Avodah - עֲבוֹדָה

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Adonai our God, find favor with Your people Israel and with their prayer. Restore the service to the Holy of Holies of Your Temple. There may you favorably and lovingly accept the fire-offerings and the prayer-offerings of Israel. May the service of Your people Israel always be favorable to You, and may we witness with our own eyes Your return to Zion in compassion.
Blessed are You, Adonai; You restore Your presence to Zion.
 

Avoda is the first of the three concluding prayers of the tefila. It is a reminder of the sacrifices that used to be offered in the Temple of old, and for which these “words of our mouths” (Psalm 19:15) are a substitute.
There are some Jews who pray, quite literally, for a restoration of the sacrificial system in a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. They fully expect the kohanim (priests) to resume their official duties, and to preside over daily sacrifices of sheep, goats and cattle.
To most Jews today, however, the “words of our mouths”—and the self-sacrificial actions that accompany those words—are a much-to-be-preferred substitute. The sacrifices, in addition to serving as an expression of devotion to God, had been a means of supporting the institution of the priesthood as well as the capital city. But over time, the entire system had become rife with abuse and corruption. By the time the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E., a new group of leaders—the rabbis—had arisen, and a new institution—the synagogue—had already begun to supplant the Temple as a source of spiritual expression.

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