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While people often think of prayer as a time to ask for something from G-d, much of Jewish prayer in fact consists of praise and gratitude for His kindness.
For Jews, the first seconds after awakening each morning are dedicated in prayer to G-d, thanking Him for the gift of life. “I thank you living and eternal king for mercifully restoring my soul within me. Your faithfulness is great.”
A few minutes later (after using the bathroom) we recite the following blessing:“Blessed are you, lord our G-d, who formed man with wisdom, and created within him many orifices and cavities. It is revealed and known before the throne of Your glory that if but one were to be blocked, or one of them were ruptured, it would be impossible to survive even for a short while. Blessed are You, Lord, Who heals all flesh and performs wonders.”
In the Amidah we say:
“We shall thank You and recount Your praise, evening, morning, and noon, for our lives that are in Your hand, for our souls that are entrusted to You, for Your miracles that are with us daily, and for you continual wonders and goodness.”
We thank G-d for the “miracles that are with us daily.” We think, for example, of the splitting of the Sea (for the Children of Israel escaping Egypt) as a miracle. In truth, however, the existence of life itself and all of the things that are working well are nothing short of miraculous too. Nature itself is G-d’s miracle; we just happen to be used to it. In our prayers, nothing is taken for granted but as granted.
Indeed, during the morning prayers each day we recite the following verse, the very last verse from Psalms: “Every soul shall praise G-d.”
The word Neshamah, ‘soul’, is a cognate of the word Neshimah, ‘to breathe’, which yields the following Midrashic interpretation: “For each and every breath we take, we should praise G-d. It is written “Every soul shall praise G-d.” Read it as, “for every breath praise G-d.”
This encapsulates the objective of so many of our prayers, that is, noticing G-d’s favours in the repetitive rhythms of life and appreciating His wonderful gifts to us.