Hishtadlus to Understand Torah:
The Maharal (Derech Chaim 2:15) writes that one receives reward for every bit of effort he puts into understanding Torah. This is not comparable to building a house, when only the end result really matters because when one toils over Torah, each drop of effort is considered its own valuable entity. Accordingly, if one toils in Torah he is rewarded, even if he fails to come to a complete understand of what he is learning, as he is rewarded for the toil itself.
The Izhbitzer Rebbe zy”a (Sefer Mei Hashiloach, Mishlei, Chelek 2) uses this idea to explain the pasuk (Mishlei 3:14) that says: “Its business is better than business of silver.” He explains the pasuk to mean that the “business” of Torah is better than earthly businesses in the sense that when it comes to standard business, one is only paid for a finished product, whereas when it comes to Torah, one is rewarded for every bit of effort, even if it does not result in a finished product.
This idea is also found in the Zohar Hakadosh (Terumah 150B) that states that if one has good intentions but is unable to act on them completely, Hashem still rewards him. This is also seen in the Mishnah (Avos 5:14) that says that if one goes to do a mitzvah but is unable to get it done, he is rewarded for his efforts.
