The sages teach that the world began with prayer. Until God and Adam communicated there was no fulfillment of Adam’s needs for survival and glorifying God. In fact, God’s created universe stood waiting for humanity’s birth on the sixth day. Only after Adam prayed for rain did the earth come forth with its bounty. Prayer is the first lesson of “service” Adam learned, which we emulate, for until he prayed for rain, it could not rain. In this way we can say Adam, at the highest rung of this journey (Keter), shines on us at our start. Our first lesson in service, initiation in doing, is “to do prayer.”

Until we ask for God’s help, we cannot receive it. We see why the sages have said that the world rests on prayer. One could even say that God created man for the purpose of prayer, making it possible for his creations to talk with him directly. In the same manner in which prophecy is how the Creator speaks to man, prayer is our way of speaking to him. Prayer should hold a primary place in our lives. If prayer reflects the manner in which God created the world, through the spoken word with a heart of love, it shows us the importance of our word, the foundation of the speaking human’s inheritance as God-like creator beings.