A wife told her husband, "Our wall isn't soundproof, and our neighbors hear our conversations. We don't have privacy. We need a new wall."
The husband replied, "There is nothing to worry about. The wall is soundproof. No one hears us from the outside. You are imagining things."
Just then, there was a knock at the door. It was the neighbor. He came in and said, "You don't need to construct a thicker wall. I don't hear anything."
The yetzer hara tells us, "Hashem doesn't hear anything. Your tefillos aren't heard." When the yetzer hara tells us that, we know that Hashem does hear.
In fact, why does the yetzer hara disturb us from davening? It is because he knows the power of our tefillos. His disturbances and his attempts to have us believe that Hashem doesn't answer our tefillos are our greatest proof that Hashem hears all of our tefillos.
Hashem told Moshe (8:16) והתיצב בבקר השכם פרעה לפני, "Arise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh." The Midrash says that Hashem wanted Moshe to get to Pharaoh very early, before Pharoah davens, because Hashem would listen to his tefillos and save him, and then Hashem wouldn’t bring the makos.
So, we see that Hashem listens even to the tefillos of Pharaoh, and everyone can take from this awareness that Hashem will certainly listen to him when he turns to Him in prayer.
The Rayatz of Lubavitch zt'l says, "People think that all they need to do is wait for Moshiach, but they forget that in Mitzrayim, they needed tefillah, too, and only then were they saved."
We begin Shemoneh Esrei with the words יעקב ואלקי יצחק אלקי אברהם אלקי. Saying these words is a segulah for our tefillos to be answered. It states (3:15) אלוקי אבותיכם אלוקי 'ה דור לדור זכרי וזה ...יעקב ואלוקי יצחק אלקי אברהם, "Hashem the G-d of your fathers: the G-d of Avraham, the G-d of Yitzchak, and the G-d of Yaakov... This is how I should be mentioned in every generation." The Ramban writes that this means, "In all generations when one says יעקב ואלקי יצחק אלקי אברהם אלקי Hashem will answer his tefillos." Because of Hashem’s love for the Avos, when we say these words, Hashem will listen to our tefillos.
When saying these words in Shemoneh Esrei, one should think about our unique privilege to be descendants of the holy Avos.
A grandson of a chassidic Rebbe was waiting for his turn to speak to the Beis Yisrael of Gur zt'l. As he waited, he said to the gabbai, Reb Chaninah Shif, z'l, "When you bring me to the Gerrer rebbe, tell him who my grandfather is."
The gabbai replied, "It isn't our custom to do that."
But the bachur insisted, so when Reb Chanina Shif brought him before the Beis Yisrael, he said, "He wants you to know that he is a grandson of the this-and-this tzaddik."
The Beis Yisrael replied, "I should know? He should know!"
The same is regarding the Avos. We should know our yichus. We should know that we are descendants of the holy Avos. This awareness should fill our hearts with pride and joy, and in their merits, our tefillos will be answered.
