Hi mik5. Mazel Tov and Hatzlacha!! What a wonderful thing to hear! So many wonderful and meaningful moments lay ahead for you, iy”H!!
If I may, I would like to recommend a book that I find invaluable in my efforts to grow in davening.
The book is Pathway to Prayer, by Rabbi Meir Birnbaum. It comes in Ashkenaz and Sephardi versions. One of the many invaluable parts of the book covers the questions you asked here. Another part covers the Shemona Esrai line by line explaining the meaning of each line, which is invaluable in helping to daven with more and more intensity, which according to Rabbi Birnbaum, is the way to ensure our arrows of prayer fly far and high.
Thank you for your post. It made me happy on this rainy day to read what you have to say. Hatzlacha!!