One morning after prayers, the Baal Shem Tov's disciples asked him, "Master, teach us about praying." He sat down in the back of the synagogue surrounded by his hasidim, and replied, "I'll tell you a parable. A certain king had a glorious palace with many chambers, one inside the other. Guards were stationed at the doors to each chamber to prevent anyone from entering or leaving without the king's permission. Among those who desired to enter the king's inner chambers are a number of different kinds of people. One group, the least worthy, immediately becomes frightened when seeing the king's guards and flee from them. God has no pleasure in such people; that is not what He desires. The second group has no fear or dread of the guards, namely, the external negative forces, because they consider how to bribe the guards with money, for example, as the Sages say: 'One should give a coin to a poor person and then pray.' Then, he is able to bypass the guards and enter within. But there is a further reason that prevents people from seeing the King's face, because when a person of this group passes through the inner chambers and gazes at the King's great treasures and all His manifold wonders, which he has never before seen, he experiences such pleasure and delight that he remains fastened to the spot and never moves on to see the King Himself in all His glory. But the last group, the most worthy and the best of all, pay no attention to their own pleasure, and focus only on their awe of the King Himself. When such a person arrives at the innermost chambers and his eyes are delighted by incredible wonders, he considers it as nothing compared to the greatest of all pleasures-- to see the King Himself-- and his only desire is to see the King in all His glory. And is anything lacking in the King's palace? Once he experiences the King's presence, all other pleasures are included within that one.

"Some people," continued the Baal Shem Tov, "never meet God in prayer because they are distracted by obstacles-- external negative forces. One must use various techniques to clarify and quiet your mind during prayer, for example, by giving charity before praying, which prevents thoughts of self-judgement arising about your worthiness to go forward and see God's face. Many other techniques can increase your meditative focus during prayer and help remove obstacles and distractions. Then, you begin to have various spiritual experiences during prayer, even visions and other revelations. But these pleasures too are distractions. The goal is to continually move forward, never stopping until you experience the greatest ecstasy and bliss possible: seeing God's face."