Siman 98

One must prepare the thoughts of his heart for prayer, as it is written: "You will prepare their heart, You will cause Your ear to listen" – that he should intend the meaning of the words that he utters with his lips, and he should think as if the Shekhinah is before him, and he should remove all thoughts that disturb him, until his thought remains pure and his intention clear in his prayer. And he should think in his heart: If he needed to arrange his words before a king of flesh and blood, how much would he arrange his words and intend very well, so as not to stumble in his words. And he would remove against his will all other thoughts so as not to think of them at all. All the more so when standing before the King of kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, who searches all thoughts, and He searches the heart and examines the kidneys. And thus did the pious and men of action do, for they would seclude themselves and intend in their prayer until they would reach the divestment of physicality and the strengthening of the intellectual power, until they were close to the level of prophecy. And now, in our many sins, would that we should intend the meaning of the words, and to pour ourselves out before our Creator in our prayer.

There is one who wrote a segulah to remove foreign thoughts during prayer: that before the prayer, he should pass his right hand over his forehead three times, and say each time: "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." And if a thought should come to him during the prayer – he should remain silent for a moment, and meditate upon this verse (Eliyah Rabbah). And he should remain silent until the thought is nullified, and he should think of matters that humble the heart and direct the heart to his Father in Heaven. And he should not think of matters that involve lightheadedness. And he should think before the prayer of the loftiness of the Almighty, may He be exalted, and of the lowliness of man, and he should remove all pleasures of this world from his heart. And it is forbidden for a person to kiss his small children in the beit knesset, in order to establish in his heart that there is no love like the love of the Omnipresent, blessed be He. (That which the Magen Avraham wrote in the name of Sefer HaGan – he wrote himself that it constitutes an interruption.)

It is known to those who know the hidden wisdom that there are lofty and sublime intentions in prayer. The Men of the Great Assembly, who were all righteous foundations of the world and great sages, and among them several prophets—hinted in the prayer at matters that stand at the height of the universe and awesome unifications, but not every mind can bear this. One who is not perfectly righteous and separated from the vanities of this world, or who is not a great sage in the revealed and hidden Torah—it is better that he intend only the meaning of the words, and to understand the matters with the intention of the heart (Magen Avraham). It is stated in the Zohar "Beshalach": Every person who comes to unify the Holy Name, and does not intend it in his heart, and with desire and fear so that the upper and lower beings will be blessed through it—they cast his prayer outside… and the Holy One, blessed be He, calls out: "When you come to appear before Me, who sought this from your hand?" Thus far his words. Therefore, one should be careful of this (ibid.).

One should not pray in a place where there is something that nullifies his kavanah, nor at a time that nullifies his kavanah. And thus they said in Eruvin (65a): Anyone whose mind is not settled—let him not pray. Rabbi Chanina, on a day that he was angry, would not pray. And one who arrives from a journey—let him not pray for three days. Rabbi Eliezer says: Even one who is distressed, meaning one who dwells in grief. Shmuel would not pray in a house that had beer in it, because of the odor that disturbed him. Rav Papa would not pray in a house that had harsana in it. The explanation: fish fried in flour and their brine and fat, because of its strong odor. However, the Tur and the Shulchan Aruch wrote that we are not careful now in all of this, because we do not direct our kavanah so much. One should only be careful to pray in the manner of supplications, like a poor man requesting at the doorway and with composure, and that it should not appear upon him like a burden from which he seeks to be rid. That is to say: even though he says it in the language of supplications, if he does not consider as is necessary that he comes to request before the King, but rather prays only because of the obligation to fulfill his duty and to be rid of it—it is not an accepted prayer (see Magen Avraham, subsection 4).

Prayer is in place of the sacrifice. Therefore, one must be careful that it be like the sacrifice in intention. One should not mix another thought into it, just as a thought of pigul disqualifies the sanctified offerings. And it must be while standing, similar to the service, for all service of the sanctified offerings is while standing, as it is written: "to stand to serve" (Zevachim 23b). And the straightening of the feet, like the priests at the time of the service (Tur). Furthermore: for this is in the likeness of the angels, as I wrote in siman 95, see there. And the establishing of a place is like the sacrifices, for every type of sacrifice has a fixed place for its slaughter and the placing of its blood upon the altar. And that nothing should interpose between him and the wall, similar to a sacrifice where interposition disqualifies between him and the vessel with which he performs the service. And also between him and the ground (Tur), interposition disqualifies when he stands not upon the floor (see Taz, subsection 2). And just as one standing in the Temple stood in awe and fear, so too in prayer, which is in place of a sacrifice. And it is proper that he should have fine garments for prayer like the priestly garments. However, it is not within the ability of every person to spend lavishly on this, but one who is able to do so because he is wealthy—certainly he must be meticulous in this. In any event, it is good that he should have specific trousers for prayer, for the sake of cleanliness when his trousers are soiled. And also clean shoes are proper for him to have for prayer. And "Prepare to meet your God, O Israel."

And after all the intentions – a person should not think in his mind that it is fitting for the Holy One, Blessed be He, to fulfill his request because "I have focused with intention in my prayer." For on the contrary, through this, a person's sins are mentioned, as through this they scrutinize his deeds, saying: "This one trusts in his merits." For the obligations to the Holy One, Blessed be He, upon a person cannot be recounted due to their abundance. Rather, he should think that the Holy One, Blessed be He, will act in His kindness. And he should say in his heart: Who am I, poor and despised, coming to request from the King of kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He, if not for the abundance of His kindnesses with which He, may He be blessed, conducts Himself with His creatures? And then his prayer will be accepted.

And thus our sages, of blessed memory, said (34a): The first three are similar to a servant who arranges praise before his master; the middle ones are similar to a servant who requests a reward from his master; the final three are similar to a servant who received a reward from his master and takes his leave and goes on his way. And he should place himself as a poor man. And King David, peace be upon him, said: "A prayer of the poor man when he is faint." And when he reaches "Helper of the poor" – he should associate himself with the sorrow of the Shekhinah, which is poor and impoverished in this time. And when he reaches "Praises to the Most High God" – he should stand to prepare himself for prayer. And before "Rock of Israel" he should move himself back three steps, and return to his place and pray with closed eyes with kavanah.