Tefilah: Waking Up Jewish

Personal Requests

Halachic authorities note that this point of prayer is an auspicious time to make personal requests on weekdays. A special emphasis should be placed on the prayer that one’s children succeed in learning and fulfilling the mitzvos, and that one receives the livelihood he needs. These private prayers can be said in any language, with the only requirement being that they come from the heart (Mishna Berura 122,8).

During our first year of marriage, my wife and I faced an unusually large number of challenging circumstances. We asked Harav Shlomo Brevda for guidance, and he assured us that under such circumstances, prayer was the only solution. He advised us to ask for salvation from the specific difficulties that we were undergoing at the conclusion of Shemoneh Esrei, and to conclude our personal prayers with the following words:

“Even though I am not worthy to ask for such requests, nonetheless please do not turn me away empty-handed from before You, for I am pleading to You with a broken heart, and on Your tremendous kindness and Your incredible mercy I put all of my trust. May my heart rejoice in Your salvation.”

We took Rav Brevda’s words to heart and said this tefilla every weekday at the end of Shemoneh Esrei of Shacharis and Mincha. Within a short time, our situation changed dramatically for the better.

Text Copyright © 2010 by Rabbi Daniel Travis and Torah.org