Opening the Gates of Heaven Perry Stone

The word praying is used 6 times. Twice the word prayers is used. Thus the main words of pray , prayer , prayers , prayed, and praying are alluded to in 365 references. How unique, that there are 365 days in a solar year, and there are 365 times when the main forms of the word pray are alluded to! To me this indicates the importance that prayer should be a daily activity, and not just once a week on the Sabbath day. The common Hebrew word translated in the English Bible for prayer i s tefilah, which comes from the verb pallel , “to judge.” When using the reflexive verb lehitpallel (“to pray”), it means, “to judge oneself.” Thus, times of prayer are times of self-judgment and self evaluation, as we cannot have confidence in our own prayers if we have condemnation in our own hearts (1 John 3:20–22). The idea of prayer involves “to beg, to beseech and to implore” the Almighty. Prayers are often centered around our needs, but prayer is a commandment from the Lord. The Jewish sage Maimonides taught that the reason for prayer was to “ … establish firmly the true principle that G-d takes notice of our ways, that He can make them successful if we serve Him, or disastrous if we disobey Him; that the success and failure are not of chance or accident.” 1 If we never prayed, how would we know it was God that sent us the blessing? Some Jewish sages identified Jacob’s ladder with angels going up and coming down with prayers. “G-d showed Jacob that prayer is like a ladder which connects the earth with the heaven, man with G-d. The meaningful