Welcome to the daily chizuk (encouragement). Chazal (the Sages) tell us: Everything is in the hands of Hashem, except for our religious level. We have bechira, we have free will, and we were given the ability to choose between good and bad. How much money you'll make is already predetermined. But whether or not you'll do a good deed, or whether you'll refrain from an aveirah (transgression), that's your choice.
On the other hand, the Gemara tells us that the evil inclination is very powerful, and if Hashem doesn't help us, we can't beat it. It sounds like Hashem intervenes in our religious areas as well. The simple explanation is that you have the free will to ask Hashem for help. We need Hashem to remain spiritually pure, but it's up to us to ask Him.
Another explanation could be: It's true that decisions are up to us, but the situations we're put in during life are determined by Hashem: how strong the test will be and the environment that we will be exposed to. Either way, we need Hashem's help spiritually. And the more you ask for help, the more you'll get it. When it comes to spirituality, the wider you open your mouth to ask, the more Hashem could fill it up.
The Pasuk (verse) says: Hashem yishmorcha mikol ra, yishmor et nafshecha. And some Mefarshim (commentators) explain this to mean that Hashem could guard you from all the evil influences and negative surroundings. And thereby, yishmor et nafshecha, He will preserve your soul.
We don't want to be tested. We pray every morning in the Birkot HaShachar; we don't want to have a test. There are a lot of children who go off the derech (path). There was a family who had a son go off the path. He got caught up with the wrong friends, and nobody could bring him back. They went to their rabbi for advice, and he told them, “It says in the Torah, la'asot et haShabbat, that the Jewish people make Shabbat. But doesn't Shabbat just come?” He quoted the Or HaChaim as saying, “This is referring to the time that we accept Shabbat early.” When you accept Shabbat early, you are turning the weekday into Shabbat. And the Imrei Emet said that this is the most opportune time of the week, during those minutes, to pray. So the rabbi told them, “Pray for yourself; pray for your son when you accept Shabbat early, and you should pray that he should have good friends, and that good people should surround him, so that he has an easier time making the right decisions.” And that's exactly what ended up happening.
A boy told me he had a friend who was a very good boy, but he got involved with the wrong people. They were going to a concert one day, and his boy's friend was going, and they were going to do terrible aveirot (transgressions). He said, “Don't go, don't go.” His friend said, “I'm going; there's nothing you can tell me not to go.” So the friend started praying to Hashem: “Please help, please make it that he doesn't do these aveirot.” And miraculously, that evening, the concert was canceled. Hashem could guard our souls.
A woman told me that she wasn't happy with the environment of her son's school, and she wanted to switch him. The only other school that would be good for him told her, “We rarely take in new students. We're very overbooked, and the chances of your son getting in were very slim. Maybe we take one person, but probably not.” She tried asking others to speak to the school on her behalf, but they all said the same thing: he's probably not getting in. So she started to pray with all of her heart to Hashem. She said, “Hashem, you are also a parent. You know what it's like when your son is in the wrong environment. Please get him into the new school.”
First, he had to go for an IQ test at that school. The questions were very hard, but he kept guessing every multiple-choice answer right. His mother couldn't believe it. She said she didn't know the answers, and her seven-year-old son kept getting them right. The teacher was very impressed. On the way out, she told the boy a little Devar Torah (Torah thought) on the parasha, and they left. A couple of days later, they came back to talk to the Hebrew principal. He took out a Tehillim, and he told the boy, “Open up to any page and read.” His mother couldn't believe it. Just the other day, they got this exact Tehillim book in the mail, and they practiced reading a certain mizmor (psalm) over and over. The boy opened to that page, and he read it perfectly. They had no idea they were being tested on this, and the principal asked him, “Tell me a Devar Torah on anything, any parasha that you know.” He said over the one he just heard two days before. The principal was so impressed, and a few days later, he was accepted. With Hashem's help, our children can become great.
Someone once asked the Chafetz Chaim how he achieved so much in life, and he pulled out his mother's Tehillim that was drenched with tears. That's the secret to success. Have a great day.