Making Prayer Real: Leading Jewish Spiritual Voices on Why Prayer Is Difficult and What to Do about It
Join over fifty Jewish spiritual leaders from all denominations in a candid conversation about the why and how of prayer: how prayer changes us and how to discern a response from God. In this fascinating forum, they share the challenges of prayer, what it means to pray, how to develop your own personal prayer voice, and how to rediscover meaning and God's presence in the traditional Jewish prayer book.
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Join over fifty Jewish spiritual leaders from all denominations in a candid conversation about the why and how of prayer: how prayer changes us and how to discern a response from God. In this fascinating forum, they share the challenges of prayer, what it means to pray, how to develop your own personal prayer voice, and how to rediscover meaning and God's presence in the traditional Jewish prayer book.
Acknowledgments ixPreface xiIntroduction: The Problem with Jewish Prayer 1Part I The Spiritual Dynamics of Prayer 191 The Efficacy of Prayer 212 What Is Prayer? 393 Yearning 484 Gratitude 555 Kavvanah 596 Engaging the Body 667 Listening for God: Silence and Meditation 778 Discerning Divinity 84Part II Beginning to Pray 919 Advice For Beginners 9310 The Power of You 9911 Blessings 10412 Cultivating a Personal Prayer Voice 108Part III Growing and Healing through Prayer 11313 Teshuvah: Personal Change, Communal Responsibility 11514 Coping with Loss 126Part IV Embracing Traditional Jewish Prayer 13915 The Spiritual Dynamics of the Siddur 14116 Learning the Siddur 15517 Overcoming the Hebrew Barrier 16718 Best Practices 17319 Between Traditional and Personal Prayer 18620 Advice For Beginners Redux 191Part V Building a Prayer Practice 20121 Starting a Daily Practice 203Practices 209Yearning 209Practice 1 Write a Psalm 209Gratitude 210Practice 2 Gratitude List 210Practice 3 Thank-You Walk 211Body Awareness 211Practice 4 Soul Breathing 212Practice 5 25-25-50 Body Awareness 213Practice 6 Heart Awareness 214Blessings 215Practice 7 Blessings Practice 216Practice 8 Jewish Blessings 218Practice 9 Learn the Traditional Blessings 219Practice 10 Blessings Walk 220Cultivating a Personal Prayer Voice 220Practice 11 Personal Prayer 221Practice 12 Talking to God-Rabbi Nachman's Hitbodedut 222Practice 13 Write a Letter to God 223Practice 14 God Says 223Practice 15 Contemplation 224Coping with Loss 226Practice 16 Tears 226Practice 17 Words 227Practice 18 Meditation 227Practice 19 Give It to God 227Teshuvah 228Engaging the Body in Traditional Prayer 229Practice 20 Jewish Chant 230Befriending the Traditional Prayers 233Practice 21 Improvise with the Chatimah 234Practice 22 Ask the Siddur a Question 235Practice 23 Visualization 235Practice 24 Dialogue a Prayer 236Conclusion: Letting God In 239Notes 243Waiting for You at www.MakingPrayerReal.com 245Glossary 247Resources 253About the Contributors 267Index of Contributors 279
