Why is it necessary to explain one's intentions in prayer?

Why, when praying for the sick or for another person (such as for a match, etc.), is it necessary to mention their name and their mother's name in the prayer? Also, when a person prays for themselves, they must state what they are praying for, since, ostensibly, we know that the Almighty does not need us to tell Him whom we mean and what we want, as He presumably knows all our intentions and does not need us to articulate everything we desire?

Hello,

Your question is very fundamental, and it deserves a proper explanation.

Let's first add a question to your question. Why do we need to pray at all, since God knows our needs, knows what we lack, and what we want Him to do?

The answer is that God desires our prayers so that we will know with our intellect that everything depends on Him, and we will feel this with all our heart, and then when God grants us our request, we will know to thank Him.

The Torah explains to us (Genesis 2:5): "And every shrub of the field was not yet on the earth, and every herb of the field had not yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to work the ground." That is, at the time of the creation of the world, all the trees and herbs were ready at the surface of the ground but did not emerge because "there was no man to work the ground." Rashi explains: "For He had not sent rain — and why had He not sent rain? Because there was no man to work the ground and recognize the benefit of the rains. When man came and realized that they were necessary for the world, he prayed for them, and they descended, and the trees and herbs sprouted.

Furthermore, it is written in the book 'Kad HaKemach' (Prayer): "For barrenness is not the main cause, but prayer is, and barrenness comes only so that prayer will come; if so, prayer is the main thing." That is, every difficulty created for a person by God is so that he will turn to God and pray to Him.

For this purpose, God established in creation that according to how a person prays, so will it be granted to him. For this reason, the prayer needs to be clear and explained, to articulate one's desire.

Thus, the Zohar writes (Parashat Vayishlach, page 169, column 1): "From here we learn that one who prays must articulate his words properly, saying: save me, and if you say that you have already saved me from Laban, then immediately from my brother, and if you say that other relatives are also called brothers, as Laban said to Jacob: are you not my brother, and you will work for me for free, therefore he explained: from Esau. Why? Because it is necessary to articulate the matter properly. And therefore he continued and said: if you say, why do I need saving, because I fear him, lest he come and strike me, etc. All this is to explain the matter above and articulate it properly, and not leave the matter unclear.

For this reason, when a person mentions a name, he must articulate and say whom he means.

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