Prayer has had so many books written about it, plus audio and video teachings that we can become somewhat overwhelmed.

First is to consider what the definition of prayer is

and Second, what is the Hebraic thought concerning prayer?

Dictionary definition: offering devout petitions, praise and thanks to God or any object of worship.

Biblical: Has as its’ object God our Heavenly Father and no other.

In our modern religious culture prayer it is a communication between man and Elohiym/Yehovah/ Our Heavenly Father.

The Hebrew word for pray is:

פלל palal

It is spelled with two letters, 

pey, and lamed, 

with the second letter lamed, used twice.

In Hebrew culture, when something is repeated, as with the double lamed, it emphasizes its importance.

Palal is first seen in Genesis 20:7. It says, 

Now, therefore, restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for you, and you shall live. 

Through a dream Yehovah commanded the Pharaoh to let go of Abraham’s wife.

(Recall Hebrew language is read from right to left.)

פלל   palal – Pray

written in ancient Hebrew letters/pictographs, begins with the first letter,

pey.

This letter has a picture meaning of a

mouth,

and it means:

to speak.

While lamed, the 2nd and 3rd letter,

is pictured as:

a voice of authority.

From this we could understand that the picture meaning of

palal is:

to speak with your mouth to the voice of authority.

As in TaNaKh /Old Testament times, people with requests and petitions would congregate at the city’s gates, where they would

speak to the one in authority.

These authorities were primarily found by the city gates, as referred to in the series on Sha’ar Yerushalayim.

Looking at the letters, we need to pay attention to the

3rd letter

to understand the full meaning because the emphasis on the

2nd lamed indicates that:

prayer is:

speaking to the One with the ultimate authority.

By praying to someone or something other than Our Heavenly Father/Yehovah, it completely disrespects the original purpose of the word. Our Heavenly Father/Yehovah alone, is to be the focus of true prayer.

We can gain further understanding from another translation of the word palal

by looking at its parent root: pal.

Pal has the meaning of: fall.

Prayer then also means:

to fall to the ground in the presence of the One having ultimate authority to plead your cause.

Falling to the ground either on our knees or to prostrate ourselves in humility is not an uncommon nor an unrealistic position for us to assume before the King of the universe – Melek ha olam.

תפילה

More Hebrew words for pray.

Pray: Hebrew Translation of verb. לְהִתְפַּלֵל. 

Pray. verb לְפַלֵל.

התפלל

Strong’s Hebrew: 6739. צְלָא (tsela) — to pray

After research, some scholars say that this apparently is not an accurate translation, because the words, which more accurately convey the meaning

to pray

are:

to beg, beseech and implore.

Strong’s Greek: 1189. δέομαι (deomai) — I request, beg

This term constantly suggests that the petitioner is on the same rank or status.

Greek: deomai:

I request, beg pray; petition; make request; beseech. erotao- request; ask; pray; beseech; desire.

Original Word: δέομαι

Part of Speech: Verb

Transliteration: deomai

Phonetic Spelling: deh’-om-ahee

Definition: to want, entreat

Usage: I want for myself; I want, need; I beg, request, beseech, pray.

Daily prayers are not to be just personal requests for Our Heavenly Father/Yehovah to provide us just with our daily needs. Yes, they are also included in our prayers, but primarily our prayers are much more than that. We should remember that Prayer is one of the commandments of Our Heavenly Father/Yehovah. He has commanded us to pray to Him, and only Him.

When we are in comfortable times, we must express our gratitude; and when everything is going well with us, we are still to pray that He will continue to show us His mercy and grant us our daily needs; and of course in times of distress, we must turn to our Heavenly Father for help as any child will turn to their earthly parents in times of need.

In the same way as every other commandments that He has commanded us to do, they are not for His wellbeing but for ours, we are commanded to pray to Him for our sake.

He does not need our prayer; He can do without ours, but we cannot do without them. It is very important for us to acknowledge our dependence on Him for our life, health, our daily bread, as well as our general wellbeing.

The Hebrew word generally translated into English

as the word for prayer is

Tefilah תפילה

Pronounced: te-feel-ah

Strong’s Hebrew: 8605. תְּפִלָּה (tephillah) — prayer

The Hebrew word tefilah comes from the verb: 

pallel    ללפ   to judge. 

We use the reflexive verb lehitpallel: to pray,

which also means: to judge oneself.

תְּפִלָּה הִתְפַּלֵּללֵּ

Transliteration: te•fi•la, le•hit•pa•lel

Meaning: prayer, to pray

As the word te•fi•la comes from the biblical root P.L.L. and every verb and many nouns in Hebrew come from a core root;

the verb to pray, le•hit•pa•lel,

clearly shows the connection to the root letters: 

Now when Solomon finished praying,

fire came down from heaven,

II Chronicles 7:1

The word praying in this verse is

to pray

and not the adverb

praying.

With this understanding in mind, the time of prayer is the time of self-judgment and self-evaluation. When we address ourselves to the Heavenly Father and pray for His blessings, we must inevitably search our hearts and examine ourselves looking to see whether we reach the standards of daily behavior, which He has given for us to follow. 

Because of this, our prayers usually contain a confession of sins, faults, miss-steps which we may have committed knowingly or unknowingly. We pray for Our Heavenly Fathers’ forgiveness, and determine to improve ourselves.

Prayers help us to lead a better life in every respect, by living more fully the way of the 

Old Testament/TaNaK,

New Testament/Brit Chadashah 

and Mitzvoth which are His commands to us.

On a higher level,

prayer becomes avodah,

avodah is the Hebrew word for service. The Scriptures command us to serve The Father with our hearts.

Prayer fulfills this kind of service; it’s service of the heart and in this sense, prayer is meant to purify our hearts and our souls/nature.

The plain meaning of 

avodah is work.

Tefilah, in the sense of avodah,

is where the impurities of our characters

are removed, as in a refinery.

This again is connected to self examination.

We are to purge ourselves.

We become aware that we stand before the Holy One, The Creator and King of the Universe and the whole of the material earth with all the pains and pleasures of this world seems to fall away and the reality of the things that really matter; those that are truly important come into focus. Even as we pray for the basics of life, we think of these things in their deeper sense.

Lives which are worthy to be called,

living the abundant life/Chaim;

are those that Yeshua/Jesus came to provide for us and are not only physical health, but most importantly spiritual.

Those are the things that truly sustain us in this world and in the world to come, and are found in His Word and His commandments/Mitzvoth.

Then when we return to our daily routine, we feel cleansed and purified by this avodah/service. The feeling of purity and holiness lingers on and lifts our daily behavior to a level more fitting for His children, a people called a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

The highest level of prayer is attained when we are so inspired as to not want anything but the sense of connection with our Heavenly Father. In this place, Tefilah is related to the verb in Hebrew, tofel;

which means: 

to attach, join, or bind together, as two pieces of a broken vessel are pieced together to make it whole again.

Every Mitzvah which Our Father has commanded us to do, and which we perform as a Holy commandment, connects us to Him.

The word Mitzvah is related to the

Aramaic word tzavta, 

meaning: togetherness or company.

The English word: to enjoin,

which means: to command.

The mitzvah/commandment is the bond that unites the person commanded, with the person commanding, regardless of the distance or level of rank between them.

For example: when a king commands a servant to do something, this immediately establishes a bond between the two. The humble servant feels greatly honored that the king has taken notice of him and has given him something to do, and that he, an insignificant person, can do something to please the king; and it makes him eager to be worthy of the king’s attention and favor.

This being the case in every Mitzvah/commandment,

it is even more so in the case of prayer

because nothing brings an individual closer to the Father than prayer.

When prayer is the deep, honest outpouring of the soul it makes the connection of spirit to spirit and when that happens prayer on that level is like being embraced by Him.

Pauls prayers have been referenced and are an excellent source of how to pray

Below is a list of them:

Romans 1:8–10

Romans 10:1

Romans 12:12

Romans 15:5–6

Romans 15:5–6

Romans 15:13

Romans 15:30–33

1 Corinthians 1:4–9

1 Corinthians 16:23

2 Corinthians 1:3–7

2 Corinthians 2:14–16

2 Corinthians 9:12–15

2 Corinthians 12:7–9a

2 Corinthians 13:7–9

Galatians 6:18

Ephesians 1:3ff

Ephesians 1:15–23

Ephesians 3:14–21

Ephesians 6:19–20

Philippians 1:3–6

Philippians 1:9–11

Phil. 4:6–7

Philippians 4:23

Colossians 1:3–14

Colossians 4:2–4

1 Thessalonians 1:2–3

1 Thessalonians 2:13–16

1 Thessalonians 3:9–13

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24

1 Thessalonians 5:28

2 Thessalonians 1:3ff

2 Thessalonians 1:11–12

2 Thessalonians 2:16–17

2 Thessalonians 3:1–5

1 Timothy 1:12

1 Timothy 2:1ff

2 Timothy 1:3–7

2 Timothy 1:16–18

2 Timothy 4:22

Titus 3:15b

Philemon 4–7

Philemon 25

And many Psalms are also model prayers for us to use.

We may have seen pictures of Jewish people wrapping their left arms and their foreheads with leather stripes, on their foreheads are scriptures housed in a small leather box called te•fi•lin,

and the singular is te•fi•la /phylacteries,

the same word as for prayer.

This is because it includes 4 prayers /Torah portions from the Old Testament, beginning with Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

Yeshua/Jesus was always retiring to a quiet place alone to pray. He did not teach much on prayer, not that we have recorded in the scriptures, however:

The Hebrew prayer almost always began with:

Baruch ata eloheinu melek ha olam

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe,

Some more examples are:

Baruch HaShem, meaning

Thank God literally, Blessed be the Name.

Baruch ata ADONAI Eloheinu Melech ha-olam ha-motzi lechem min ha-aretz.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth. 

Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, Melekh ha’olam.

Blessed are you, Lord, our God, sovereign of the universe.

In modern translations, it is often translated as:

blessed are you, Adonai or blessed are you Eternal.

Baruch atah Adonai (ברוך אתה ה׳)

literally means blessed are you Lord.

 Baruch hata Adonai, elo-henu malech ha-olam, ha’tov, va-ha’me-tev

Blessed are You, Lord, God of the Universe, Who is good and bestows good.

Blessing the Heavenly Father was the first priority. Yeshua/Jesus would have followed this manner of prayer; and we have examples of Him blessing His Heavenly Father before such miracles as the multiplication of the loaves and fish.

Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.

Matthew 14:19 Mark 6:38;41.

It does not say He blessed the bread simply He blessed.

A brakhah (בְּרָכָה) = blessing.

Plural: brakhot, בְּרָכוֹת. 

Strong’s Hebrew: 1293. בְּרָכָה (berakah) — a blessing

 a berakhah, bracha, brokho, brokhe

Hebrew: בְּרָכָה; pl. בְּרָכוֹת ‎, berakhot, brokhoys; benediction, blessing is a formula of blessing or thanksgiving, recited in public or private.

and another example in raising Lazarus from the dead.

John 11:

⁴¹ Then they took away the stone ^[d]from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴² And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” ⁴³ Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” ⁴⁴ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

If anyone would have

prayed a perfect prayer

then it would have been Yeshua/Jesus.

Perfect also has the meaning of mature/complete, we are by His spirit to be complete in Him and mature in our faith and walk; cutting away all that would so easily beset us in order to run the race and not faint. To run and not be weary, the enemy would like to wear out the saints and we are to not be ignorant of his devices.

We are to be praying the prayer of faith, surely that is praying the answer according to His word, not the problem. If He is to watch over His Word to perform it, then it needs to be His words from scripture and they are breathed by Him

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 2Tim.3:16.

So with His breath in them, they are His Words.

 And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:22

He also breathed as He spoke the very breath of His Father, we can too when we allow His ruach/spirit to speak through us and we know that sweet and bitter water cannot come from same source.

Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter. James 3:11

Our words then to be based on His words putting Him in remembrance of them

Isaiah 43:26, “Put Me in remembrance…”

It’s not that God forgets His Word. He already knows what He has said, but He wants to make sure that you remember what He said.

then He hears from heaven… 2 Chron.7:14

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1

When they asked him to teach them how to pray like John was teaching his disciples, the One with the perfect life said this to them…

“Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen”

Matthew 6:9-13

Was this then the perfect prayer?

The one most of us have learned as children?

It has to be as near perfect as we can get …so taking another look at a very familiar few verses and it may be the very first prayer we were ever taught to say when very young, it is as perfect today as it ever was.

In the Hebraic mindset the essence of prayer is twofold.

It isn’t just passionately requesting something from Him. This kind of deep appeal to our Heavenly Father is only one aspect of prayer.

The other aspect is to speak out loud from the heart or to speak earnestly to Him in words of praise and worship.

The Lord’s Prayer is a great example of prayer that demonstrates where this two-fold Hebraic mindset is found. The first two verses are words of praise and worship: 

“Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.”

The latter verses include appealing to The Father with requests of our human nature and its needs.

Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen” Matthew 6:9-13.

What language did Yeshua/Jesus speak these words? Have we lost anything in translation?

There are differing opinions as to whether He spoke Hebrew or Aramaic, however this post is not trying to prove either way but simply present the languages and the beauty within their translated words giving us a broader understanding of what Yeshua/Jesus was trying to teach His Disciples/Talmidim.

Yeshua/Jesus probably taught mostly in Galilean Aramaic, a regional dialect of the common language. It is a rich language in which the sentence construction and grammar flow so poetically like a river into a lake taking the listener on a journey that keeps flowing, adding on to itself and ending up in the fullness as of a picture of a lake.

Growing up in Galilee He would have spoken a dialect similar to the disciples; recall Peter in the High Priests courtyard.

The servant girl said to him Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard when one of the High Priest’s servant women came to him and said, “You, too, were with Jesus of Galilee.” Matthew 26:69

Peter, being a Galilean, spoke in a northern Aramaic dialect, and his accent and vocabulary gave him away when he was trying to remain anonymous on the night of Messiahs’ arrest.

After a little while the men standing there came to Peter. “Of course you are one of them,” they said. “After all, the way you speak gives you away!” Matthew 26:73 I S V

Other examples of Yeshua/Jesus using Aramaic words or phrases are Mark 7:34, Mark 14:36, Mark 14:36, Matthew 5:22, John 20:16, and Matthew 27:46. This last one was when He was on the cross crying out to God in Aramaic. 

Yeshua/Jesus also could read and probably speak Hebrew. In Luke 4:16-21, He stood up and read from Isaiah in Hebrew. He also asked the scribes and Pharisees on multiple occasions,

“Have you not read . . .” and then referred to a passage from the Old Testament. 

Hebrew and Aramaic are two of the world’s oldest living languages. These are the languages that were spoken by the patriarchs and prophets and saints in the Old and New Testaments, that were used when writing the Bible, and used by Messiah in His earthly life.

Below are some examples of the Aramaic and Hebrew language for the Lords Prayer which some also call the disciples prayer. The second line is the pronunciation.

The mp3 is the spoken Aramaic of the text below it.

Abwoon d’bwashmaya

a-voon de-vesh-ma-ya

Our Father which art in heaven

Nethqadash shmakh

Nith-ka-dash smakh

Hallowed be they name

Teytey malkuthakh

Tai-thai mal-koo-thakh

Thy kingdom come

Nehwey tzevyanach aykanna d’bwahmaya aph b’arha

Neh-way sev-ya-nakh Ai-ken-na de-vesh-ma-ya

Thy Will be done in earth, as it is in heaven

Hawvlan lachma d’sunqanan yaomana

Up ber-ah, hav-lan Lakh-ma de-soon-ka-nan yo-ma-na

Give us this day our daily bread

Wahboqlan khaubayn (wakhtahayn) aykanna daph khnan shbwoqan l’khayyabayn

Khoe-baine ai-ken-na de-up khnan sh-vak-n el-kha-ya-ven

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors

Wela tahlan l’nesyuna 

Ula ta-e-lun al nis-yoe-na

And lead us not into temptation,

Ela patzan min bisha

Il-la pes-on min-bee-sha

but deliver us from evil

Metol dilakhie malkutha wahayla wateshbukhta l’ahlam almin.
Ameyn.

Mit-thil de-de-lakh-ee mal-koo-tha oo-khay-la oo-tish-boakh-ta el-a-lum all-meen Amein

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Below is a deeper look at the first few lines:

Abwoon d’bwashmaya

a-voon de-vesh-ma-ya

Our Father which art in heaven

Recall from previous posts that the letter b and v are the same in Hebrew. So the Hebrew translates Father as Avinu or Av.

In the Aramaic Abwoon:

Ab – shortened form of abba, but also means: source, parent, generative power, initiator, first cause, unity.

Bw – is a buzzing sound made by the lips as air is pushed between them.

Oo – the opening sound.

N – the close, creation into forms. Also recall the Hebrew letter Nun/Noon for life/chaim/lifes.

Abwoon

is one of those words that contains within it a

full concept concerning our Heavenly Father as Creator.

Abwoon d’bwashmaya Nethqadash shmakh

Speaks to us of the source of all life, of heaven and a relationship with our Father; that He is Holy, that there is a cleansing a sweeping out and a preparing for planting; His Name and His personal presence in the form of His essence or spirit.

Teytey malkuthakh Nehwey tzevyanach aykanna d’bwahmaya aph b’arha

Says to us: Come into His realm, do it now, it is the hearts desire at the same time the created forms of heaven and earth for His will to be established within them.

Hawvlan lachma d’sunqanan yaomana

Provide that which will sustain us embrace us in a nesting comforting way as under His wings, this day, today during the time of daily activity.

Aramaic has many words that hold more than one meaning.

These are called webs of constellated thoughts which refers to words and short phrases that express whole thoughts and concepts and multiple translations of words which flow and describe and add to each other.

The literal, the metaphorical and the universal points of view of Aramaic is that many words present several possible translations. We must try to participate in re-creating meaning from these translations and go beyond seeing a prayer as a particular type and embrace the experience to which the words are directing us.

This helps us understand why translators had such a hard time and without a Hebraic mindset they used words that did not express the full or original meaning.

A Rabbi’s Mishnah was his repetition, the words and actions that conveyed his teachings. Here then the Lords’s Prayer is a comprehensive version and closest example of Yeshua/Jesus’ Mishnah; further described in Matthew 6:5-14 at the beatitudes/sermon of on the mount.

Recall the Greek /Hebrew mindset post.

In Aramaic

the word for

prayer is slotha

which comes from the word:

sla meaning: to trap.

It does not mean that we can capture/trap our Heavenly Father, or use His power by making deals with Him, or telling Him what to do. Rather it means: we are to set our minds and attention to catch the thoughts of our Heavenly Father.

Other meanings of the word have to do with

focusing, adjusting or to incline.

Some use the tuning of a radio to illustrate this idea however, the image of a sailing boat may be a better one. The wind is caught when the sail is adjusted and then the boat moves and inclines or lists/leans over when the sails catch the wind.

Messiah used the analogy of the wind and breath when He spoke of His and His Fathers’ Ruach HaKodesh/Spirit of Holiness.

We are to catch the wind/breath of The Father in the sails of our hearts and spirits.

There is air all around us and when we breathe we draw in from the outside and hardly ever pay attention unless for some reason its hard to breathe which makes us slow down and think; then we focus, and begin to relate to our surroundings differently, that’s when we can catch the breath/spirit of our Father.

In brief, the main difference between Aramaic and Hebrew is that:

Aramaic is a Northwest Semitic language spoken by the Arameans

while

Hebrew is a Northwest Semitic language spoken by the Hebrews.

Unlike Hebrew, which is a flourishing language, many varieties of Aramaic language are currently facing extinction, and some are already extinct.

Hebrew and Aramaic are sister languages from ancient times, and both are still spoken today. Both Hebrew and Aramaic belong to the Northwest Semitic language group, so they are in the same language family, something like Spanish and Italian are the same language family. 

Many of the words are remarkably similar, Modern Hebrew is the official language of the nation of Israel. Aramaic is still spoken by Jewish Kurds and other small groups living in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. 

Both Aramaic and Hebrew (mostly Hebrew) were used in the Old and New Testaments, and they are the only two Northwest Semitic languages still spoken today.

Aramaic is also an ancient language over 3800 years old. In the Bible, ancient Aram was part of Syria. The Aramaic language has its origins in the Aramean city-states of Damascus, Hamath and Arpad. The alphabet at that time was similar to the Phoenician alphabet. As the country of Syria emerged, the Aramean states made it their official language. 

Hebrew is a Semitic language used by the Israelites and Judeans in Old Testament times. It is the only language from the land of Canaan that is still spoken today. Hebrew is also the only dead language that was successfully revived and spoken by millions today. In the Bible, the word Hebrew was not used for the language, but rather Yehudit (the language of Judah) or səpaṯ Kəna’an (the language of Canaan). 

Hebrew was the spoken language of the nations of Israel and Judah from around 1446 to 586 BC, and likely extends back to the period of Abraham hundreds of years earlier. The Hebrew used in the Bible is known as Classical Hebrew or Biblical Hebrew. 

Finally here it is in Hebrew:

Lets ask ourselves, what type of prayer are we praying? Is it effective prayer? Is it based on His Word? He is our Heavenly Father and we are on our Way home; the more we know of Him through prayer, the greater the desire in us to be with Him and the less the world has a pull on our lives…

Shalom shalom

‘Mishpachah’

‘Family/Tribe’

משפחה

Mish-pa-KHa,

friends, visitors and every reader…

Please don’t leave this page before making certain you are His

and are truly born from above.

Know of a certainty that Jesus/Yeshua is

your Redeemer, Savior, Lord

and soon returning King

and that you have a personal relationship with Him.

You are greatly loved, prayed for daily and precious in His sight.

It’s all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.

NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry.

I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus.  Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen.