Reading Practice: Prayer - 4 Birchot HaTorah

Translation:
Blessed are you, Lord our God, king of the Universe, who has made us holy through his commandments, and has commanded us to engage in study of the words of Torah. Please, Lord, our God, make the words of your Torah, sweet in our mouth and in the mouth of your people, the house of Israel, so that we, are descendants (and their descendants) and the descendents of your people, the house of Israel, may all know your name and study your Torah for its own sake. Blessed are you, Lord, who teaches Torah to his people Israel. Blessed are you, Lord, our God, king of the universe, who has chosen us from all the peoples and given us his Torah. Blessed are you, Lord, giver of the Torah.
Explanation (from Rabbi Jonathan Sacks):
The history of Judaism is a story of the love of a people for the book of books, the Torah. As a preliminary to study, we pronounce two blessings and a prayer. The first is a declaration that we do not simply study as an intellectual or cultural exercise, but as the fulfillment of a divine commandment. It is followed by a prayer that God makes Torah study sweet, and help us to hand it on to our children. The second blessing is an acknowledgment that chosenness means responsibility, and is inseparably linked to the study and practice of Torah. Blessings over actions, like Torah study, are promptly followed by acting on the blessing. In keeping with this practice, prayer books often have passages of Torah study immediately following these blessings.