Prayers

Prayers

Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one!

Below you will find a selection of prayers for healing and spiritual renewal. The prayers and reflections come from a variety of Jewish sources, some biblical, some rabbinic, some modern. This is but a sampling of the richness of our tradition, but we hope that you will find it meaningful.

Prayers for Healing | Daily Prayers | Psalms

Prayers for Healing

O LORD, hear my prayer,
And let my cry come unto Thee.
Hide not Thy face from me in the day of my distress;
Incline Thine ear unto me;
In the day when I call answer me speedily.
– Psalm 102

Daily Prayers

Sh’ma
Sh’ma Yisraeil: Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad!
Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is One!
Baruch sheim k’vod malchuto l’olam va-ed!
Blessed is His glorious Kingdom for ever and ever!

Shehecheyanu
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheynu Melech haolam,
shehecheyanu v’kiy’manu v’higiyanu laz’man hazeh.
Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe,
for giving us life, for sustaining us, and for enabling us to reach this day.

MODEH ANI: A Morning Prayer
I thank You, God,
Creator of life, eternal One,
For restoring my soul with love,
Filled with Your eternal trust.

HASHKIVENU: AN EVENING PRAYER
Lie us down,
Adonai our God, In Peace;
And raise us up again,
Our Ruler, in Life.
Spread over us Your shelter of peace;
Guide us with Your good counsel;
And save us out of Your mercy,
For Your own Name’s sake.
Shield us;
Remove from us every enemy, plague, sword, famine, and sorrow.
Remove all adversaries, all evil forces
From before us and from behind us,
And shelter us in the shadow of Your wings.
For You are our guarding and saving God,
Yes, a gracious and compassionate God and Ruler.
Guard our going out
Guard our coming in
Give us life and peace,
Now and always!

ELOHAI NESHAMA: A Morning Prayer
My God –
The soul You have given me is pure.
You created it, You formed it,
You breathed it into me,
You guard it within me.
You will, in the future, take it from me,
And restore it to me at a future time.
So long as this soul is within me,
I thank You,
Adonai, My God, God of my ancestors,
Master of all creation, Sovereign of all souls.
Praised are You, Adonai,
Who restores the soul to the
Lifeless and exhausted.

A Prayer For Protection at Night
In the name of Adonai
The God of Israel:
May the angel Michael be at my right,
And the angel Gabriel be at my left;
And in front of me the angel Uriel,
And behind me the angel Raphael…
And above my head the presence of God.

Meditations
We don’t have to beg or bribe God to give us strength or hope or patience.
We need only turn to the One, admit that we can’t do this on our own, and
understand that bravely bearing up under long-term illness is one of the most
human, and one of the most godly, things we can ever do. One of the things
that constantly reassures me that God is real, and not just an idea that
religious leaders made up, is the fact that people who pray for strength,
hope, and courage so often find resources of strength, hope, and
courage that they did not have before they prayed.

– Rabbi Harold Kushner

To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven;
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time for war, and a time for peace.

– Ecclesiastes

Psalms

PSALM 23: A Psalm of David

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul;
He guideth me in straight paths for His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
For Thou art with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou hast anointed my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

PSALM 121 A Song of Ascents

I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains:
From whence shall my help come?
My help cometh from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved;
He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, He that keepeth Israel
Doth neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is thy keeper;
The LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The LORD shall keep thee from all evil;
He shall keep thy soul.
The LORD shall guard thy going out and thy coming in,
From this time forth and for ever.

PSALM 130 A Song of Ascents

Out of the depths have I called Thee, O LORD.
LORD, hearken unto my voice;
Let Thine ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.
Thou, LORD, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?
For with Thee there is forgiveness,
That Thou may be feared.
I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait,
And in His word do I hope.
My soul waits for the LORD,
More than watchmen for the morning;
Yea, more than watchmen for the morning.
Israel, hope in the LORD;
For with the LORD there is mercy,
And with Him is plenteous redemption.
And He will redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.