Increasing the Intensity of our Daily Tefilot

In the gemara in Brachos (26b) there's an argument concerning whether the obligation to pray three times a day - shacharit, mincha and ma'ariv - originates from the avot - Avraham, Yitzchak and Yakov ("tefilot k'neged avot tiknum") - or corresponds to the korbanos brought in the Beis Hamikdash ("tefilot k'neged korbanot tiknum").

The opinion that the tefilot originated with the avot cites a pasuk in parshat Va'yera to prove that tefilat shacharit was originated with Avraham when he arose in the morning to view the destruction that Hashem had visited upon Sodom; see 19:27: "Va'yaskem Avraham ba'boker el hamakom asher amad sham et penei Hashem - And Avraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had "stood" before Hashem." The gemara explains that the word "amad" ("stood") refers to "tefilah" as per another pasuk in Tehillim juxtaposing the word "va'yamod" and "v'yipalel" (standing and praying).

The gemara then explains that mincha originated with Yitzchak when he went out to the field prior to his initial meeting with Rivka; see Chayei Sara (24:63) - "Va'yetzei Yitzchak la'suach ba'sadeh = And Yitzchak went to meditate in the field - as the gemara explains, "sicha" refers to "tefilah". And ma'ariv originated with Yakov when he was fleeing from Esav; see Va'yaitzei (28:11) - "Va'yifga ba'makom" - as the gemara explains, "pegiah" refers to tefila.

I heard a nice dvar torah from Rabbi Elly Krimsky explaining that these three references to prayer by the avot correspond to three different motivations for prayer.