‘He should make his Tefillos beseeching’
My chavrusa told me that his hat was completely tattered, and he davened that HaKadosh Baruch Hu to send him a new hat. That day he ran for the bus, and the hat flew under the wheels of the bus and it was done... he returned to Kollel and told me that he did a self-examination [cheshbon hanefesh] and instead of first thanking Hashem that he had a hat, he came with a complaint, and he brought the justified distress upon himself. In the meantime, he took an even older hat out of storage, and thanked Hashem that he had kept the older hat, so now he had something to wear on his head.
A few days later, my chavrusa’s wife asked him to buy a new suit, because this one looked completely worn out that even next to the old hat it looked worn...
This time: The chavrusa said, “I already know not to make the same mistake again, and first I thanked HaKadosh Baruch Hu that I even had a suit to wear, and I asked that if it was good in the eyes of Hashem, He should arrange a new suit for me.”
The next day my mother called me, and said, “I saw you leave an event, and your suit is really not worthy of a talmid chacham. I ask you to buy a new suit that will honor a Torah learner!!!”
My friend finished the story by saying how much we should pay attention to the words of Chazal that Tefillah is received through praise, request, and praise!!!
Do not be ungrateful, thank for what you have, since HaKadosh Baruch Hu does not owe us anything, and if we do the real math, we will see that we are in serious debt to the Creator. So at least when we ask, remember to ask for a free gift from the treasury.
How simple is the matter, if a son demands that his father buy him a suit in a way that the father owes it to him, the father will have no desire to buy it for him. But if the son comes with humility and gratitude and tells the father that he owes his son nothing, then of course the father will jump to buy the son the best...
(Bli neder, if a new hat arrives, I will try to update.)
ח.ר.י.
