Personal Prayer Warmup

A condensed Guide to Personal Prayer based on the teachings of Rabbi Shalom Arush shlit'a, part 1
 
Internalize this golden rule: With true emuna, any person – by means of simple personal prayer and dialog with Hashem – can transcend any natural limitation and work wonders!
 
Daily Personal Prayer Instructions
 
Every person, man or woman, young or old, should spend an hour a day in teshuva, which is basically personal prayer and self-evaluation. You can speak to Hashem anywhere, anytime, and in any language. Pick the hour that's most convenient for you; many prefer early in the morning or late at night. Preferably one should choose a place devoid of other people such as a solitary room, a park, or a field (just not in a bathroom, shower or unclean place). You can stand or sit, or even lie in your bed under the covers. The most important thing is to feel comfortable with no outside interference, so you can freely pour your heart out to Hashem.
 
Steps:
 
A good warm up is to begin by thanking Hashem for the wonderful blessings He gives you – your health your livelihood and the clothes on your back. Don't take anything for granted. Next tell Hashem everything that has transpired in your life since the last time you spoke to him – don't skip any details, especially the things that make you happy and the things that upset you. Thank Hashem for helping you to do your good deeds, and confess your misdeeds while judging yourself in the process. Implement a four part teshuva process that consists of confession, remorse, asking forgiveness, and commitment to improve. Finally, ask Hashem for anything and everything you want.
 
Personal prayer is a guarantee for a happy and meaningful Life.
 
It’s a good Idea to devote the first few minutes to praying for prayer:
 
“Hashem, help me believe in the power of prayer. Help me reinforce my emuna so that I feel that You are right here with me, listening to my prayers. Hashem, grant me the humility to ask for all my needs as a free gift, without any sense of entitlement at all.”
 
“Hashem, please open my heart and put the right words in my mouth to express myself. Help me think clearly and verbalize my thoughts. Help me thank You for all the wonderful gifts You give me daily, and help me evaluate myself and make teshuva properly. Help me identify my shortcomings and guide me in self-improvement. Help me pray for all my needs – material and spiritual. More than anything, please give me the faith that You are with me and that You listen to my prayers.”
 
Short Personal Preparation Prayer: “Master of the World, here I am standing before You, about to pray. You know how strong the evil inclination’s resistance is to my prayers. This evil inclination makes me feel like the prayer is a heavy burden on my back, something I want to be quickly over and done with. Please have mercy on me and help me defeat the evil inclination so that I won't take my prayers lightly. Instead, help me say each word deliberately while connecting my heart and my mouth together so that my prayers will be sincere and worthy. Help me attain the spiritual and material abundance that prayer is capable of invoking, and grant me what I need in material and spiritual blessings – peace, good health, a good income, food, clothing, etc. and above all emuna, so that I can serve You properly.”
 
Appeal to Hashem’s infinite mercy, compassion and loving-kindness: “Master of the World! The Torah testifies that You are compassionate and merciful and that You listen to the cries of everyone that calls your name with no preconditions at all, whether a person's righteous or not, deserving or not. Hashem, I therefore beg You to give me the free gift of Your limitless mercy and to listen to my prayers. Hashem, I believe with all my heart in Your attributes of mercy and compassion just as I believe in You, so please let me pour my heart out to you. Please grant me the salvation I need, for no one can help me but You. You created the world to show your mercy, so please give me Your merciful help. Help me return to You with all my heart. Please help me to strengthen my emuna and correct whatever I did wrong that caused me the current problems I have. Hashem, please accept my prayers and fulfill my wishes even though I deserve nothing…”
 
Any worthwhile endeavor begins with prayer. Adding prayer before whatever we do gives life an indescribable sweetness. With prayer, a person is granted a passport to success.