בְּהִתְעַטֵּ֤ף עָלַי֙ נַפְשִׁ֔י אֶת־יְהוָ֖ה זָכָ֑רְתִּי וַתָּב֤וֹא אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ תְּפִלָּתִ֔י אֶל־הֵיכַ֖ל קָדְשֶֽׁךָ׃
Nang nanlulupaypay na ang aking kaluluwa sa loob ko, naalala ko ang Walang-Hanggan; at umabot sa Iyo ang aking panalangin, sa Iyong banal na Templo.
Duties of the Heart
Likewise for one who prays, while his heart and mind are devoid of the matter of prayer, G-d will not accept the prayer of his limbs and tongue. You can see from what we say at the end of our prayers "May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be acceptable to You O G-d..." And when a man (is distracted and) thinks of any matter in the world, whether it is permitted or forbidden, and afterwards he finishes his prayer and says "imrei fi vehegyon libi lefanecha" (may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart find favor before You), is this not a great disgrace, that he claims to have spoken to his G-d with his heart and mind while his heart was not with him, and afterwards he asks G-d to accept it and favor it from him? He is similar to one of whom it was said "as a nation that pretends to show righteousness..." (Yeshaya 58:2), and our sages said: "a person should estimate himself - if he thinks he is capable of having intent in heart, he should pray, otherwise, he should not pray" (Berachos 30b). And Rebbi Eliezer said when he was about to die, among the things he commanded his disciples - "when you are praying, know before Whom you are praying" (Berachos 28b). And the verse says: "prepare yourselves to greet your G-d, O Israel" (Amos 4:12), and our sages said: "When you pray do not make your prayer a form of routine but a plea for mercy and supplications" (Avos 2:18), and "When my soul grew faint upon me, I remembered the L-ord: and my prayer came to You to Your Holy Temple" (Yona 2:8), and "Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto G-d in the heavens" (Eicha 3:41).