A Voice to Fill the Void
Tefillah is the greatest vehicle with which to fill the voids in our lives—for davening connects us with the Ribbono shel Olam. Imagine a world in which we’re unable to connect and tether ourselves to the Master of the world... how dark and painful would it be. It would be like the life of a non-Jew.
Without tefillah, there’s no point in life. Even if a person does have wealth and honor, all it takes is a toothache to make him forget all his pleasures....
For this reason, we were given the great gift of tefillah, which tethers us to the Ribbono shel Olam from the moment we attain wisdom to our last moment on earth. The Ribbono shel Olam says: Come, talk to me about your needs... this way you will remember the truth: that you’re dependent only on Me.
Every Lack Is a Test
The Chovos HaLevavos tells us (Sha’ar HaBitachon 3) regarding the pasuk (Shemos 16:4), הילך אנסנו למען לא אם בתורתי, In order to test them, whether they will follow My Torah or not, that the Ribbono shel Olam gives shefa to every person regardless of his hishtadlus. The only reason we’re compelled to perform hishtadlus is for the Ribbono shel Olam to see whether we will conduct ourselves properly while doing our hishtadlus.
Similarly, Hashem has created us with lack and חסרונות—not because He’s unable to create a perfect world, but rather to test us and see what we will do with this lack. Will we seek Him out as a result, or will we, chas v’shalom, rebel against Him. Every lack is a test to see what we will do with it. Once presented with this lack, we have two choices: One is to say: “Okay, I will take care of this matter myself... I’ll change things.... I’ll push things... I’ll get what I want....” But the proper response is to take out the siddur and the Tehillim and speak to Hashem about this lack.
