Page 330 - 20780

330 | A New Light
“A person’s prayer is not heard unless he places his soul in his
hand” (ibid. 8a). Here too, “soul” means “will.”
“His Hands Were Faithful” (Exodus 17:12)
As you have learned, what determines the quality and value of a
person’s prayer is the quantity and quality of his will that he inserts
into his recital of the words of prayer. That is the essence of his
intent. Only in accordance with that is a person’s prayer effective
and answered.
You must be aware of a very important principle: the factor
that determines how much intent you insert into your prayer is
the completeness of your faith. This is because (cf. In the Garden
of Faith) faith that Hashem created the world is a weak and very
incomplete faith. Complete faith consists of the following. It is the
faith that Hashem created the world, gives it life, guides it and
supervises it in the greatest detail, that He pours abundance upon
every thought, word and deed, small and great, in the life of a
person and in the life of the entire world. It is the faith that there
is none other than He and that He and only He is able to help and
save a person in every single detail. It is the faith that anyone can
turn to the Creator regarding every matter, join with Him and take
counsel with Him in all of his troubles. It is the faith that a person’s
every deficiency is sent to him by the Creator for his own good, so
that he will thank Him, pray to Him and come close to Him. It is
the faith that all of the powers of nature are in Hashem’s hand, that
He can change nature without any limitation at all, and that prayer
changes nature. It is the faith that Hashem determines and judges
everything in existence, and that the hearts of all people are in His
hand. It is the faith that Hashem is close to all Who call out to Him,
that He loves every created being—and that He wants to help and
save every created being, even a transgressor and sinner, even the
most wicked person. It is the faith that the Creator’s compassion
is infinite and boundless, and that He created the entire universe
in order to reveal His compassion and in order to help those who
pray to Him regarding every situation, even if they do not deserve
anything. It is the faith that Hashem does not desire anyone’s death
nor any imperfection, but only people’s repentance and prayer (as
Chapter Eight: | 343
counsel understanding and might….” He attained this due to
the fact that he pleaded a great deal before the Holy One,
blessed be He, for knowledge, and he focused deeply on the
Shemoneh Esrei’s blessing of “You graciously give…” (from
Binyan Olam, Chapter 11).
By means of prayer, the Chazon Ish attained all of his awesome
achievements, although he had been average as a youth. This is
a tangible example of the power of prayer. There are no errors
in this world. Hashem graciously gives knowledge to anyone who
wants it and brings vessels to receive it. The Chazon Ish was not a
gifted youth, but he wanted knowledge and brought many vessels.
Therefore, he received infinite Divine abundance and wonderful
knowledge from Hashem’s Torah. And everyone who prepares
such vessels can attain all of the higher levels, literally in the exact
same way.
Therefore, recite and repeat the words of prayer with intention
and with deep feeling. Do not be indifferent to this, because with
your every prayer and request you receive Divine abundance and
holy knowledge that will illuminate your entire life!
There Is Only One Problem in Life
Since “knowledge” is relevant to all of life and to all of the requests
that we make in the Shemoneh Esrei, I recommend to students
who need to rectify a specific problem to spend half an hour a
day on the blessing, “He Who graciously gives knowledge,” and to
have the intention to gain knowledge about their problem, because
“all of a person’s problems, sufferings and exile correspond
to his lack of knowledge. But when a person’s knowledge is
perfected, then all that he lacks is fulfilled” (Likutei Moharan I 21).
I will bring a few examples:
If a person has a problem achieving peace in the home, I tell him
to spend half an hour reciting “He Who graciously gives knowledge”
and to have in mind that he wishes to receive the knowledge that
everything that happens between him and his wife comes only