I Just Can’t Pray

In the previous article I answered a question about how to deal with overwhelming tests in life. Now I want to address a side issue mentioned in the question – the inability to pray.

Now that I’ve explained the aspect of thanking Hashem, Rabbi Arush says the lack of words are because of the sadness and fear in your heart.   

There are 4 simple solutions that Rabbi Arush recommends. I myself use them because they work! Here they are:  

1. Just pray for emuna and strengthen your desire to thank Hashem and be happy with the situation exactly as it is. Ask Hashem to give you the merit to thank Him with your whole heart.  
   This one works for me every time, incredibly fast. “Hashem, I can’t talk, I am sad, I am scared, help me, Hashem, I want to thank You, I want to live the truth and I know this is the truth, everything You do is good, even and especially when I can’t see it. Please help me to thank You, I want to thank You with my whole heart.” Repeat that over and over.
2. Just thank Hashem simply. Thank Hashem for the obvious good – your heart is beating? Thank you. Your fingers can type? Thank you! Thank Hashem for anything and everything until you start to feel better! 
   Know that this one often takes more time to work, days to a week or so. It’s important advice, but not a quick fix.
3. Say Psalm 100 over and over until you start to feel better and can pray! Personally I love this one and use it all the time. It works usually after just a few repetitions!
4. In The Garden of Gratitude Rabbi Arush explains that since Hashem’s seal is truth, His Presence runs from lies. The feeling of sadness is the greatest lie there is, because G-d loves you! If you really could feel that, you would be happy. Rebbe Nachman says if you really believed that, you would roar like a lion in prayer and never stop until you’re answered! 
   So here we are sad because we don’t feel or see Hashem’s love. A lot of people even think G-d hates them, G-d forbid. Find me a (normal, healthy) father who hates his child? Even if the father is forced to distance himself from the child or to punish him, it hurts the father. He still loves the child, no matter what. Is Hashem less than a human father? No and just the opposite – Rabbi Arush explains that Hashem created the natural love of parents for their children so that they should understand just a tiny smidgen of Hashem’s unconditional love for each and every one of us! 
   Hence, sadness is a lie. So of course, Hashem isn’t there! The solution to bring Hashem back, to get back into happiness, to be able to pray – is to put in some truth. Say something to Hashem, anything – but make it something ABSOLUTELY TRUE. 
   Some ideas are to express your will (back to #1) – “Hashem I want to serve You, Hashem I want to pray.” Or words of emuna, such as “I know You are stopping everything to listen to me, even if I don’t feel it” or “I know my attempts to speak to You are so precious, even if I don’t get a word out.” 
   If you’re really stuck, go pull out The Garden of Emuna or another emuna book and start reading. The emuna will bring you back to a point of truth and from there, you’ll be able to pray! 
   

PRINT OUT THESE IDEAS AND USE IT WHEN YOU TRY TO PRAY.   

Please don’t give up on prayer! Try! Don’t be so hard on yourself! Hashem isn’t judging you based on your success in prayer – that’s from Him anyway. He’s looking at just your desire and your honest attempt!   

The one who wins the war is the one who doesn’t stop fighting!   

That IS winning – so fight for your emuna, fight to put your head down without trying to understand and thank Hashem anyway!  

***  

Rachel Avrahami grew up in Los Angeles, CA, USA in a far-off valley where she was one of only a handful of Jews in a public high school of thousands. She found Hashem in the urban jungle of the university. Rachel was privileged to read one of the first copies of The Garden of Emuna in English, and the rest, as they say, is history. She made Aliyah and immediately began working at Breslev Israel.   
 
Rachel is now the Editor of Breslev Israel’s English website. She welcomes questions, comments, articles, and personal stories to her email: rachel.avrahami@breslev.co.il.