When there’s a dispute between people, we bring in a third party to arbitrate between them. The arbitrator speaks with each side and listens to what’s bothering them. In this way, he can hope to bring peace between them.
Similarly, there’s a great battle between the neshamah and the guf. The neshamah comes from Above, but it gives life to the body. A person gets up to daven and says ...תפתח שפתי ה' enable my neshamah to illuminate. The neshamah is Elokus, and has the ability to illuminate the guf so it will be persuaded to do teshuvah. Precisely because the neshamah does understand the guf and its desires, it has the ability to persuade it not to go down the wrong path. The neshamah understands both sides, and it is able to speak to the guf. And when a person does teshuvah, it is because the neshamah—which understands the language of the guf—spoke up: “You want ta’avos? I will show you pleasure! Come close to the Ribbono shel Olam, and you will have the greatest pleasure in the world!”
One must know this power of the neshamah, and every time he stands up to daven, he must awaken the neshamah, which in turn will illuminate the guf. The neshamah so desires to return to its Source—through tefillah—and the Ribbono shel Olam gave it the ability to bring the guf along with it.
