 Tefillah B’Tzibur (with a Minyan – Ten People “As for me, may my prayer to You Hashem be be’eis ratzon, at an opportune time …”
“When is the time opportune? When the tzibur davens together.”
“R’ Ami said, ‘A person’s prayer is not accepted unless he puts his heart in his hands (he is sincere).’ Is that so? [Didn’t] Shmuel expound the following verses
‘they beguiled Him with their mouths, and they lied to Him with their tongues. Their heart was not constant with Him and they were not steadfast in His covenant. Nevertheless, He is merciful, He forgives iniquity, etc.’ We see, therefore, that Hashem accepts even insincere prayer. There is no difficulty. R’ Ami was speaking about private prayer. Shmuel was speaking about a tzibur,”
where even insincere prayer is accepted. Such is the power of a tzibur.
An Embarrassing Question
Nevertheless, after a hundred and twenty years (or maybe on a Yom Kippur) one may be asked why he was from those who “beguiled Him, lied to Him, were not constant with Him and not steadfast in His covenant.”
To Beseech and Beg
In Shulchan Aruch
“One should daven in a beseeching manner like a poor man begging at the door. His davening should not appear as a burden on him from which he wishes to be free.” See Mishnah Berurah
“… like someone who is begging for mercy for himself. One should realize that there is no one who can help him and there is no effort or planning or diligent work or doctor that can help him without Hashem’s will. One must be exceedingly careful about this, to daven in a beseeching manner and not as one wishing to be free from a burden.”
On Improper Thoughts
Improper thoughts come to people. In general the first thought is just the yetzer hora (one’s evil inclination) doing his job. This is often not counted against a person. Bechirah (freedom of choice) comes in after that. Does a person linger with the thought or does one attempt, as it were, to change the subject. Sometimes one gets these thoughts while davening and is aghast. Again, one should attempt to “change the subject” (like concentrating on the words of the tefillah). Sometimes the more one fights to change the subject, the more the thoughts fight back. One should not be fazed and just keep on going in the davening or whatever else one is trying to do.
On the Benefits of Pausing
One who davens before the Omud (the Chazan), may sometimes tend to start the following brochoh before most of the congregation finishes the omein on the previous brochoh. “One should not start a new brochoh until the tzibur has finished saying omein on the previous one. The same is with the omeins of Kaddish. Due to our many sins, many people stumble in this when they are a shatz (chazan) and they start the next brochoh (or in Kaddish) immediately. The tzibur thereby loses the opportunity to answer omein. (Even if they do answer, it’s too late and it doesn’t count.)”
Starting Off Right
One must concentrate on the meaning of every word of the first brochoh of shmoneh esrei, till its end – Mogen Avrohom, whether in the private shmoneh esrei or the shatz, in order to fulfill the obligation of davening shmoneh esrei.
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