Bring us back, our Father, to Your Torah, and bring us near, our King, to Your service, and influence us to return in perfect repentance before You. Shemoneh Esrei hashivanu Influence – You aren’t going to find this verse in the Bible. It’s from the Amidah, the Shemoneh Esrei, the morning prayer of the Jews. …
Today I received an email (forwarded) that contained some pictorial representations of the Passion story. At the end was this message: All you have to do is: 1. Simply pray for the person who sent this message to you: Lord, you know the life of _________. I ask You to bless him/her in all things and make him/her…
For it is written in the Law of Moses, “YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING.” God is not concerned about oxen, is He? 1 Corinthians 9:9 Is He? – Does God care about oxen? Of course He does! Doesn’t the general principle (remember #5) apply here? God loves His creation, therefore…
and being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground Luke 22:44 Very Fervently – “Prayer is not ‘quiet time’ but a time of wrestling and passion.” So says Peter Leithart. He goes on to say that the contemporary worship experience of prayer,…
How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God. Psalm 146:5 Is In – It’s certainly commonplace for us to say we hope in the Lord, but we might be surprised to find the Jewish prayer book doesn’t render the thought this way. The same…
Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to YHWH Exodus 15:1 Sang – shiyr is the Hebrew verb, “to sing.” Most of the time the word is used in connection with worship. The pictograph tells us that the word is about deeds or work that consumes the person. In other words, singing…
One of our community submitted this article to me. I thought we all needed to read it. A Message from Abraham Lincoln Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen In an article on religious trends in America during the 1980’s, Newsweek wrote: “A group affirmation of self is at the top of the agenda, which is why some…
With all the pressures and frustrations of life facing us every morning, it might be useful to consider for a moment the Hebrew perspective on prayer. The shift in focus helps us to see that the answer to our usual questions are not as far away as we might think. Fundamental to all…
Our Father, Our King, You are our only hope. In times for great distress, You lift us up. In times of joy, You are our celebration. We rejoice in You, O Lord, for You never fail. You have lead us in paths of righteousness. Your protection hovers over us. You give us peace. We praise…
Our Father, our King, for You are King of the universe and we are your grateful subjects, we give you our praise. You have redeemed us. You have brought us out and called us forth. You are unfailing in mercy, unimpeachable in justice, unrivaled in compassion, unfaltering in love, unending in goodness and unequal in…
