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Thought for the Day: Prayer III -- What?

Quick recap: HaShem has ordained that we should pray and the Torah tells us (by context and example) how to pray.  Now we need content and format.

Let's begin with format.  This is meant to be a serious conversation with the Creator.  Just to set the bar, consider what is required to even be allowed to present a case to the US Supreme Court.  I found the following description in Wikipedia:
Before oral arguments, the parties to a case file legal briefs outlining their arguments. An amicus curiae may also submit a brief in support of a particular outcome in the case if the Court grants it permission. Formal rules govern every aspect of these briefs; Chief Justice William Rehnquist described the rules thus:
The rules direct what information must be included in a brief, describe the size of paper and type of print, and limit the number of pages. Even the colors of the covers of the briefs are specified: the petitioner's brief must have a blue cover and the respondent's must have a red cover. The Court also often receives briefs from amici curiae (friends of the Court) in particular cases, and these must have a green cover. This color-coding comes in very handy when you have a stack of eight or ten briefs in a particular case and can locate the brief you want by its color without having to read the covers of each.[11]
That's just to be accepted to argue a case.  We should not be surprised, therefore, that our prayer format also has a rigorous and detailed format.  We have 18 (nowadays 19) brachos/paragraphs in our prayer.  Why 18?  The gemara (Brachos 28b) gives three source: (1) the 18 times HaShem's name is mentioned in Sh'ma; (2) the 18 times HaShem's name is mentioned in T'hillim 29; (3) the number of vertebrae in our spine.  Sh'ma expresses the core beliefs and conduct of our faith; in fact, the sages find an allusion to all 613 Torah mitzvos and seven early Rabbinic decrees that from the prophets.  T'hillim 29 is wholly comprised of verses describing how every facet of the physical world declares with enthusiasm the glory of the Creator.  The spine is the structural core of our bodies and mediates the communication between our brain and our limbs of action.  Nowadays there are 19 brachos... the gemara notes that a title of HaShem -- not His "proper name", so to speak -- is used once in both Sh'ma and T'hillim 29; besides the 18 vertebrae, we also have one tail bone.  Prayer is therefore seen to be related to our core beliefs, our core structure, and the core reason for existence of the entire universe.

I find the comparison of our formal prayer to arguing a case before the US Supreme Court very apt.  After all, the paradigm which the Torah offers for the morning service is Avraham Avinu arguing for the population of S'dom.  In point of fact, the content of our prayer is nothing less than arguing -- at each and every prayer service -- for the continued existence of ourselves individually and the world as a whole.  We begin with a formal introduction that makes clear we know to whom we are talking; the One who will decide and has the Authority and Wherewithal to implement His decision.  Then we present a series of requests/needs, starting with the most basic, personal requirement (intelligence), proceeding to our complete personal needs, then to community needs, then to global needs, finally finishing with acknowledgement and gratitude for all that has been done and will be done; then we depart with a prayer for peace.  More details can be found in a previous TftD.

Normally I would end by saying, "So what should be your attitude/stance/thoughts/feelings -- aka, כוונה/kavana -- during prayer?  Great question!"  However, I feel compelled to mention that my walk home from ma'ariv tonight was particularly filled with joy.  Why?  Because I walked home in the rain.  Days and days of unseasonably warm weather and nary a cloud in sight.  I didn't even need a jacket walking to ma'ariv and had no thought I might need one afterward.  So why was it such a joy to enjoy a pleasant rain shower on my way home?  Tonight was the night when we again started -- after a hiatus since Pesach -- to include in our prayer a request ותן טל ומטר/to give dew and rain.
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