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Tefillah: Connecting with God
Tefillah (prayer) means connecting with God. Prayer is the communion whereby we
walk with God. It is a way we bless our creator, and a way to stay mindful of
our position before Him.
When we
begin a meal by blessing God with "Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King of
the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine," and ". . . who brings
forth bread from the earth," we are recognizing our creator who has given
us His covenant (the fruit of the vine being the blood of the covenant), and our
redeemer who is the bread of life that was brought forth from the earth
(resurrected) to guarantee our resurrection. And all of this is given us to
bless Him – for His glory.
Prayer: Sovereignty Through Surrender
Consider Adam (man): He was created at the end of day six. (He was the last of
God’s creation on day six -- Genesis 1:24-31). He was made upright (Job 1:8,
Psalm 19:13) to walk with God. He glowed with the Glory of God -- in Eden the
attire is robes of light. He was given divine license to rule the world (Genesis
1:26). His first full day on earth was the Sabbath Day, the day set aside to
worship the creator.
God created vegetation on day three (Genesis 1:11-13), but it remained dormant
and undeveloped, not sprouting until the end of day six, when Adam came on the
scene.
“Now
no tree of the field was yet on the earth and no herb of the field had yet
sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth and there was no man
to work the soil” – Genesis 2:5.
The sages teach that the world began with prayer (Shemoneh Esrei by Rabbi
Avrohom Chaim Feuer, page 11). Until God and Adam communicated there was no
fulfillment of Adam’s needs for survival and glorifying God.
God sanctified the Sabbath (set it apart from the other days, Genesis 2:3), and
commanded man to sanctify the Sabbath (set it apart to God, Deuteronomy 5:12).
One way that we sanctify the Sabbath is by candle lightings (Erev Shabbat and
Havdallah); one way that we are to sanctify all things that we use is by prayer.
When Adam placed another before God, he lost his glow. He covered himself with
leaves to hide from God by looking like a tree that naturally did not glow. He
was exiled from the Garden of Eden.
We
look forward to ruling the world with Messiah Yeshua (1 Timothy 2:12, Revelation
5:10, 20:16, 22:5), when we shall glow with God’s glory (Matthew 17:2,
Revelation 3:4-5). We are promised Paradise -- the Garden of Eden, on a renewed
earth. [The Hebrew Gan Edan is translated in the Greek Septuagint as Paradiso
(Genesis 2:5):in English Gan Edan is translated as Garden of Eden, and Paradiso
as Paradise. Paradise in Luke 23:43 & Revelation 2:7 refers to the Septuagint
translation of Garden of Eden.] But we must first be sanctified by God, and
everything that we use for survival and glorifying God should be sanctified by
the Word of God and by prayer (1 Timothy 4:5).
The Talmud has this to say about prayer:
One who derives pleasure from this world without the appropriate blessing is as
if he derived illegal pleasure from a sacred object (which belongs to the
Temple), as it says, ‘Yahweh’s is the earth and its fullness’ (Psalm 24:1).
Elsewhere it is written, ‘The heavens are Yahweh’s but the earth He has given to
mankind’ (Psalm 115:16). However, there is no contradiction. Before one recites
a blessing, all objects belong to God; after the blessing they belong to man
(Berachos 35a).
Man can only rule if he acknowledges that he rules only by the grace of God. By
being oblivious of God, man becomes a treacherous usurper of the throne; by
surrendering and being grateful to God, he legitimizes his license to control.
Yeshua, as our example, ruled by surrender to the Father.
Blessing the Name Yahweh
We
bless God for His provision, rather than blessing what He provides. Saying a
blessing over something (such as food or drink) is pronouncing God’s Name over
it:
"Blessed are You, ‘ - - ‘ our God, King of the Universe, who (created fruit,
gave us Torah, etc.)."
Therefore the sages teach that after saying a blessing, we should immediately
use that thing, so that the pronouncing of His Name is not in vain. "You shall
not use the Name of Yahweh your God in vain"
(Exodus 20:7
We are
instructed, by both Biblical command (Matthew 6:9) and Biblical example, to pray
only to our Heavenly Father.
All
prayer is to be for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. We are instructed to pray
“in the Name of Yeshua,” that is, as His ambassadors or representatives. We
should ask our Father for those things that Yeshua would want in order to enable
our service for Him, not things to “consume on our lusts” (James 4:3). Such
prayer changes our perspectives and attitudes about life.
John 14:13 “Whatever you ask
in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
2
Corinthians 5:20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were
making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to
God.
Praying
in the name of Yeshua excludes praying to Yeshua (Jesus), since it means praying
to our Father as Yeshua’s ambassador.
We are
instructed to ask Our Father for the (Ruach haKodesh) Spirit of the Holy One
(Luke 11:13). Never does the Bible indicate prayer to the Holy Spirit.
______________________________
From Sabbath
Heshvan 26, 5767
The Appointed Seasons for Prayer
Moadim – the Heavenly Picture
God has made appointments (Heb. plur.–
moadim {moe-a-deem’}; sing.– moed {moe-ed’}) for us to keep. They began with
Adam at creation. They were detailed through Moses. They were loved by the
psalmist. They were cried for by the prophets. They were kept by Yeshua. They
were promoted among gentiles by the apostles.
They are appointments for special
meetings with our creator – specific times and places. They keep before us God’s
design for our lives. They strengthen our relationship with our savior, and open
up our understanding of His word.
God’s Calendar
We are given God’s calendar to meet
His appointments – years, months, weeks, days, and hours.
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to
separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons
(moadim) and for days
and years” – Genesis 1:14.
Firstly, we have Biblical years based
upon the solar seasons; the New Year for Festivals begins in the spring. Then we
have Biblical months based upon lunar cycles (month means moon), though the
world’s tradition has obscured that. Next we have weeks by counting seven day
periods. We are given days from sunset to sunset, and hours by dividing the dark
times and light times each by twelve – again obscured by modern tradition.
God has given us moadim – three annual
feasts, with seven annual holy days, to show us His redemptive and sanctifying
acts and eternal promises (see
FEASTS).
He made the Sabbath holy for man’s sake, and instructed us to keep it holy (see
SABBATH). These too are obscured today, by the world’s traditions and by
religious traditions.
Now, let us consider our daily
appointments with our creator and savior.
Remember that the earthly Temple at
Jerusalem represented the heavenly Temple of Yahweh. The fire from God burned
continually on the brazen altar. On each annual holy day, special animal
offerings were burned with incense, their aroma ascending from the brazen altar.
On each Sabbath afternoon, the aroma of two lambs with incense ascended from
brazen altar. Every day of the year, the aroma of a lamb with incense ascended
from the brazen altar in the morning, and again in the evening; all personal sin
offerings and thanksgiving offerings were performed between these morning and
evening communal offerings. This is the picture we are given, in order to
understand! Consider how much time and effort and how many lives have been
given, just for us to understand!
The Prayers of Morning and Evening
During the communal offerings,
twenty-four courses of priests, representatives of the twenty-four provinces in
Israel, stood in for the people before God at the Holy Temple. At the same time,
the people were in the synagogues for the hour of “the prayers” – morning and
evening.
Morning and evening are appointed
times for “the prayers” – communal at the synagogue for those who can attend,
otherwise wherever one is able.
“My House shall be called a
house of prayer for all people”
– Isaiah 56:7, Matthew 21:12.
“And the whole multitude of the
people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering” – Luke
1:10.
The incense offerings, from Temple
times, have always been seen as representing the prayers.
“When He had
taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down
before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which
are the prayers of the saints”
– Revelation 5:8.
These are the prayers for which we are
given a pattern: the Shemoneh Esrei or the Disciples Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).
With this pattern, we begin by approaching Yahweh as the Sovereign God who has
the power to fulfill our requests, and the One who is to be praised. We come as
penitents, seeking His will. Then we present personal petitions, and communal
petitions. Finally, we acknowledge that all should be for the sake of His
Kingdom, for His glory.
In the morning, we may bless God for
bringing us to another day, and seek His guidance for the day. At evening, we
may bless God for His grace during the day, and seek forgiveness for our
failures.
This is a commandment! (It is known as
commandment #5 of the 613 commandments of the Torah.) It is called “the service
(abad) of the heart.”
“But you shall serve
(abad) Yahweh your God, and He will
bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst”
– Exodus 23:25.
“You shall fear only Yahweh your
God; and you shall serve
(abad) Him and swear by His name” – Deuteronomy 6:13.
David practiced this in Tabernacle
times.
“In the morning, O Yahweh, You
will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly
watch” – Psalm 5:3.
“As for me, I shall call upon
God, and Yahweh will save me. Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain
and murmur, and He will hear my voice” –
Psalm 55:16-17
Daniel practiced this after the First
Temple was destroyed; he was thrown to lions for doing so.
“Then they answered and spoke
before the king, ‘Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention
to you, O king, or to the injunction which you signed, but keeps making his
petition three times a day.’ ” –
Daniel 6:13.
Yeshua and His apostles, and Hebrew
and gentile believers in Yeshua, practiced this.
“In
the early morning, while it was still dark, Yeshua got up, left the house, and
went away to a secluded place, and was praying there”
– Mark 1:35.
“Now Peter and John were going
up to the Temple at the ninth hour, the
(evening) hour of prayer” –
Acts 3:1.
“So then, those who had
received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three
thousand souls.
They were continually devoting themselves to the
apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the
prayers”
(Gr. tais proseukais – this is specific) – Acts
2:41-42
Cornelius was a God-fearing gentile; his prayers ascended to God
and were answered at the ninth hour – the hour of prayer (Acts 10:1-4 ).
Luke (Luke
21;36) and Paul (Ephesians 6:18) instruct us to pray at all the appointed times.
(That is the literal translation of the Greek.)
The pilgrims who came to this country
(USA) practiced this. Commonly, the father got up early to read the Bible and
pray, then the mother got up to prepare breakfast, then the family together was
taught by the father, and they all discussed what they planned to do that day to
serve God.
Praying During the Day
Between the morning and evening hours
of “the prayers,” the time of personal offerings at the Temple, personal prayers
of any kind may be made. We should bless Yahweh for each thing that He provides
for us, as we are about to use it. We should seek God’s leading for every
undertaking. We should seek forgiveness and correction continually. Every
thought, word, and action should be considered prayerfully!
The Prayer Closet
Yeshua instructed us to "enter into our closet" to pray (Matthew 6:6), rather
than doing it for a vain show. The prayer closet is the tallit (prayer shawl)
wrapped about one’s head. Men praying anonymously in this way may be seen today
at the Western Wall of the Temple site during prayer times, and in synagogues
around the world.
The Shemoneh Esrei (Eighteen
Benedictions)
in light of Yeshua’s Teaching
The Shemoneh Esrei
(Eighteen Benedictions) is a pattern for prayer to be said three times a day, at
the appointed times - evening, morning and noon - as David did (Psalm 55:17),
and as Daniel did at the cost of being thrown to lions (Daniel 6:13-16), and as
Yeshua taught (Luke 21:36 - lit. "pray at all the appointed times"). It is also
called the Amidah (Standing); it is said in a standing position. Its original
formulation is attributed to the Great Assembly of Ezra’s time. Yeshua’s prayer
instruction to His disciples follows this pattern (Matthew 6:9-13). This version
is translated to emphasize Yeshua as Messiah.
_____________________________________
(From Rosh Hodesh Iyyar 5765 commentary)
Yeshua wrote the Ten Commandments in stone, as
well as the 613 commandments that hang on them. When Yeshua was asked about the
Commandments, He replied that the first is to love Yahweh your God with all your
heart, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. This simple
statement covered the purpose and meaning of all of the previous Commandments;
it did not diminish or replace anything.
When Yeshua was asked by a certain man, “What
must I do to enter the Kingdom of God”, Yeshua (knowing the man’s heart)
answered “Keep the Commandments”. The self-righteous man replied that he had
done so even from his youth. Yeshua answered in kind, as though responding to a
righteous man, “Sell what you have and give it to the poor, and you will have
great reward in heaven”. The man, having many possessions, went away sorrowful.
Thus Yeshua brought out the heart of a man who did not love his neighbor as
himself.
Yeshua gave us such profound insights with the
simplest of statements.
During Temple times, members of synagogues were
taught how to pray, based upon Biblical principles. Yeshua was asked by His
disciples, who were basically unlearned men, “Teach us how to pray” (Matthew
23). The response was simple yet profound. It highlighted known Biblical
principles.
PRAISE:
O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth
may declare Your praise.
The Shemoneh Esrei, the commonly taught Eighteen
Benedictions, begins with this quote from Psalm 51:15.
1
Our Father,
and the God of our forefathers, Who remembered His promises to the patriarchs
and brought a Redeemer to their children’s children, for His Name’s sake, in
love – blessed are You, Yahweh our God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the
Messiah.2
Matthew 23: “6 They love the place
of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 and
respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.
8 But
do not be called “Rabbi”; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.
9 Do
not call anyone on earth “Father”: for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
10 Do
not be called “Leader”; for One is your Leader, that is, Messiah.
11
But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts
himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”
This paragraph is about men taking on titles of
exaltation in the spiritual realm. It does not disallow us calling our birth
father “father”; the Scriptures are full of references to natural fathers being
called such. Neither does it disallow us referring to Abraham and the other
patriarchs as a “fathers”; again, we have such references throughout the
Scriptures. It is simply instructing us to not take on titles or recognize those
who do as our authorities.
Matthew 3: “9 and do not suppose
that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’: for I say to
you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”
This statement does not forbid recognizing
Abraham as our father. Rather, it shows the farce of thinking that being a
natural descendant of Abraham makes one a child of God. We were as spiritually
dead as stones, but were raised up as children to Abraham! It is through the
Abrahamic Covenant that we have salvation.
But we come before the Eternal Almighty One, not
only as spiritual children of patriarchs, but as children of their God, and
partakers of His promises to them!
Because Yahweh is God of the patriarchs, and
Father of Messiah Yeshua, He is our Father, and we can come before Him Who loves
us as His children. This is our standing, as we come to pray!
Some say that “Jews” did not address God as
“Father”, and that this teaching of Yeshua was a change. Such is not the case. A
common Hebrew song (that I especially like) is “Aveinu Malcheinu” – Our Father,
Our King.
We may note here, that a prayer commonly ends
with “Blessed are You, Yahweh, Who (is in the position of answering)”,
not with “Amen” – which denotes agreement with another’s statement.
2
You dwell in the heavens. Who is like You, O Master of mighty deeds, and
who is comparable to You, O King Who causes death and restores life and makes
salvation abound! And You are faithful to raise the dead.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, who
raises the dead.
To “dwell in the heavens” does not mean sitting
somewhere above the clouds. It means being in the place of authority and power
over everything. We recognize the One we are praying to as being the
incomparable Master, the One Who performs mighty deeds among us. We should know
that He is ruling even over life and death, and will be faithful even to the
raising of us from the dead.
This is our basis of hope for answer to our
prayers: we are asking the One who has the answer in His hands, and His purpose
is for us to ultimately be raised in righteousness and prosperity!
3
Hallowed be Your Name. You are holy, and Your Name is holy, and holy ones
praise You every day, forever. Blessed are You, Yahweh, the holy God.
His Name, Yahweh, is holy: this is the name
whereby He is distinguished from all other gods: He was, He is, and He will be;
He is the only Eternal and Almighty and All-wise. This is the memorial name of
the only one to whom we are instructed to pray. Those who are sanctified / holy
/ set-apart praise Him every day, forever!
_____________________________
(From Rosh Hodesh Tammuz 5765 commentary)
PERSONAL REQUESTS:
May Your kingdom come, may Your
will be done on earth as it is in the heavens.
We should come with the proper attitude of
wanting God’s will to be done. He only knows the future and knows what is best.
His glory is to be the whole purpose of our requests. Our desires are to be
subservient. With this attitude, we can make the following categories of
personal requests.
4 Give us this day our daily bread. Bless
on our behalf - O Yahweh our God - this year and all its crops for the
best, and give dew and rain for a blessing on the face of the earth, and satisfy
us from Your bounty, and bless our year like the best years. Blessed are You,
Yahweh, who blesses the years.
He who created everything for His glory created
food for us in order for us to serve Him. We should wish for bountiful crops so
that we can give bountiful service to Him. That is the way Yahweh would be
blessed for blessing the year.
We also need the daily bread of His Word. Job
said that this was more important than physical food (Job 23:12, and David seems
to agree (Psalm 119). By growing on His Holy
Word, we ultimately glorify Him.
5 Heal us, Yahweh - then we will be healed,
for You are our praise. Bring complete recovery for all our ailments, for You
are God, King, the faithful and compassionate Healer.
Blessed are You,
Yahweh, who heals the sick of His people.
Yahweh Rapha
– our healer, is blessed by granting us health to serve Him. Sometimes He is
blessed by our sicknesses through which we are corrected, or granted stronger
faith. Sometimes He is blessed through our sicknesses so that His power or
compassion may be displayed by His healing. In any of these cases, we wish for
His healing hand to show His glory.
6 Behold our affliction in this world, and redeem
us speedily for Your Name’s sake, for You are a powerful Redeemer.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, who redeems us by the sacrifice of Yeshua.4
In this world we have afflictions from
individuals who hate us, from society that makes our life-style difficult, and
from rulers who rule contrary to our cause. The world makes obstacles to try to
keep us from Sabbath observance, and it advertises cunningly to have us spend
our time and money on unprofitable things. Yeshua redeems us from all of these,
to show God’s power and purpose.
7 Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,
for we have erred; pardon us, our King, for we have willfully sinned; for You
pardon and forgive. Blessed are You, Yahweh, who forgives abundantly
through Yeshua.3
For unintentional sins, there are established
rules of repentance, and forgiveness can be expected. But for intentional sins,
we can only ask for mercy, like David did (x). If
we are to expect mercy, we should show mercy to others (Matthew
5:7).
Ultimately, only through Yeshua’s sacrifice can
we be forgiven.
8 Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil. 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. Blessed are You, Yahweh, who desires repentance.
God does not tempt us (James
1:13), but it is God who determines when temptation will be sent to us.
This life is a test! Our desire and request should be that God will keep us from
the evil of falling to the temptation. We need God’s influence to continually
bring us toward complete repentance, to make us overcomers through faith (1 John
5:5, Revelation 21:7), and to grant us a walk in closer communion with Him.
9 You graciously endow man with intellect and teach
insight to a frail mortal. Endow us graciously from Yourself with intellect,
insight, and wisdom. Blessed are You, Yahweh, gracious Giver of
intellect.
Our ability to understand God’s Word, and the
needed wisdom to apply it in our lives, only comes from God. There is no room
for bragging about how He has given us special insights. We need to continually
petition for needed grace for these provisions.
______________
Through this kind of prayer, we continually
recognize how our personal provisions are for the purpose of glorifying God. We
are brought into a better perspective of our position before the Holy One who is
ruler over all.
_______________________
(From Rosh Hodesh Av 5765 commentary)
COMMUNAL REQUESTS:
Here we petition for the community of believers
as a whole, that Yahweh might be glorified by the entire congregation. These
requests may be seen as loving our neighbors as ourselves. While these requests
will be ultimately fulfilled in the end of the age, we desire a foretaste at the
present.
10 Sound the great shofar of our freedom, raise the banner to
gather our exiles and gather us together from the four corners of the earth.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, who gathers all the dispersed of His people.
The flowering of Israel’s hills as a prophetic
fulfillment is a sign of the coming final redemption.
The Fall Holy Days represent much happening in a
short time. On the Day of Trumpeting, when the Last Trump of the Shofar will be
sounded, the righteous dead raised, and Yeshua will return. A banner will be
raised – a sign to bring from the nations those who are alive (Isaiah 11:11-12).
Then on the Day of the Atonements, the Great Shofar will announce our freedom
(Isaiah 27:13). At the Feast of Ingathering (Exodus 23:16), which we usually
call the Feast of Tabernacles, believers will be gathered for the Marriage of
the Lamb. We wait for this, our final redemption (Romans 8:23).
When all believers are gathered, there will be
unity! There will be no more individual pride or obstinacy.
11 Restore our judges as in earliest times and our counselors
as at first; remove from us sorrow and groaning; and reign over us - You,
Yahweh, alone – with kindness and compassion, and justify us through
judgment. Blessed are You, Yahweh, the King who loves righteousness and
judgment.
God established communal judges and
prophets/counselors to guide us in our walk, but we have ignored Torah and
degenerated into everyone doing what is right in his own eyes (Deuteronomy
12:8). We have thereby brought upon ourselves corrupt judges and leaders,
bringing with them sorrow and groaning. So here we seek restoration by the Holy
One who loves righteousness and right judgment for the whole congregation. While
we should desire this now, it will be fully realized in the coming Kingdom of
Messiah.
“Justify us through judgment” is about how we evaluate our
brethren, and refers to the Torah command, “You shall judge your neighbor
with righteousness” – Leviticus 19:15. It correlates with Yeshua’s words, “Do
not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be
judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you
look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that
is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck
out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first
take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the
speck out of your brother's eye”
– Matthew 7:1-5.
It is as if one said, “I will not judge you, I will let you judge
yourself. However you judge others, that is how you will be judged. If you
condemn others harshly, you will be judged harshly; if you look upon others with
compassion, you will be judged with compassion.” If we really desire Yeshua to
reign over us with kindness and compassion, we should be showing that by the way
we judge others.
12 On the righteous, on the devout, on the elders of Your
people, on the remnant of their scholars, on the righteous converts and on
ourselves – may Your compassion be aroused, Yahweh, our God, and give
goodly reward to all who sincerely believe in Your Name. Put our lot with them
forever, and we will not feel ashamed, for we trust in You. Blessed are You,
Yahweh, Mainstay and Assurance of the righteous.
This is based upon Psalm 75:11, “The
pride of the wicked I shall cut down, but the pride of the righteous shall be
exalted.” After the wicked are taken away, their proud taunts will not be
able to shame us.
Here we desire God’s passion to be
aroused toward all categories of people who are sincere believers. We wish to be
part of that group that will never know shame, because their sins are taken away
and their faith shall be vindicated.
13 And with the New Jerusalem, Your holy city, may You return
in compassion, and may You establish it soon in our days as an eternal
structure, and may You speedily establish the throne of Yeshua son of David
within it. Blessed are You, Yahweh, the Builder of Jerusalem.
We yearn for the New Jerusalem to
come to earth (Revelation 3:12, 21:2), and for Yeshua to reign from there for
eternity (Revelation 11:15-17). It is the city of the Great King. It is being
prepared for us now (John 14:2-3, Revelation 21:2).
14 Yeshua, the offspring of Your servant David, may You
speedily cause to return, for we hope for Your salvation all day long. Blessed
are You, Yahweh, who causes salvation to flourish.
This is the conclusion for the communal blessings: we have a
longing and a sure hope for the return of Yeshua.
ACCEPTANCE / THANKSGIVING:
15
Hear our voice, for God Who hears prayer and supplications are You. Blessed are
You, Yahweh our God, who hears prayer in Yeshua's Name with compassion.
16
For Yours is the kingdom. Be favorable, O Lord, toward the people
of Your kingdom, and their prayer and service accept with love and favor. May
our eyes behold Your return to Zion to reign in compassion. Blessed are You,
Yahweh, who restores His presence to Zion.
17
And the power. Establish peace, goodness, blessing, graciousness,
kindness, and compassion upon us and bless us, our Father, with the light of
Your countenance. You gave us, Yahweh, our God, the Torah of life and a
love of kindness, righteousness, blessing, compassion, life, and peace. And may
it be good in Your eyes to bless Your people, in every season and in every hour
with Your peace. Blessed are You, Yahweh, who blesses His people with
peace.
18
And the glory, forever. We gratefully thank You, and shall relate
Your praise - for our lives which are committed to Your power, and for our souls
that are entrusted to You; for Your miracles that are with us every day; and for
Your wonders and favors in every season - evening, morning, and afternoon.
For all these, may Your Name be blessed and exalted, our King,
continually forever and ever. Everything alive will gratefully acknowledge You,
Selah! and praise Your Name sincerely, O God of our salvation and help, Selah!
Blessed are You, Yahweh; Your Name is ‘The Beneficent One’
and to You it is fitting to give thanks.
May the expressions of our mouths and the thoughts of our hearts
find favor before You, Yahweh, our Rock and our Redeemer.
Amen.
2 2 Cor. 1:3, Eph. 1:3, Col. 1:3, 1 Pet.
1:3
3 Acts 5:31, 10:43, Eph. 1:7, Col. 1:14, Heb. 9:22
4 Rom. 3:24, Eph. 1:7, 14, Heb. 9:12-15
5 Revelation 3:12, 21:2
6 Psalm 129:33
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