Moving on from Shemoneh Esrei proper to Elokai Netzor, the first question is: If it’s not really part of Shemoneh Esrei, just what is Elokai Netzor? I think the prayer has more to do with what’s not in your siddur than what is.

The Vilna Gaon characterizes two kinds of prayer: tefillah and tachanunim:

Tefillah is the fixed liturgy. The gemara calls Shemoneh Esrei “Tefillah”, because it was organized by Anshei Keneses haGdolah in the sunset of the prophetic period, as a means of impressing us with the art of dialogue with the A-lmighty. Tefillah is meeting with the Boss where the agenda is set by people on His staff, and we learn from this (1) to turn to Hashem when we have problems on our mind, and (2) which things ought to be our priorities, the problems that occupy us.

Tachanunim are our personal requests. A raw primordial reaching out to the Almighty. Not to introspectively realign our priorities, but to turn to Hashem with the actual issues that are bothering us in the here-and-now.

Chazal refer to these two modes of praying as well. Yaaqov avinu lying on his deathbed, tells his son Yoseif that he will inherit the city of Shechem, “אֲשֶׁ֤ר לָקַ֨חְתִּי֙ מִיַּ֣ד הָֽאֱמֹרִ֔י בְּחַרְבִּ֖י וּבְקַשְׁתִּֽי׃ – which I took from the control of the Emori — becharbi uvqashti — with my sword and with my bow.” (Bereishis 48:22) Targum Unqelus renders “becharbi uvqashti” as “בִּצְלוֹתִי וּבְבָעוּתִי — with my prayers and my requests”. This is also in Bava Basra 123, “‘charbi‘ — this is tefillah, ‘qashti‘ – this is baqashah [request].” Aramaic equivalents to the Gra’s Hebrew terms “tefillah” and “tachanunim“.

Tefillah is like a sword. It doesn’t require as much talent as aiming a bow. But like an arrow, tachanunim have greater reach!

These two modes are also mentioned in Qaddish Shaleim, only said after Shemoneh Esrei and its companion prayers — Tachanun, Hallel, etc… “תִּתְקַבֵּל צְלוֹתְ֒הוֹן וּבָעוּתְ֒הוֹן דְּכָל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל – accept the tzeloshon (their tefillos) and va’usehon (their baqashos) of the whole House of Yisrael…” The Qaddish after tefillah and tachanunim includes a request for Hashem to accept them. (Which is why it is said after Tachanun.)

The gemara (Berakhos 17a) lists a number of amora’im and what they said when they finished their “tzelos“, their tefillah. Meaning, each paragraph was part of that amora’s tachanunim. One of them was Mar bereih deRavina,* whose prayer was clearly the predecessor of our Elokai Netzor:

מָר בְּרֵיהּ דְּרָבִינָא כִּי הֲוָה מְסַיֵּים צְלוֹתֵיהּ אָמַר הָכִי:

אֱלֹקי, נְצוֹר לְשׁוֹנִי מֵרָע וְשִׂפְתוֹתַי מִדַּבֵּר מִרְמָה,
וְלִמְקַלְּלַי נַפְשִׁי תִדּוֹם, וְנַפְשִׁי כֶּעָפָר לַכֹּל תִּהְיֶה.

פְּתַח לִבִּי בְּתוֹרָתֶךָ, וּבְמִצְוֹתֶיךָ תִּרְדּוֹף נַפְשִׁי.

וְתַצִּילֵנִי מִפֶּגַע רָע, מִיֵּצֶר הָרָע, וּמֵאִשָּׁה רָעָה, וּמִכָּל רָעוֹת הַמִּתְרַגְּשׁוֹת לָבֹא בָּעוֹלָם.

וְכָל הַחוֹשְׁבִים עָלַי רָעָה מְהֵרָה הָפֵר עֲצָתָם וְקַלְקֵל מַחְשְׁבוֹתָם.

יִהְיוּ לְרָצוֹן אִמְרֵי פִי וְהֶגְיוֹן לִבִּי לְפָנֶיךָ ה׳ צוּרִי וְגוֹאֲלִי.

When Mar, son of Ravina, would conclude his prayer, he said the following:

My G-d, guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking deceit.
To those who curse me let my soul be silent and may my soul be like dust to all.
Open my heart to Your Torah, and may my soul pursue your mitzvot.

And save me from a bad mishap, from the evil inclination, from a bad woman, and from all evils that suddenly come upon the world.

And all who plan evil against me,
swiftly thwart their counsel, and frustrate their plans.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart find favor before You,
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Our first indication that E-lokai Netzor is tachanunim is that with one line omitted and another added, it was said by Mar bereih deRabinah as an addition to his tefillah and not originally coined to be part of the formal liturgy. Just as other amora’im said different things, and the gemara doesn’t show any inclination to recommend one over the others.

The second indication is one of the insertions we say that isn’t in the original:

עֲשֵׂה לְמַֽעַן שְׁמֶֽךָ
עֲשֵׂה לְמַֽעַן יְמִינֶֽךָ
עֲשֵׂה לְמַֽעַן קְדֻשָּׁתֶֽךָ
.עֲשֵׂה לְמַֽעַן תּוֹרָתֶֽךָ

Act for the sake of Your name / reputation.
Act for the sake of Your “Right Hand”.
Act for the sake of Your Holiness.
Act for the sake of Your Torah.

The author of this addition asks Hashem to ask for the sake of four things. Their initials — שיק”ת — is an annagram of “קשתי / my bow”, a reference to Yaakov’s words which Chazal took as a reference to his tachanunim.

The Gra points out a third indicator — the fact that I am asking in the singular. Tefillah is always in the plural. For the community. We saw that in Shemoneh Esrei. The first half of the requests were on the individual level but made on behalf of all the members of the Jewish People. Not just for my own intellect alone, or only my family member’s health. Etc… Because the Meeting Agenda set by Hashem’s office

Here we say “Elokai” – “My G-d”. Not the usual “Elokeinu” – “Our G-d”. The paragraph is about helping me, not us.

Which gets me back to my opening teaser. What is important about Elokai Netzor as well as Tachanun is not what it is in the siddur. These are tachanunim, the essence of which is to simply talk to our “Father in Heaven” about what is worrying us. The siddur has suggestions that got accepted with all the force of Minhag Yisrael. But they are trellises, simply frameworks whose main function is to hold up our vines.

To say Elokai Netzor without unburdening yourself in prayer misses the whole point.

* Since Ravina and Rav Ashi closed basic text of the gemara, Ravina’s son actually was the first generation after the amora’im. The generations between the “basic text” being complete and the gemara being closed for significant emendation are technically savora’im.