Oddity in Davening

It's interesting that in the middle brachos of Shmoneh Esrei, some brachos have both elements of praise and request and some only have requests. Ata Chonen has both, but Hashivenu has only request. S'lach Na has both, but T'ka B'shofar has only request. And so on.

No idea what that's about. Do the brachos that have both have something in common that the others don't?

Exhaustion

I'm exhausted at the moment. Davening is about to begin and I'm falling asleep.

As I walked in, and wondered how I was going to daven well, I remembered something R' Shimshon Pinkus writes in his sefer in tefillah.

Simcha. For one to truly daven, he must have complete simcha about davening. How can you not? You're about to have the opportunity to daven in front of Hashem!

Mincha now. Time to daven. Simcha!

Cell Phones

In recent weeks, I've lost track of the battery that my cell phone has immediately before I attend mincha and/or maariv. The first time this happened, it was with a heavy heart that I left my phone at home charging while I went to daven.

Davening with kavanah became so much easier. I didn't have to worry about whether or not my phone was on silent! I didn't have to worry about receiving an email for work that "needs to be addressed immediately." I didn't pull out my phone in between mincha and maariv and instead learned. Fighting the temptation to look at my phone during chazaras hashatz is no longer there!

Now, when I remember, I pull out my cell phone and put it down before I go to shul.

My davening is better because of it.

Welcome

I considered keeping this blog private. Not because I don't want to share my thoughts on davening, but because I didn't want people to think that I was giving them advice, or showing off the importance I give to davening.

I want to improve my own davening, and for me, the best way to reinforce anything I learn about, is by writing it down. Davening, in the words of R' Shimshon Pinkus zt"l and others, is the median through which we receive everything. Without it, we can not receive our needs in life. That's powerful.

I don't expect to write anything that people haven't heard before or hasn't been written before. But for me to improve, I need to write about my own experiences and thoughts. Sharing it with others allows for someone else to better their own davening. Why not share?

What I don't want anyone to think, is that I'm speaking to anyone but myself. This blog is for me to improve my davening. I'm not speaking to anyone. I'm not criticizing anyone. I'm not advising anyone. This blog is for me to improve my davening.

If someone who reads anything I write and can take something away from it, great.