It's Just the Post Office Here: Everyone Gets What They Ordered

A man walked down the street and saw two people digging a hole—one digging and the other filling it back up.

He asked them in astonishment: What are you doing here? What is this strange work?

They answered him: We are three. One of us digs a hole, the second plants a seedling, and the third covers it with soil. Today, the second worker didn't come, so we're doing our part...

This is how a person looks who invests effort but does not pray to Hashem—nothing is done. It is like someone who works hard all day chopping wood, but despite his efforts, only manages to chop a few logs. Someone knowledgeable asked him: When was the last time you sharpened your axe? He replied: I had no time to sharpen it; I'm busy with hard work... So it is when efforts are made without investing in prayer—the sharpening of the axe—to make the efforts fruitful.

Five-year-old Yitzchak burst into the house gleefully and showed his mother the prize he received today at the 'cheder': a fun game with rings floating in water, and by pressing buttons, the rings are placed on pegs.

Even before taking off his backpack, the little one sat down and tried his luck placing the rings on the pegs. He turned the game, attempting to position the rings, but the rings bounced playfully, leaving tiny bubbles behind, unwilling to settle into their designated spots. "Mom!" Yitzchak called, "Come help me!"

Miriam came and watched her son's attempts to flip and turn the game. "Want to see a trick?" she taught him, "Come, watch. Now, all the rings are scattered without order, but when you press this button," she demonstrated, "voila! See? The rings jump up, and now two are already on the peg!"

The child took the game and tried his luck—it succeeded! He immersed himself in the game, and Miriam returned to the kitchen. 'These rings are like my tasks waiting for salvation,' she thought to herself. 'I have so much to accomplish today! Everything is so confusing and disorganized. What will happen? How will I manage all the tasks and arrange them like rings on a peg? Where is my button that I can press and everything will work out wonderfully?'

The flowing water and the shiny dishes sparkling from the dish rack sparked a sudden enlightenment: prayer! Prayer is my button. I am so helpless, the tasks before me threaten my peace and seem beyond my measure, but Hashem is with me. He can arrange everything for me in the best way and send me blessings in due time. I just have to press the button, pray---

Miriam paused for a moment and quietly recited a chapter of Psalms from a fervent heart.

Hashem teaches us through the verse "And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them," that when Moshe built the Tabernacle, he requested: May it be the will that the Shechinah shall dwell. Why request, when Hashem promised to dwell among them? However, without prayer, there is nothing. It is like an electric plug—if it is not connected to the socket, it will not function, even if all its parts are intact. Without the connection—there is nothing. And who is greater than Moshe, and even he—what he did not request, he did not receive.

When Hashem sent Moshe to Pharaoh, Moshe said, "I am not a man of words, not yesterday, nor the day before, nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue" (Exodus 4:10). Ramban asks: Why did Hashem not heal him? Is it difficult for Him to heal the righteous? But Moshe our teacher did not ask for it, and without prayer, no change occurs.

A man stood at the post office window and received a small package, and he noticed that the person next to him received a large package while the payment for the packages was the same. He angrily shouted: Why did you only bring me a small package? They told him: Here, it's just the post office. A person gets what they ordered. That person ordered a lot, so they receive. You ordered something small, so that's what you receive. It is the same with prayer. If we pray and request and order a lot—we will receive...

It is true that sometimes, for reasons only Hashem knows why, He did not grant our request, He did not answer us according to what we thought. But the prayer does not return empty; it will be accepted either for something else or for another time, and in any case, it makes it easier for us to cope (and we expanded on this later in the chapter that hears the prayer of every mouth).

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