Prayer, not liturgy?

[lethargic_man]

A criticism that has been levelled against Jewish prayer is that the prayer book tells you when you pray and what, down to the last word, to say; it doesn't leave much room for spontaneous personal expression of either praise or petition to God.

The response that's generally given is that the liturgy of the prayer book is separate from any personal prayers, or supplications (תַּחֲנוּנִים) as they are termed, that you may choose to make at any time.

But do people really choose to make personal prayers on top of all that prescribed prayer? I have no idea, and I would be interested to hear what you my readers do.

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Comments

[liv]

I don't think the fact of having fixed liturgy prevents spontaneous prayer. Because even if you're really serious about all the obligations there are going to be plenty of hours in the day when you're not davening.

Traditions that are very much about counting mitzvah-points do I think make spontaneous prayer less likely. Especially since tradition has concluded that there's more merit in doing something virtuous that is commanded than in just doing something virtuous. There's also quite a lot of prohibitions which restrict making up prayers.

Like lots of the other Reform people in your comment thread, I always do add personal prayers in the space at the end of the Amidah. I pray for healing for people I know or hear of who are sick, when it seems relevant and not necessarily only when I'm saying that particular blessing in the Amidah. And for consolation for all the mourners when I hear news of a death as well as during funeral services. Sometimes when I have a difficult or sensitive interaction with another person I ask for God to guide me. Oh, and sometimes just "thank you for this, God" but that's usually because I can't remember the appropriate formal bracha for the situation. Very conventional stuff, mostly based on liturgical language because that's what I'm familiar with.