Why did Hashem have to tell Moshe to stop davening to Him that he should allow him to enter Eretz Yisroel? Let Moshe daven all he wants! Hashem is the boss, and He doesn’t have to allow Moshe to get what he wants?
The Meforshim say that Hashem made the Tevah of the world that Tefila must work if you persist. Some Tefilos are answered in one day and some in ten years. But sooner or later it must work. So, Hashem had to stop Moshe from davening because if not, then He would have to give him something that Hashem didn’t really want to give him.
Avshalom rebelled against his father Dovid. When Dovid found out that Achitofel also joined the rebellion, Dovid became afraid, because asking Achitofel for advice was like asking the Urim v’Tumim, and having Achitofel as his advisor made Avshalom a sure winner.
Dovid started davening to Hashem that He shouldn’t allow Achitofel’s Eitza be accepted. Suddenly, Dovid’s loyal friend Chushai HaArki appeared to Dovid, and promised to help by spying for him and trying to undo Achitofel’s Eitza. When Avshalom asked Achitofel what his next move should be, Achitofel said he should immediately go with 12,000 men to chase Dovid, and he personally would kill Dovid. His Eitza was accepted, until Avshalom asked Chushai his opinion.
Chushai said that Dovid was too powerful, and it’s best to first gather a large army like the sand by the sea, and then attack Dovid. Avshalom liked Chushai’s Eitza and listened to him. When Achitofel saw that his Eitza wasn’t accepted, he immediately left the army camp, went home, and hung himself. Sure enough, in the end Avshalom was killed, and Dovid won the war.
The question arises: Why was Achitofel so sure that Avshalom would lose when he listened to Chushai HaArki? The answer is: Tefila! Those who understood the rules of Hashgacha Pratis and Bitachon [like Chushai and Achitofel] knew that all Dovid needed was time to continue davening as much as possible.
That’s why Achitofel [Dovid’s enemy] advised to kill Dovid right away, before Dovid has a chance to really daven. Chushai knew that even if you have an army as big as the sand by the sea, you’ll still lose if Dovid has more time to daven! [Heard from R’ Nosson Wachtfogel, in the name of the Chasam Sofer].
If you still have a week before you will see the doctor about a scary health issue, or an important meeting about your future financial situation, calm down; you have a full week of davening available, and in one week you can sometimes turn over a situation for the better, and even cause Nissim! And if it’s a month? Your confidence soars! You have so much time to daven!
A Goy once stole some valuables and dumped it in a Jew’s house. The police arrested the Jew, and sentenced him to be hung in a week, despite his pleading that he was innocent. The K'sav Sofer spent this week with sleepless nights and long trips to the authorities, in a vain attempt to save this Jew. The night before the hanging, his father, the Chasam Sofer came to him in a dream, and accused him for not doing anything for the Jew. [For despite all his efforts, the main effort, Tefila wasn’t really done]. The K'sav Sofer woke up the whole town, and they got together to daven for hours. The next day, as the Jew was being led to be killed, the Goy suddenly decided that he should admit the truth; which he promptly did, and the Jew was saved!
