Today's 'Traditional Jewish Prayer' looked like it might be a psalm, and sure enough, the 1st line is from psalm 91.
I had to do some searching to learn more though, and discovered that, traditionally, Jewish men are required to pray 3 x a day, as did King David & Daniel, morning, afternoon & evening - founded on the commandment:
'You shall serve God with your whole heart' -
one definition of the Hebrew word for prayer being: 'Service that is of the heart'.
The verb form adds the extra meaning of self-appraisal with the view to making any necessary changes to be of pleasing service; in good relationship. Prayer, then, is transformational. Prayer is good practice - it's a bit like ensuring you keep up intimate conversation with a partner so nothing can slip in and cause a divide.
Not a denominational thing - a personal, relationship thing. Not manipulation, but a willingness to be open and vulnerable. With room for argument - or discussion!
Prayer is an effective way of getting clear on important issues; the word itself may well put many off - but open conversation with a desire to relate and express doesn't have any sense of religious connotations, and yet, in my mind, are one and the same.
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