A Gleaning: The Greatness of Prayer (III)
Prayer Is Accepted Through the Force of Supplication
“There is a person who does not deserve to have his prayer accepted by God — yet because of the force of his supplications and the tears in his eyes, because he weeps and pleads unceasingly, God accepts his prayer and fulfills his desire, even though he has no merit or good deeds to his credit.”
(Sefer Hasidim, 130)
The Great Power of Prayer
“You must know that the power of prayer is immense — even to alter nature, to be saved from danger, and to annul a heavenly decree. The space available here is too short to contain all that is explained in the sacred writings and said on these matters: the power of prayer to annul a decree, to change nature, and to rescue from danger.”
(Rabbeinu Bachya, Parashat Eikev)
“Pray Immediately, for Whatever Befalls You”
The Mishnah teaches us: “One may stand to pray only with a sense of gravity and reverence” — but this applies specifically to the formal Amidah prayer. Spontaneous prayer, however, which every person needs at every moment and in every situation when asking God for what he needs, requires no such preparation. On the contrary — as it is written: “For what great nation has a god as close to it as the Lord our God whenever we call to Him” (Deuteronomy 4:7). On the contrary, this is the great faith of a Jewish person: to pray immediately for whatever befalls him. It is an expression of the belief that nothing happens by chance — everything is governed by divine providence — and prayer is effective in annulling a decree and turning it toward goodness and salvation.
(Based on Maggid Ta’alumah, Berakhot 30)
No Prayer Is as Complete as Prayer Born from Distress
“‘The children of Israel groaned from their labor and cried out, and their plea rose up to God from their labor’ (Exodus 2:23) — the words ‘from their labor’ appear twice, to teach you that no person’s prayer is as complete as the prayer he prays out of hardship and distress. Such a prayer is more readily accepted, and it is the prayer that ascends before the Blessed One. You find the same idea with the prophet Jonah, peace be upon him, who illuminated this principle when he said: ‘When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to You, into Your holy Temple’ (Jonah 2:8). The prophet thus promises that prayer born of anguish and a faint soul is the prayer that enters before God into His holy Temple.”
(Rabbeinu Bachya, on Exodus)
“Better to Give Me Right Away…”
On the verse “Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to You I call all day long” (Psalms 86:3), this parable comes to mind:
A small child who pesters his father — if he persists long enough, his father cannot help but grant his request. Yet sometimes a father holds back, thinking his child will tire and stop asking, since the thing requested is not so dear to the child after all. But if the child truly keeps pressing and does not let up, the father is bound to fulfill the request.
Now, suppose the child was clever and perceptive. Seeing from the start that his father was refusing, he realized that his father assumed he would soon give up. So the child said: “Father, know this — the thing I am asking you for, I will keep asking with great persistence, because I truly need it very much. If so, why let me suffer through all that pleading when you will give it to me in the end anyway? Better to give it to me right away!”
And so the verse says: “Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to You I call all day long” — meaning: I will not grow weary or give up; I will cry out and implore You all day long until You surely grant me grace. Therefore, be gracious to me now.
(Arvei Nachal, Va’era)
“He Prayed Many Prayers”
The Midrash teaches: “And Isaac pleaded [vaye’tar] with the Lord” (Genesis 25:21) — Rabbi Yochanan said that he poured out his prayers in abundance, for in Aramaic the word for wealth is utra. The Midrash interprets: Isaac prayed to the Lord — he prayed many prayers, in abundance and in fullness.
(Based on Matanot Kehunah, Toledot, 63:5)
Pray for Everything!
“I [Rabbi Nathan of Breslov] myself heard from his holy lips [Rabbi Nachman of Breslov] regarding some small and very minor matter that I needed to some degree. He said to me: ‘Pray to God about this!’ I stood astonished, for it seemed extraordinary to me to bring such a trivial matter before God — especially since I did not really need it all that urgently. He said to me, with an air of wonder: ‘Is it beneath your dignity to pray to God about something so small?'”
(Shivhei HaRan, 233)