It is said that the Creator has no need of our prayers, however we need them because through them we can sense our inner strength, purpose, and capacity to love.  Prayer should not only be meaningful, it should also be the catalyst that fuels our spiritual transformation. When we accustom ourselves to the rote recitation of prayers, we are in danger of not only them losing their meaning, but also of us not gaining their effects. Kavanah comes from the word kivune which means direction, this indicates that the mind must take a direction when reciting prayers. Kavanah is the directed meditation or concentration that accompanies the words of prayer. This means not only should we meditate on the words we are praying, but we also need to know the significance of what we are praying and how that is drawing spiritual Light into our lives. Kabbalah teaches us that each prayer we utter should be done with kavanah. Indeed we should bring this idea of kavanah not only to our prayers, but also into our every action of every day.