Prayer as Spiritual Work: How Prayer Activates Faith and Connects Us to Divine Blessing

Rabbi Binyamin Efrati explains how prayer brings faith from potential into reality: “In our time, an era of divine concealment and distance from the higher light, a person who does not feel a living connection with his Creator struggles to stand before Him in prayer. To solve this, we must reflect on the essence of prayer.”

Prayer as “Work” – Energy Turned Into Action

The Sages taught: “What is service of the heart? This is prayer” (Sifrei Devarim 11). The word avodah (work/service) clarifies the essence of prayer. In physics, “work” is energy applied to overcome resistance. The greater the resistance and the longer the movement, the greater the work. Energy exists in two forms: potential energy (stored, not yet active) and kinetic energy (active, in motion). Work is the transition from potential to kinetic energy.

Within the human soul there is spiritual energy. One of its deepest powers is faith (emunah).

Prayer Awakens Dormant Faith

Every Jew has faith ingrained within, passed down through spiritual inheritance. Sometimes it lies dormant, hidden, unrealized, and when it remains potential, it exerts no influence on our lives. Its true purpose is to come alive, to drive our soul and guide our actions.

This emergence of faith faces obstacles, including the pull of worldly concerns, habits, and inertia of the body. Overcoming these requires work. The essence of spiritual work is to awaken faith into action by breaking through inner barriers.

When a person stands before God and speaks to Him, the soul moves toward its Source. In that movement, faith shifts from passive potential to active, kinetic force. It becomes alive, real, and transformative.

Even someone who believes may have areas of faith “asleep” within him, such as trusting people more than God, or relying on human help while forgetting that people are only His messengers. Prayer activates these dormant parts, reminding us tangibly that everything is in His hands, from the smallest detail to the greatest challenge.

Faith in Action – A Channel for Divine Flow

Rabbi Efrati explains that true faith is not just a thought or a feeling, but a living state of being in connection with God.

Faith put into action becomes a spiritual pipeline through which divine blessing flows. As the Torah says, “For man is like the tree of the field” (Devarim 20:19). The tree draws life from roots hidden above, and faith in action is that root system — “You who cling to the Lord your God are all alive today” (Devarim 4:4).

When we are consumed with worldly distractions, this channel of blessing can become blocked. Faith becomes static again — present, but only in potential.

Prayer reopens the channel. It restores the flow of active faith that links us to God and allows divine abundance to stream into our lives.