Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses the well-known verse in Tehillim (16:8): “I have set Hashem before myself continuously.”

Rav Ḥana bar Bizna says that Rabbi Shimon Ḥasida says: One who prays needs to see himself as if the Divine Presence is opposite him, as it is stated: “I have set the Lord always before me” (Psalms 16:8).

The simple meaning of this is to visualize, when praying, that one is actually standing before the Shekhina. However, the Hebrew word "before" (kneged) also connotes opposite to, and perhaps even in confrontation. The Maharal (Nesiv HaAvodah 6) offers a deeper explanation. He says the act of prayer itself represents the positioning of the enacted upon, the causee, to the actor, the causer, meaning the human submits himself and recognizes that he receives everything from God. When he enters this state, he allows himself to become united with God. This too, he explains, is the deeper meaning of the teaching in Gemara Sotah (5a):

Ḥizkiyya says: The prayers of a person are heard only if he casts his heart to be soft like flesh, [instead of stone].

The Maharal interprets “casting his heart to be as flesh” to mean reverting completely to matter (flesh), without form.

To understand Maharal, we need to grasp something about his view of science. Ancient physics believed that all physical matter takes shape by imposing form on the matter. The form is a non-physical entity and exists as an idea. For example, a triangle is an abstract idea that doesn’t exist in the real world. That is, a triangle in the sense of three connected lines forming a perfect 180 degrees. There might be matter that has a triangular shape, but it is not a triangle in essence. Similarly, the form of gold is imposed on matter to make it gold, and the same applies to silver, plants, and living flesh. You might say the form is the software, and the matter is the hardware.

To pray effectively, the Maharal teaches that we must obliterate any pre-existing superimposed form on our flesh or matter. This means completely divesting the self from the picture, becoming a blank slate to allow God to bestow His form upon us.

This is a profound description of the art of prayer. The supplicant must cultivate a state of mind where he or she removes all preexisting thoughts and biases, allowing an unformed self to present before God. The more one removes self, the more room there is for God’s presence and will to join with yours, bringing about providential protection and guidance. This is placing oneself before God, realizing one's place of utter nothingness before Him.