" May it be my will, Adonai my God...that you help us save ourselves from brazenness, etc. and the Evil Destroyer..."
This prayer takes many of the concepts of the earlier prayer and makes them much more personal. We are saying, as individuals, that we know our propensity to be brazen, negative, harsh as well as the fact that we run into these types of individuals and situations each day. We are also committing, as individuals, to seek God's help and strength to overcome these ways of being ourselves and how to respond to others when we are the recipients of these actions.
I am overwhelmed with Awe when I seek God's help to stop these actions in myself and to not react to these actions when others aim them at me. I don't always use God's help and, today, this prayer reminds me of how much I NEED God's help in these situations. I love this prayer because it is personal and an inventory of my actions and a realistic view of how I am being treated and what "neighborhoods" I go into. This prayer also reminds me that I am turning myself towards God not just for my sake, rather for the sake of God and others.
1) How am I discerning between being bold and being brazen?
2) What is/are the Evil in my life, inside and outside, that is seeking to destroy me?
3) When do I see reality rather than what I want to see (good or not good)?