Partners In Prayer - Siddur

  Unfortunately, we take life for granted and have expectations.  We feel that it’s our RIGHT to be healthy, our RIGHT to live to an old age, our RIGHT to get married, our RIGHT to have a good marriage, our RIGHT to have children, who are good, easy-going, and healthy, etc....  and we get SO upset, and disappointed, if we don’t get any of those things.  We feel like we were robbed! Which would imply that it was coming to us and then taken away!  However, it’s not.  We have to appreciate everything that we are and were given and remember that they are ALL gifts!  They were given to us to use properly for their respective purposes!  They were ENTRUSTED to us!  As we say in Modeh Ani: “Rabah Emunasechah! Great is your trust in us!” Hashem trusts US. Let’s not let him down. By: Akiva Klein  

  מוֹדֶה אֲנִי  לְפָנֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ חַי וְקַיָּם שֶהֶחֱזַרְתָּ בִּי נִשְׁמָתִי בְחֶמְלָה, רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶךָ I  choose to live a life in which I  am responsible  for any event that occurs, regardless of whether it is in my control. What does it mean to live a responsible life? It means living a life with the awareness that I am standing  before You  and that my actions have an impact.   Why do I choose to live responsibly? Because You are a  living and enduring King  and to truly live in an eternal way means that I live with the awareness that You are watching over me and You care about what I do in a loving way.  How do I know that You care about me and watch over me in a loving way? Because not only do You watch my growth every day, but  You  REVIEW  חזרה (You go over them one more time!)  in a compas...

"So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions' den. The king said to Daniel, ‘May your Lord, Whom you serve continually, rescue you!’ A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed.  Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep. At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions' den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your Lord, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?’ Daniel answered, ‘Oh king, live forever! My Lord sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in His sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, oh ...

I also found that for me, the Modah Ani has changed because so much of my life is based on interactions with other people. And although I'm still interacting with people, 14 hours a day at least. But a lot more of it is my own interaction . Or at least there's this sense of because I'm in one place. It's not, "I am waking up and there's this adventure of life I don't know what life will bring". It has shifted a little bit to what will I bring to my my day? And thank You for this opportunity . Thank You for trusting me. And thank You for giving me the ability to turn each day into an adventure!! Comments shared by Machberes Avodas Hashem

 Modeh Ani has changed at the height of the crisis , it was, wow, I'm fighting this invisible enemy , and have another day in which I'm waking up, and I'm relatively healthy. And for those who have survived this terrifying illness that thank God, by the way, it's different. You know, I've been in ICU and I've been in really bad shape. But they're, they were dealing with, you know, an infection. They were dealing with a neurological issue. It was defined, it was identified, and so they were able to do it and they were able to help me. This is much different. It's an invisible enemy so that that type of Modah Ani  is different. It's a different type of Modah Ani because every time my wife goes outside, and let's say she  has to go to the store, or she has to go to work, it's different because when she comes back in, there's always that sense. Oh my gosh, you know.... And so, there are reasons every time I bring in the mail, bring in a packa...