Both the prophet and the praying individual recognize the centrality of ethical action in their covenantal experience with God.
When confronted with God, the prophet receives an ethico-moral message to be handed down to and realized by the members of the covenantal community which is mainly a community in action . . . Prayer likewise consists not only of an awareness of the presence of God, but of an act of committing oneself to God and accepting His ethico-moral authority . . . Prayer is always the harbinger of moral reformation. (1965: 39-42)
Prayer is here defined as a prologue to practice. Its essence, which is drawn from the covenantal encounter, is to awaken the worshiper to the centrality of acting with justice in the world. As the continuation of the prophetic encounter, prayer casts the individual into social action. It is not resignation, helplessness, or withdrawal. It is not quietism or a relinquishment of personal responsibility. For R. Soloveitchik, prayer as encounter, as discovery of God as Thou, is consummated only in moral action. In prayer the powers of love and solidarity become so intense that the prayerful individual must become an active being within the social and political reality.
David Hartman – Love and Terror in the God Encounter: The Theological Legacy of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik p.176
The Sea Is Not Full 