Pray One Step at a Time

Torah Reading: Balak

HOT TOPICS

Prayer is an excellent training ground for practicing control of one's thoughts.

Some people give up hope on concentrating during prayers because they feel there is so much to say and they find it hard to concentrate for so long. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov offered the following advice: When external thoughts come to you during prayers, ignore them. Don't try to fight them, since the more you battle them the more they will bother you.

Make up your mind to concentrate on just a few pages. By using this technique you will be able to concentrate during the entire service.

(see Chochmah Umussar, vol.1, p.283; Rabbi Pliskin - Gateway to Happiness, p.86)

See more Daily Lifts on the topic of Prayer

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About the Author

Rabbi Zelig Pliskin

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Rabbi Zelig Pliskin is a noted psychologist and prolific author of 24 books, including Guard Your Tongue, Gateway to Happiness, Gateway to Self Knowledge, Love Your Neighbor, Growth Through Torah, The Power of Words, Consulting the Wise, and the recent Life is Now. Rabbi Pliskin lives in Jerusalem, and is the director of Aish HaTorah's Counseling Center and a senior lecturer at Aish's Essentials program and the Executive Learning Center. He was ordained at the Telshe Yeshiva in Ohio and holds a degree in Counseling Psychology.