Both the Maharal and the Mabit, each in his own way, reveal that the purpose of prayer is not to “convince” HaShem to act differently, but to reshape ourselves. With each repeated prayer, a person refines their inner world, strengthens their connection to HaShem, and becomes a more fitting vessel to receive blessing. Through persistent Tefillah, we develop deeper trust, greater humility, and a more intimate bond with G-d.

Indeed, the answer to all the questions is one: First, let us state what is well known to all of us, that HaKadosh Baruch Hu created the world in order to bestow goodness upon His creations. However, in order that they not eat “bread of shame,” He placed them first in this world, where they must exert effort to fulfill His mitzvos [commandments], and through that merit, they will be worthy of Olam HaBa [the World to Come].

It is also known that HaShem governs everything that occurs in this world, but in order for man to have free will, He conceals His governance beneath a veil of nature. And in the natural system, it appears as though everything occurs on its own through a process of cause and effect.

But the truth is that behind every small and great event, the hand of HaShem is present. It is He who grants wealth or takes it away, who gives life or takes it, who humbles the proud and raises the lowly. As Yeshayahu said (Isaiah 45:15), ‘Indeed, You are G-d, Who hides Himself.’

However, the management of the world in this manner is still lacking and endangers the ultimate purpose, because man is liable to forget his Creator and believe that everything is natural and coincidental.

Therefore, HaKadosh Baruch Hu embedded in the structure of the world the institution of Tefillah, so that through it, man would remember the essential truth, that HaShem is the One who governs Creation, He is the One who heals the sick, sustains all creatures, the cause of all causes and the ultimate source of everything.

And to Him one must turn, whether in times of success or, Heaven forbid, in times of distress.

These are the words of the Ramchal [Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto] (Derech HaShem, Part 2, Chapter 5): ‘According to how much a person becomes entangled in worldly matters, so too he becomes distanced from the supernal light and more darkened. But behold, the Creator, may His Name be blessed, prepared a remedy for him: It is that man should draw near, stand before Him, may He be blessed, and from Him request all his needs, and upon Him cast all his burden… until it becomes natural that even as he engages in the rest of his efforts, he will not become overly absorbed or immersed in materiality and physicality, for he has already preceded all and placed his trust in HaShem.’

The Ramchal also writes (ibid., beginning of the chapter), ‘Among the systems arranged by the Supernal Wisdom is that in order for prophets to receive influence from Him, may He be blessed, they must awaken themselves toward Him, and draw near before Him. And according to their awakening, so too the influence flows upon them. But if they do not awaken, the influence will not flow to them.’

These words are awe-inspiring. To what extent Tefillah is an inseparable part of the world’s rainfall system! If we do not ask, the heavens do not give!

So we find from the very first moment of creation, and the verse is explicit (Bereishis / Genesis 2:5), ‘And all the shrubs of the field were not yet on the Earth, and all the herbs of the field had not yet sprouted, for HaShem Elokim had not caused it to rain upon the Earth, and there was no man to work the soil.’ As Rashi explains, ‘There is no rainfall without the need for rain; and when man came and understood that the world needs it, he prayed for it, and the trees and grasses sprouted.’

So, too, the Gemara says (Chullin 60b), ‘For years, clouds rose and hovered over the entrance to the tear in the heavens until Adam HaRishon [the First Man] came and requested mercy upon them, and then rain fell and vegetation grew.’ To teach that HaKadosh Baruch Hu desires the prayers of the righteous.

From the same verse (ibid.): Rav Nachman bar Chisda had a garden. He planted it but it did not sprout. He prayed for mercy and rain fell, and it sprouted. They said, ‘This is what we meant when we said that HaShem desires our prayers!’

How awesome!

At the moment of the Revelation at Har Sinai [Mount Sinai], there was a great time of divine favor, and the Yeitzer HaRa [Evil Inclination] was uprooted from their hearts (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:15). And HaKadosh Baruch Hu said (Devarim /Deuteronomy 5:26), ‘Who would grant that this heart of theirs be always like this, to fear Me and keep all My mitzvos, so that it may go well with them and their children forever.’ And our Rabbis said (Talmud Bavli, Avodah Zarah 5a) that at that moment they should have said, ‘You give it,’ but they did not say it.

We could have merited to be permanently fixed in the level of awe and acceptance of the yoke of mitzvos, just like at the moment of Matan Torah [the Giving of the Torah]!

But because they did not ask, they did not receive, and the moment passed!

Thus we learn that Tefillah is a form of preparation for fulfilling the entire Torah, for it creates the continuous bond between a person and his Creator. Through Tefillah, a person acknowledges that everything is from HaShem. And in the words of the Kuzari, ‘Tefillah is to the soul what nourishment is to the body.’

Evening, morning, and afternoon, we need Tefillah to connect us with our Creator, and just as a person needs to eat several times a day, so too, he needs Tefillah.

Even more than that, Tefillah overturns nature. And since this is so, the nature that the Holy One, blessed be He, embedded in the world was that it should be reversed and subjugated to Tefillah. And if a person is not worthy, he does not receive what was prepared for him.

Even more than this, the Holy One, blessed be He, gave us prayer, and it nullifies decrees, as we were shown in the Exodus from Mitzrayim (Egypt).

Upon the People, it was decreed that they would be enslaved for four hundred years in bitter and harsh servitude (Bereishis 15:13): ‘They will enslave them and oppress them for four hundred years.’

But they only endured 209 years, and Moshe Rabbeinu was sent to redeem them. And why? This was also the question Moshe Rabbeinu asked. ‘What merit do they have in their hands?’ And HaShem answered him, ‘They do not have even a single merit (Rashi, Shemos / Exodus 3:11).

Tremendous debts. They were idol worshipers (Yechezkel / Ezekiel 20:8) and were sentenced to be killed: ‘They rebelled against Me and did not wish to listen to Me.’ The Egyptians and others asked, ‘What makes these ones different from these?’ There was no distinction between the Jews and the Egyptians (Vayikra / Leviticus Rabbah 23:2); they were among the most defiled of all nations (Rashi, Vayikra 18:2).

So in what merit were we redeemed? Because they cried out from the depths of the heart!

As it is said (Shemos 2:23), ‘And their cry rose up to Elokim.’ And later (Shemos 3:7), ‘I have surely seen the affliction of My people that are in Mitzrayim, and their cry I have heard… and I have come down to deliver them.’

And therefore, because of this, we were commanded to mention redemption daily in the Tefillah (Berachos 4b).

This is to say, even if a harsh decree was issued, and the time of salvation and relief has not yet come, and we possess no merits, only dreadful sins, we must cry out, and we will be saved!