Jeb. 105b)…When you pray, know before Whom you stand, (Ber. 28b).” Effective prayer comes from the person whose heart is sincere while his life reflects obedience to the commandments of God. As David wrote, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psa 51:17)
 
The effectiveness of a believer’s prayer is directly proportional to the condition of a believer’s heart, as Joel wrote, “Rend your heart and not your garments,” (Joel 2:13). The Hebrew word for the proper mindset (soul and spirit) of prayer is “kavannah”, which loosely translates as “the intention or direction of the heart.” This concept is preserved in the prayer of David for the people of Israel and Solomon,
 
“You try the heart and delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things…O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, perserve this forever in the intentions of the heart of Your people, and direct their heart to You; and give to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies and Your statues, and to do them all.” (1 Chron 29:17-19)
 
Maimonides, the Middle-Age condifier of Jewish Law wrote, “Kavvanah means that a man should empty his mind of all other thoughts and regard himself as if he were standing before the Divine Presence.” (Encyclopaedia Judaica, Volume 16, page 459).  The objective in prayer is to approach God, as David prayed for Solomon, with “a perfect heart.”  Are we truly sorry for our sins (Psalms 51) and do we truly believe that the LORD God is capable of answering our prayer, (James 1:5-7).  According to Rabbi Heshy Kleinman,
 
“Sincerity turns an ordinary person’s prayer into a prayer of greatness, and sincerity is a quality anyone can develop. It arises naturally from the recognition that Hashem alone has the power to help us, and that our words or prayer are our only means of setting this power in motion.” (Praying With Fire, Rabbi Heshy Kleinman, page 60)
 
Sincerity can turn the routine prayer into an effective prayer. Hannah “wept and would not eat” when she when up to the house of the LORD because she was barren. The priest Eli saw Hannah “she was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly,” (1 Sam 1:10). He thought she was drunk, but Hannah told him, “I have poured out my soul before the LORD,” (1 Sam 1:15). Her prayer was answered by the birth of Samuel the prophet who would anoint David the King of Israel.
 
Hezekiah “wept bitterly” as he prayed, “O LORD, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done good in your sight,” (2 Kings 20:3). The LORD responded by adding fifteen years to the life of Hezekiah. Josiah wept and prayed to the LORD after hearing the words of the Law that had been found during the cleaning of the temple. Huldah the prophetess brought these words in response to the prayer of Josiah,
 
“But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD.” (2 Chron 34:27)
 
The sincerity of a person’s heart is often reflected in fasting, weeping, and mourning, (Joel 2:12). Jacob “wept and sought his favor” (Hos 12:4), when he struggled with and found favor from the angel of God at Bethel. Even “Jesus wept” (John 11:35), before He prayed to the Father for the raising of Lazarus. The Father then answered the prayer of Jesus with the greatest miracle of His earthly ministry. The model of prayer is recorded by the author of Hebrews, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission,” (Heb 5:7, NIV).
 
Heshey Kleinman reflects the importance of emotion in the words we pray, “With a nominal addition of feeling, a person can transform rote prayer into meaningful prayer, and in doing so, draw Hashem’s mercy into the daily tasks and labors of love that fill his days.” (Praying With Fire, Rabbi Heshy Kleinman, page 66)

 The prayer of a believer is not heard because of his many words nor the use of powerful phrases, but for the cry of the believer’s heart. In the words of John MacArthur Jr., “The Lord takes our prayers not by number but by weight.” (Alone With God, John MacArthur, Jr., page 27)  Maybe that is what makes the “Lord’s Prayer” so powerful, in a few words the full weight of connection between the Father and Son is felt. Maybe that is what it means to pray in the Spirit (Eph 6:18), to pray with kavannah.
 
(Scott)