Bringing Wisdom into Your Need for Prayer

A personal essay generously shared with Ask Noah by B. A. bat Noach.

This is an article about Prayer. Why do you need to bother with praying? In order to have an actual relationship with someone, you must have communication. Prayer is a person’s method of communicating with G-d (Who in this article will be called by His title “HaShem” in Hebrew, which literally means “The Name”).

This brings me to the subject of saying a “blessing” to HaShem, as a way of expressing thanks to Him. There is practically only one prayer of blessing to HaShem which Jews are scripturally commanded to say, which is a blessing after a meal. This commandment is found in the Torah in these verses in Deuteronomy, chapter 8:

And you will eat and be satisfied, and you shall bless the L-rd, your G-d, for the good land He has given you.
Beware that you do not forget the L-rd, your G-d, by not keeping His commandments, His ordinances, and His statutes, which I command you this day,
lest you eat and be satisfied, and build good houses and dwell therein,
and your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold increase, and all that you have increases,
and your heart grows haughty, and you forget the L-rd, your G-d, Who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage,
Who led you through that great and awesome desert, [in which there were] snakes, vipers and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; Who brought water for you out of solid rock,
Who fed you with manna in the desert, which your forefathers did not know, in order to afflict you and in order to test you, to benefit you in your end,
and you may say in your heart, “My strength and the might of my hand made me all this wealth!”
But you must remember the L-rd your G-d, for it is He that gives you strength to make wealth, in order to establish His covenant which He swore to your forefathers, as it is this day.

What I’m saying is that the only prayer of blessing that HaShem Himself explicitly commanded in the Torah is to bless Him after meals. Is that required of you as a Gentile? No. Not as a matter of Torah Law.

But from this commandment, the Jewish Sages ascertained the requirement to bless HaShem for other benefits one receives from the bounty that He bestows to the world, as the Talmud states (in Tractate Berachot): “It is a logical obligation upon a person [to bless HaShem for bestowing other types of benefit that are similar to eating a meal], even though it is not a direct command from HaShem.” Therefore, according to logic, one should bless HaShem for those things. This was decreed by the Sages upon Jews, with a liturgy and rules for blessing.

Idolaters also introduced liturgies and blessings for their idols, and even for HaShem (in addition to their idols). But that manner of prayer was not authorized or desired by HaShem anywhere in the Hebrew Bible. Over the ages, the Gentiles’ various man-made religions taught them incorrectly concerning prayer. This is my message. Please reconsider your prayers. Praying directly to HaShem is the method by which a person establishes a lasting relationship and communication with Him, may He be blessed.

I would now like to share an experience with you.

Among the first things I experienced in my walk with HaShem was prayer after meals. I read and understood that there is a greater obligation to pray after meals, than before meals. Making this into a habit is harder than you might realize. There is a concept in Torah that HaShem relates to the spiritual and physical realms He created, through seven G-dly emotive attributes [1], and three G-dly intellectual attributes [2]. This provides a means for His revelation to human beings, because HaShem created the human soul in a way that it also has these 10 attributes, on its level. The spiritually highest attribute of all is the intellectual attribute called wisdom (chochma in Hebrew). It functions as those flashes of insight you get “from the nothingness” that just hit you like a light bulb turning on inside your head. The insights of G-dly wisdom are spoken of in the Book of Job, chapter 28:

For silver has a source, and gold has a place where it is refined.
Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from stone.
He [G-d] made a limit to darkness, and He fathoms the end of everything: the source of darkness and the shadow of death.
A stream bursts forth from the place of its flow, to where it is unkown to human feet; it rises and surges over people.
A land from which bread emerged, and its place was as though turned into fire.
Its stones [were] a place of sapphire, and it had dust of gold.
A path unknown to brigands and which the eye of a vulture did not see.
Proud beasts did not tread it, neither did a lion pass over it.
[But G-d] stretched His hand upon the flinty rock and overturned mountains from the root.
He split open river channels in the rockes; His eye saw every precious thing.
From the waters of the deep He fashioned rivers; He brings secret things out into the light.
But [as for] wisdom, where can it be found, and where is the place of understanding?
No mortal knows its value, and it will not be found in the land of the living.
The deep says, “It is not in me!” and the sea says, “It is not with me!”
Fine gold cannot be exchanged for it, and its price cannot be weighed out in silver.
It cannot be compared to gold of Ophir or to onyx or sapphire.
Neither gold nor glass can approximate it, nor can its exchange be golden vessels.
Coral and crystal cannot be considered; the pursuit of wisdom [is more precious] than pearls.
The topaz of Kush cannot approximate it; the purest gold cannot be compared to it.
And wisdom – from where does it come, and where is the place of understanding?
It is hidden from the eyes of all living things, and it is concealed from the winged creatures of the Heavens.
Destruction and Death say, “With our ears we heard its reputation.”
[Only] G-d understands its way, and He knows its place.
For He looks to the ends of the earth, and He sees what is under all the heavens,
making a prescribed weight for the wind, and apportioning water with a measure,
when He makes a set allotment for the rain and a path for the clouds of thunder.
Then He saw and recorded it; He prepared and perfected it;
and He said to mankind, ‘Behold, the fear of the L-rd is wisdom, and refraining from evil is understanding.’

This is Job’s ode to true wisdom. The key verse is 28:12 – “But [as for] wisdom, where can it be found, and where is the place of understanding?” It comes from a level beyond the creation which people think of as the “nothingness,” but which is really the only true “Something.” It is manifested in spontaneous insight or inspiration, which a person will lose just as quickly if he doesn’t grasp it right away with his mind and bring it down into his understanding. This is where my tale begins…

So I decided I would try to get into this habit of saying a prayer of blessing to HaShem after meals. It was an honest desire of my heart to thank HaShem. But I wasn’t used to this, so I would often forget. When I did forget, more times than I can count, something like “three hours later” came to my thoughts from “the nothingness,” reminding me that “I forgot to pray.” I can’t guarantee this will happen to you if you observe this manner of prayer. A person needs to make a habit of remembering on his own! But what I will say is that now, not a day goes by that I don’t thank and think of HaShem. I have found that it is good for you. Like the 7 Noahide Commandments for Gentiles that were explicitly given by HaShem through Moses at Mount Sinai. There are reliable articles and books that have recommendations for how and what you can choose to pray, from the perspective of the Torah tradition. [3, 4, 5] But the message of this article is from the heart, from me to you. I hope it aids you in your walk with HaShem.

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Notes:

[1] I Chronicles 29:11 – ” Yours, O L-rd, are the greatness, and the might, and the splendor, and the victory, and the glory, even everything in [the foundation of] Heaven and earth; Yours, O L-rd, is the kingdom, and the sovereignty over every leader.

[2] Exodus 31:3 – “I [G-d] have filled him [Bezalel] with a G-dly spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, and with every craft.”

[3] Prayers, Blessings, Principles of Faith, and Divine Service for Gentiles, pub. Ask Noah International:

English: https://www.amazon.com/Prayers-Blessings-Principles-Service-Noahides-ebook/dp/B01FFD2GR6/

Spanish: https://www.amazon.com/Oraciones-Bendiciones-Principios-Servicio-Noajidas-ebook/dp/B01MZDANXN/

Portuguese: https://www.amazon.com/Ora%C3%A7%C3%B5es-Ben%C3%A7%C3%A3os-Princ%C3%ADpios-Noeticos-Portuguese-ebook/dp/B079LW572G/

French: https://www.amazon.com/Pri%C3%A8res-B%C3%A9n%C3%A9dictions-Principes-Service-Noahides-ebook/dp/B079LYMCYH/

Indonesian: https://www.amazon.com/Ucapan-Berkat-Prinsip-Prinsip-Pelayanan-Ilahi/dp/0998353485/

[4] The Divine Code, pub. Ask Noah International:

English, Parts I-IV: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Code-Parts-I-IV-Observing-ebook/dp/B0719SDQVM/

Spanish, Part I: https://www.amazon.com/C%C3%B3digo-Divino-Preceptos-Universales-Fundamentos-ebook/dp/B06XBPPS1T/

[5] Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge, pub. Ask Noah International

English (Soft cover or e-book): https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Gates-Righteous-Knowledge-Spiritual/dp/099835340X/