Welcome to the Daily Chizuk (strengthening). One of our greatest tools during the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe) is tefillah (prayer). A person can get all of his heart’s desires through prayer. We need so many things. Some people need a shidduch (marriage match). Some people need refuah (healing). Some people need parnassah (livelihood). Whatever it is, now is the time to pray even harder. Don’t say, “I’ve been asking for so long, so why bother?” Every time you ask, you get closer to your goal. The Gemara tells us that prayer eventually elevates a person to another level, to a point where he becomes a different person, someone who merits salvation and healing.
Furthermore, every word of tefillah is so precious to Hashem—you can’t imagine. Hashem desires our prayers, and every prayer gives you another merit. So even if you’re not worthy, you are building up credits from which Hashem can draw to give you what you want. The reason why it's so powerful is because when a person prays, they are showing that they recognize Hashem is there and listening, and that you know He's capable of helping you. There’s no such thing as a prayer that isn’t being accepted. Sometimes we gather together to recite Tehillim (Psalms) on behalf of a sick person, and they don’t make it. People think, “What was the point of all those tefillot?” Every tefillah was heard. There was a salvation somewhere brought about because of those tefillot. And when the neshamah (soul) of that sick person goes to Gan Eden (Garden of Eden), it will have the unbelievable merit of that salvation to its credit because it caused all of those tefillot to be said.
When the Steipler died, someone told his son, Rav Chaim Kanievsky shlit"a (may he live and be well), that all the tefillot we prayed were useless. The rabbi replied, “I know for a fact that a terrible decree that was going to affect many people was averted because of all those tefillot.” Every word of tefillah is a source of salvation. Rabbi Pincus said that sometimes Hashem will store up our tefillot and use them at a time when we need them the most. Hashem knows the future, and in His infinite kindness, He knows that this prayer that you just gave will be more valuable to you six months from now.
For example, a person could have prayed that their child be safe in a certain situation, and the prayer didn’t seem to work. But Hashem knows there will be a time when that child is going to cross a dangerous street and won’t look properly. So Hashem will save this beautiful tefillah and use it then, because the parent doesn’t know that he should be praying then.
You could have a child in the sixth grade with bad friends at school influencing him to do the wrong things, and his mother prayed so hard that he shouldn’t be influenced. But then she gets a phone call from the principal that her son is being suspended. She thinks, “My prayers went to waste.” Wrong. Maybe Hashem knows that in a few years, when he’s a teenager, he’s also going to be pressured by his friends, but this time to do something much worse. And you won’t know to pray then. So Hashem says, “Let me use this tefillah that you just gave now for then.”
Every prayer counts. We are benefiting today from the prayers of our parents and grandparents. Let us use this tremendous gift wisely and continue to pray and pray. And may Hashem answer all of our tefillot and give everyone a beautiful year. Amen (so be it). Amen. Have a great day.