How to Pray

Prayer is addressed to God alone, three times a day, facing Jerusalem (Daniel 6:10). The three times follow the pattern of Psalm 55:17 — "Evening and morning and at noon" — and are kept as:

• Morning — half an hour before sunrise
• Afternoon — at the ninth hour (about 3 p.m.). This follows the daily afternoon offering commanded in the Torah (Exodus 29:38–41; Numbers 28:1–8), which was brought in the afternoon. The ninth hour itself is not named as a prayer time in the Torah directly; it became the fixed afternoon hour of prayer in the Second Temple period and among the first believers — as when Peter and John "were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour" (Acts 3:1).
• Evening — half an hour after sunset

The homepage clock shows these three times for your own location. A simple structure for each prayer:

1. Prepare. Wash your hands and — where practiced — cover the head or face. Turn to face Jerusalem, and quiet your heart before beginning.
2. Declare God's oneness. Begin standing. At the morning and evening prayers, recite the Shema — "Hear, O Israel: Adonai is our God, Adonai is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4). It belongs to these two times because the Torah says to speak these words "when you lie down and when you rise up" (Deuteronomy 6:7). At the afternoon (ninth-hour) prayer the Shema is not required; many open instead with praise or a brief declaration of God's oneness. Standing is the posture of readiness and respectful address.
3. Praise. Still standing, offer praise drawn from the Psalms before making any request — "Enter His gates with thanksgiving" (Psalm 100:4).
4. Bow. At words of reverence, bow the head or the upper body, as Abraham's servant "bowed his head and worshiped" (Genesis 24:26).
5. Kneel or prostrate for petition and confession. For deeper petition or honest confession, kneel — "let us kneel before Adonai our Maker" (Psalm 95:6) — as Daniel "got down on his knees three times a day" (Daniel 6:10) and Solomon knelt with hands spread toward heaven (1 Kings 8:54). Full prostration, face toward the ground (Nehemiah 8:6), belongs to moments of deepest humility.
6. Give thanks and close. Return to standing, close in thanksgiving, and lift your hands or your eyes as you finish — "lift up your hands to the sanctuary and bless Adonai" (Psalm 134:2).

Yeshua taught his followers to pray to the Father simply and sincerely — not for show, and not with empty repetition (Matthew 6:5–8) — giving them a model that begins, "Our Father in heaven, may Your name be kept holy" (Matthew 6:9).

Spontaneous, personal prayer is always welcome alongside this structure. The postures are expressions of the heart, not a test to pass.

How to Immerse (Tevilah)

Immersion restores ritual purity — after the monthly cycle, after childbirth, and at other times (see: Monthly Cycle & Purity and Ritual Cleansing). Where a mikveh or natural water can be reached, that is performed in "living water": a mikveh, or a natural river, sea, or lake. Where neither is reasonably accessible, House of Miriam holds that a full bath at home — the entire body and hair submerged at once — fulfills the same steps below (see: Ritual Cleansing, "No Mikveh, No Natural Water Nearby?").

1. Cleanse the body first, separately. Shower or wash thoroughly beforehand — hair included — with soap as usual. Tevilah is a ritual act, not a wash; the body should already be clean before you immerse. (This is exactly how a mikveh works too: you shower first in a separate area, then enter the mikveh pool itself.) If you are immersing in a home bath rather than a mikveh or natural water, this means two separate steps: shower first, then draw a fresh tub of plain water — no soap — for the immersion itself.
2. Remove every barrier. Take off jewellery and nail polish, undo anything tied tightly, and loosen the hair, so the water can reach every part of the body and every strand of hair.
3. Enter the living water. Step into a mikveh or a natural body of water deep enough to cover you completely.
4. Immerse fully. Lower yourself so that your whole body — including all of your hair — is beneath the surface at the same moment, touching nothing. Many immerse three times.
5. Speak the intention. With deliberate awareness of its purpose, declare a short blessing or intention (kavanah) — the act is done in obedience to God, not by any power in the water itself.
6. Emerge restored. Rise from the water. The ritual is complete, and purity is restored.

How to Welcome the Sabbath (Candle-Lighting)

Welcoming the Sabbath at sunset on Friday is, in the movement as in Jewish tradition, especially associated with the woman of the household — a dignified marker of the day's beginning. The homepage clock counts down to candle-lighting for your location.

1. Prepare before sunset. Ready the table and finish the week's work, so that rest can begin unhurried. Candle-lighting is done shortly before sunset — customarily about eighteen minutes before.
2. Light the candles. Kindle the Sabbath lights (commonly two), marking the boundary between the ordinary week and the sacred day.
3. Welcome the day with a blessing. Speak a blessing welcoming the Sabbath, and offer a prayer over the household.
4. Bless the meal. Many sanctify the day with a blessing over wine (Kiddush) and over bread at the Friday-evening meal.
5. Rest. Set labour aside for the day of rest, until the Sabbath closes at nightfall on Saturday.

Details vary between households; this is a general guide, not a fixed liturgy.