By Rabbi Moishe Dovid Lebovits

When Hashem allows us to experience pain or discomfort, it is not simply a punishment. Rather, Hashem wants to give us goodness, and tefillah helps prepare us to receive it. When we turn to Him sincerely, from the depths of our hearts, we strengthen our relationship with Him and become more receptive to the good He wishes to give us.

The Positivity of Pain

The Midrash teaches that Pharaoh brought Klal Yisrael closer to Hashem. When the Egyptians pursued them, the people were frightened, raised their eyes heavenward, did teshuvah, and prayed. Their response was more beneficial than many fasts and prayers. Hashem wanted to hear their voices, just as He had heard them when they suffered in Mitzrayim. The Midrash compares this to a king who found a princess threatened by bandits. She cried out for help, and the king rescued her. Later, when he wished to marry her, she was unwilling. He allowed the bandits to threaten her again so she would call to him, and then he told her that hearing her voice was what he had desired. Similarly, after Klal Yisrael were safe, Hashem wanted to hear their voices again, and Pharaoh’s pursuit brought them to call out to Him.

Suffering can therefore serve as a message inviting us to come closer to Hashem. It is mistaken to think that without pain there would be no need to daven. The opposite lesson is that we should build a strong relationship with Hashem and turn to Him consistently, rather than waiting until a crisis forces us to do so. The chapter also acknowledges that suffering can have other reasons; its focus here is the role pain can play in bringing a person closer to Hashem.

The Right Tools

The Gemara teaches that a person should pray so that he does not become sick. Once he is sick, he should continue to daven and ask Hashem to remove the illness. Some commentators explain that a person who develops the habit of tefillah before becoming ill already has the tools he needs when a difficult time arrives. He knows how to turn to Hashem and pray with sincerity. Someone who has not built that habit may find it much harder to daven when suffering comes and may have to rely on his merits. This teaches the importance of preparing spiritually before a challenge. Tefillah should not be reserved only for moments of fear or need. It is a regular way of maintaining our connection with Hashem, so that when life becomes difficult, we have a relationship to lean on.

All for the Good

The Gemara says that everything Hashem does is for the good. If suffering is ultimately for our good, why should we pray for it to end? The chapter explains that we are still meant to ask Hashem to remove pain. Through tefillah, we can sweeten the judgment that brought the suffering and prepare ourselves to receive the goodness Hashem wishes to give us.

The same idea applies to parnassah. We may wonder why we should pray for livelihood if Hashem has already determined what we will have. Tefillah is not merely a request for a particular result. It helps us grow spiritually and recognize that everything comes from Hashem. As we learn to trust Him, we become more able to receive His goodness.

Pain can also remind us that we are not fully in control. When we turn to Hashem during illness or difficulty, we recognize that our healing and well-being ultimately depend on Him. The purpose is not revenge or rejection, chas v’shalom, but an opportunity to correct the mistaken belief that we control everything and can do whatever we wish.

A serious challenge can become an opportunity to grow and develop greater awareness of Hashem.

Finding the Joy

Throughout Sefer Tehillim, Dovid Hamelech describes pain as well as joy. He was able to find joy even while facing hardship. A person who recognizes complete dependence on Hashem can experience a deeper sense of happiness because he knows that everything comes from Him. By contrast, someone who believes that everything depends on human effort alone may live with constant anxiety and disappointment. Sometimes a person says, “I am in pain, so I cannot daven.” Yet when life was comfortable, he may not have felt a need to pray because everything seemed to be going well. When difficulty arrives, he may feel too distressed to daven. If we do not turn to Hashem when things are good or when things are hard, when will we develop that connection? The chapter challenges us to be honest with ourselves and not allow either comfort or suffering to keep us from tefillah.

The Lekutei Amarim teaches that Klal Yisrael experiences pain and discomfort because we do not daven enough for the pain to be removed. It is not enough to pray three times a day; we should also speak to Hashem throughout the day. As we learn to rely on Him, as Dovid Hamelech did, and recognize that our experiences come from Him, we can find joy even in hardship. This does not mean that pain is easy, but that it can become an opening to a closer relationship with Hashem.

Davening before Sickness

A story illustrates why people should turn to Hashem before a crisis. A man stood on his roof throwing stones at passersby, and the police came to find out why. He explained that the door to his house was stuck and he could not get out. First, he had thrown gold and silver from the window, hoping people would look up and help him. Instead, they took the valuables and walked away. He then shouted, but no one listened. Finally, he threw stones because he knew that would make people look up.

The lesson is that Hashem gives us goodness and wants us to become close to Him, but we can become accustomed to our comfortable lives and forget that connection. Challenges can act as wake-up calls, reminding us to return to Him through tefillah. If we recognized our need for Hashem before experiencing pain, we would not need such reminders. It is unfortunate when people wait until someone becomes sick before organizing Tehillim gatherings or praying with urgency. The Gemara teaches that a person should daven before pain arrives. When life is stable and a person has a regular job and few pressing needs, it can be easy to forget to reach out to Hashem. Yet praying when things are going well is important because it acknowledges that our blessings come from Him.

When someone only begins to pray after becoming ill, it may seem that he is praying solely because of the illness. Regular tefillah shows that our relationship with Hashem is not dependent on an emergency. It also builds the spiritual strength needed to pray during difficult times.

Thanking Hashem

Everyone faces challenges. Sometimes the difficulty is physical pain; at other times, it may be the struggle to concentrate during a long davening or the irritation that comes with it. The chapter suggests that even this kind of discomfort can become an opportunity for growth. When we focus only on our suffering, we risk becoming resentful or feeling rejected by Hashem. If we do not thank Him during a painful situation, the difficulty may lead us to feel more distant from Him, chas v’shalom. Yet the purpose of the challenge is to connect us to Hashem, not to separate us from Him. We should use the opportunity to thank Him, recognize the good in our lives, and ask that the pain bring us closer to Him rather than farther away.

We all hope for a life filled with goodness, but we should not assume that tefillah is unnecessary when things are going well. A person who says, “Why should I daven when I have nothing to ask for?” misses an essential purpose of prayer. Tefillah helps us recognize Hashem’s kindness and builds the ability to turn to Him when life becomes difficult.

The Anshei Knesses Hagedolah established the wording of tefillah in the plural because we pray not only for our own needs, but for all of Klal Yisrael. Even when our own lives are going well, we can daven for others and strengthen our connection with Hashem. The goal is to make tefillah a constant part of life: in times of comfort, in moments of pain, and in every ordinary day between them.