Are We Treating Hashem as Our Master?
And it will be, if you hearken to My commandments that I command you this day to love Hashem, your L-rd, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, (Sefer Devarim 11:13)
Prayer is characterized as service to Hashem
Maimonides explains that the above passage is the source in the Torah for the commandment to pray. He explains that our practices regarding prayer are determined by the Torah’s commandment and by the input of the Sages. The basic Torah mitzvah is that we pray each and every day. This daily prayer must include praise of Hashem, petition and supplication, and expression of gratitude.
The Torah does not provide a text for prayer. In other words, it does not communicate the specific praises, petitions, or acknowledgments that we should offer to Hashem. The Sages provide us with this text – the text of the Amidah. Also, they have established the system of three daily prayers, and the appropriate hours of the day for each of these prayers.
Let us compare the language of the Torah’s commandment of prayer with Maimonides’ interpretation of this commandment. The Torah’s language characterizes prayer as service to Hashem. Maimonides explains that the commandment requires that we offer praise, set forth our petitions, and express gratitude to Hashem. However, he also emphasizes that the most fundamental component of prayer is the presentation of our petitions.
We serve Hashem by presenting Him with our petitions
This suggests an obvious problem. How do we serve Hashem by asking Him to address and satisfy our needs? What is the relationship between the servant and his master? The master is the one who makes demands and the servant is the one who is responsible for their fulfillment. Our prayer is primarily composed of petitions we present to Hashem. It seems we are assuming the role of master and reducing Hashem to the role of our servant!
You shall not try Hashem, your L-rd, as you tried Him in Massah. (Sefer Devarim 6:16)
We may not test Hashem by relying upon His miracles
This is an issue to which the commentators are sensitive. The above passage admonishes us to not test Hashem. The meaning of the passage is not completely clear. Maimonides explains that the passage prohibits subjecting a prophet to unnecessary tests of his authenticity. In other words, once a prophet has proven the veracity of his prophecy, it is prohibited to continue to demand that he provide additional evidence of his credibility. Radak suggests an alternative interpretation of the passage. He explains that the passage prohibits us from testing Hashem. How does one test Hashem? Radak suggests that when one places oneself in danger or in some unfavorable situation and relies upon Hashem to relieve or rescue him, he is testing Hashem. According to Radak, the Sages are giving expression to the prohibition in this passage with their dictum that one should not rely upon a miracle. In other words, one may not place oneself in a dangerous or harmful situation with the expectation that Hashem will perform a miracle on one’s behalf.
Demanding miracles makes Hashem our servant
According to Radak, the passage commands us to care for our needs and our safety. We are responsible for ourselves. We may not place ourselves in harm’s way and then expect Hashem to miraculously intervene and rescue us from our own folly. It seems that the underlying idea is that we are not permitted to treat Hashem as we would a servant and expect that He respond to our needs.
If this is the case, then we return to the mystery of prayer. Are we not asking and expecting Hashem to provide for us the outcomes for which we petition him?
But you must remember Hashem, your L-rd, for it is He that gives you strength to make wealth, in order to establish His covenant which He swore to your forefathers, as it is this day. (Sefer Devarim 8:18)
Petition reflects the objective of prayer
Before addressing this issue, let us consider another question. As explained above, prayer is composed of three components – praise, petition, and acknowledgment and thanksgiving. Maimonides regards the element of petition as the most fundamental. This seems odd. Why is this element more fundamental than praise and thanksgiving? What does this tell us about the objective of prayer?
The above passage completes a dramatic section of our parasha. Moshe forewarns Bnai Yisrael that in the Land of Israel they will experience the blessings of Hashem. The people will be sated and comfortable. They will delude themselves into believing that they are the cause of their prosperity. They will deny that it is Hashem who provides them with the capacity and resources to achieve their wellbeing.
This concern is reflected in the Torah’s formulation of prayer. As noted above, Maimonides regards petition as the most fundamental element of the commandment. His emphasis of this element indicates the objective of prayer. We petition Hashem for all of our needs. In presenting our petitions, we recognize that we are dependent upon Him for the fulfillment of all of our needs and desires.
Servitude is a state of dependency
We can now return to our original question. If prayer is an act of service to Hashem and we are the servant and He is the master, then why are we calling upon Him to fulfill our needs and desires? The answer is that there are two aspects to the relationship between servant and master. One aspect is service. The servant is required to provide service to the master and respond to the requests and demands of the master. He serves the master by caring for his needs. The second aspect is a power or dependency relationship. The servant is helpless and dependent. The master has the power in the relationship. The servant cannot provide for himself. Instead, he looks toward his master for the fulfillment of all of his needs.
We now understand the element of servitude in prayer. In petitioning Hashem, we recognize our complete dependence upon Him. Like the servant, we cannot provide for ourselves. We are dependent upon our Master to provide for our needs and desires. Prayer is a sublime act of submission. We are assuming the role of the servant appealing to his master for his needs and desires.
This discussion has implications beyond prayer. It provides some insight into one’s proper relationship with Hashem. Hashem is benevolent but He is our master and we are His servants. We petition Him and we recognize our dependence upon His benevolence, but we may not make demands of Him or hold Him responsible to fulfill every one of our perceived needs and our desires. We petition; we submit. We do not demand.