You might think, “Who am I to stand before God? Who am I to request anything from God?” The first blessing of the Amidah establishes the first and most important truth that we need to know in order to pray: we can stand before God and request His help. It affirms our belief that God is all-loving. He is close and personal. He cares and relates to us individually. And although He is great, mighty, awesome, even supreme and transcendent, we are nonetheless significant in His eyes. He nurtures us and makes us His very own. He not only gives us love but also receives it from us and remembers the kindness of our ancestors. His gratitude is long lasting, and He will redeem us and empower us to be in a loving relationship with Him. Because He loves us, He needs us. He is like a king, and we are part of His kingdom. He helps us and rescues us. He also protects our self-esteem, shielding us from His overwhelming presence so that we can stand before Him—have presence in His presence—and be able to enjoy a loving relationship with Him. Remember, praises for God are not for God’s sake. They are for our sake. We need to hear ourselves praise God. We need to put ourselves into the right mindset for our prayers to be effective. If we approach God with the feeling that we have no right to pray and that God is too great to have any interest in us tiny earthlings, then how can we even open our mouths? This first blessing is absolutely critical to the understanding of our relationship with God. It enables us to boldly affirm, “I am standing before an all-loving God, who cares about me. He has as a vested interest in me, because He is a king and I am part of His kingdom. And even if I am unworthy, I can call out His name and He will respond.”