There is a story told of a man making his way along a difficult road. Exhausted, he thought to himself how wonderful it would be if he had a donkey to ride on. Turning his eyes heavenward he prayed: "Please Hashem, send me a donkey." Sure enough, as he rounded the bend, he caught sight of a small donkey sitting further up the road. His heart pounding with excitement, he made his way quickly towards it only to find that it was lame and helpless. Feeling sorry for this poor creature, the man hoisted it up on his shoulders, and trudged wearily along his way....

This story demonstrates the importance of specifying our needs when praying. Surely Hashem knew why this man needed a donkey, and he did after all pray for one. Why then was it necessary to be specific? Perhaps there is an insight here into the whole concept of Tefilla.

The Gemara in Brachos(2) lists Tefilla as being amongst the loftiest things in the world, yet generally neglected by people. Rashi describes the greatness of tefilla by the mere fact that our prayers ascend directly to heaven. This is actually a tremendous chessed, kindness, considering how in the political world one can hardly expect to get an audience with a president or Prime Minister, let alone having his request even considered by them. His aides or secretaries carefully screen through his mail, and decide what is worthy to be brought to his attention.

Hashem however, not only directly listens to the smallest request of the seemingly most insignificant of people, but also wants us to rely solely upon Him. Chazal(3) tell us that Hashem desires the prayer of the righteous and may even withhold their needs in order to cause them to call out to Him in prayer. The snake that was cursed by Hashem was given the dust of the earth as its sustenance. Even though it now had food in abundance, it was considered the greatest punishment, for it effectively lost its relationship with Hashem.

Tefilla therefore, isn't just a means to getting one's needs and wants, it is an instrument for man to develop a relationship with his Creator. By specifying in prayer our needs, we are showing total reliance on Hashem, and how much we appreciate the gift of tefilla. With this alone, we can merit having our prayers answered.

Tefilla - Practical Application of Emuna.

There are two categories to belief in Hashem: Emuna, the belief in Hashem as the Supreme Power and Master of ability who created everything, and bitachon, trust in Hashem resulting from the belief that Hashem is constantly presiding over every occurrence.

When one comes to pray on a daily basis, and finds it hard to concentrate because of the pressures of everyday life, one must realise that this is really an opportunity to practise our belief in Hashem. By bringing our personal problems into the Shemoneh Esrei, we are conceding that Hashem really is the answer to all our problems. If one needs a refuah, to be healed, he can bring it into Birkas Refa'enu. Parnassa, earning a livelihood, should be incorporated into Barech Aleinu. Studying for a test into Ata Chonen. All requests can be brought into Shema Koleinu.

Instead of running out of Shul early to take care of a problem, we should linger a few moments extra in tefilla, and will thereby avoid problems! We just have to take time out to appreciate this precious gift.

This point is highlighted by the following episode in Tanach(4). At the end of the period of the Shoftim, Judges, as Shmuel Hanavi was aging, our ancestors put forward a request to have a king. There was a feeling of insecurity, caused by being surrounded by so many enemies wanting to destroy us. Even though the Torah mandated having a king upon the settling of the land, their request was considered a lack of trust in Hashem. The motivation for this request was to have a king like all the other nations.

Shmuel rebuked the nation, reminding them of how in previous generations Jews would call out directly to Hashem for salvation, and never felt the need for a king. To stress his point, he notified them that he would now pray to Hashem for rain, which was unheard of in Israel during harvest time. Hashem accepted his prayer and caused a spontaneous thunderstorm. Everyone then became very afraid and immediately admitted to sinning through their request for a king.

This episode begs explanation. After witnessing countless miracles throughout Shmuel Hanavi's tenure as a shofeit, Judge, the Jewish people still felt insecure. Only now, after witnessing a simple rainstorm (miraculous as it was), did they realise their mistake?

The answer though, is quite simple. Yesterday's miracle doesn't solve today's problem. However, the realisation of Hashem's constant presence does. The Bnei Yisrael were hit full force with the realisation that even a "simple" rainstorm is being orchestrated by Hashem - on demand. Can't He then be there for us when we are threatened by our enemies? Hashem sent them, and Hashem could get rid of them. Just call out to Him!

"My strength and the might of my hand."

Yet, even after realizing all of the above, there is still another obstacle that we may encounter in tefilla. Ourselves! Yes, Hashem CAN do, and IS doing, but so am *I*. In this vein, tefilla serves as yet a third category of belief in Hashem: I can't do anything myself.

In Parshas Ekev(5), the Torah gives us a warning not to forget Hashem upon settling into everyday life in Eretz Yisrael. Rabbi Chatzkel Levenstein zt"l(6) points out that even after 40 years of living in a desert, void of any means of human survival, it was still important to warn us. Here is the text of the warning:

"Take care lest you forget Hashem, your God, by not observing His commandments, His ordinances and His decrees, which I command you this day. Lest you eat and be satisfied, and you build good houses and settle, and your cattle and sheep and goats increase, and you increase silver and gold for yourselves, and everything that you have will increase and your heart will become haughty and you will forget Hashem, your God, Who took you out of the land of Egypt from the house of slavery, Who leads you through the great and awesome wilderness - of snake, fiery serpent and scorpion, and thirst where there was no water - Who brings forth water for you from the rock of flint, Who feeds you manna in the wilderness, which your forefathers knew not, in order to afflict you and in order to test you, to do good for you in your end. And you will say in your heart, 'my strength and the might of my hand made me all this wealth!' "

The Torah starts with - lest you should eat and be satisfied etc... and ends with and you WILL say my strength and the might of my hand made me all this wealth. Just get a little comfortable, and forty years of training are in jeopardy.

It is human nature for a person to take the credit for his accomplishments. The Dubna Maggid(7) writes that Hashem created the world in such a way that its completion should come through the efforts of mankind. People's ambitions can be of great help to society. Many a cure or invention have come from such ambitions. (The Rambam actually writes that if not for the "over ambitious", the world could not exist.)

If everyone would naturally trust in Hashem, no one would invest much effort in attaining their livelihood, relying on Hashem's blessing. However, the great test of this world is to believe that even after all our efforts, our success is actually a gift from Hashem(8). These natural feelings of ambition may very well hamper our success at prayer.

The Gemara in Brachos(9) rules that one should not delve into his tefilla. The Rishonim explain that one should not look at how hard he prayed and expect to be answered based on his efforts. The Ben Ish Chai(10) however, offers a different interpretation of these words. One should not THINK INTO the requests made in his tefillos. He bases this understanding on a Gemara in Sanhedrin "One's thoughts have an effect even on Divrei Torah". Rashi explains that sometimes one's thoughts about achieving a certain goal may result in spoiling his chances at attaining it. Even regarding learning Torah. For example, if someone says I will learn x amount of Mesechtos, tractates within x amount of time, this may result in non-accomplishment of his goal. The Ben Ish Chai explains this to be a lack of bitachon. One tends to rely on his ambitions and forgets Hashem.

Similarly, when someone prays for something that he needs or wants, by nature he tends to delve into the matter and think of all kinds of ways to attain it himself. Without realising he has already left Hashem far behind and is busy working it out himself. At best he is praying - "If only Hashem would invest His capital with me I could really accomplish a lot. " These thoughts may cause Hashem to say, very well then, go work it out yourself.

True, a person must put effort into attaining his goals, but it must be tempered with the belief that it is just a condition for receiving Hashem's gift. Our approach therefore should be as stated in Shulchan Aruch(11) - that we are relying on Hashem's kindness towards His creations to answer our prayers. In reality, this is probably the hardest part of praying successfully - to realise that things really are not in our hands.

The power of prayer - may the best man win.

As he enters the Kodesh Kadoshim ,Inner Sanctuary on Yom Kippur, the Kohein Gadol only recites a small prayer (so as not to worry everyone awaiting his safe return.) Among the things he prays for is rain. He also adds "And do not listen to the wayfarer's prayers to withhold rain that the world needs"(12).

While a prayer for rain is very important, and should be mentioned at that time, the context of the prayer does seem strange. Why should Hashem listen to the selfish prayer of a wayfarer when the world needs rain, and why should it worry us so much?

I once heard from one of my Roshei Yeshiva that when it comes to prayer, we can apply the Talmudic dictum of "The stronger one will overpower"(13). The Kohein Gadol actually has to submit a counter tefilla as insurance(14).

Such is the power of tefilla. May we utilise this precious gift to the fullest extent, and merit having our tefillos answered for the sake of Avodas Hashem.

FOOTNOTES:

1 Taanis 2a.
2 Brachos 6b
3 Yevamos 64a
4 Shmuel 1, ch. 12
5 Devarim 8:11-17
6 Mashgiach of the pre-war Mirrer Yeshiva, and author of Sefer Ohr Yechezkel.
7 Quoted in Sefer Nitzotzei Ohr.
8 Shaar Habitachon
9 Brachos 32b
10 Od Yosef Chai on Ki Sietzei
11 O.C. 98:5
12 Yoma 53b
13 Bava Basra 34b
14 It is told that R' Meir Chodosh zt"l, would preferably wait out the rain rather than be seen walking through it with an umbrella. He did not want it to appear as if he was protesting the rain.