If Hashem Knows What's Best for Us, Why Do We Even Pray?

If everything that happens to us is part of Hashem's plan, why do we pray for things to change?

This question touches on one of the deepest ideas in Jewish faith. When someone experiences illness, financial difficulties, or emotional distress, we believe that nothing happens by chance and that Hashem ultimately wants what is best for us. So why ask Him to change our circumstances? If a particular challenge has been decreed from Above, wouldn't removing it interfere with the very purpose it was meant to serve?

The answer reveals something remarkable about the power of prayer: Prayer doesn't simply change our circumstances. It changes us, too.

How Prayer Can Transform a Divine Decree

In the Torah, we read about Yitzchak (Isaac) and Rivkah (Rebecca), who struggled for many years to have children:

"And Isaac pleaded with Hashem opposite his wife, because she was barren, and Hashem accepted his plea" (Genesis 25:21).

The Hebrew word used for Yitzchak's prayer is vaye'tar, which conveys the idea of persistent, heartfelt supplication.

Our sages explain that this word is related to eter, a type of pitchfork used by farmers to turn over grain. By moving the grain from one place to another, the farmer exposes what was underneath to the air and sunlight.

The Talmud uses this image to explain the power of prayer. Just as a pitchfork turns over grain, the prayers of the righteous can turn the Divine attribute of judgment into mercy.

This comparison teaches us that prayer is not merely a request for help. It is a spiritual act capable of bringing about profound change.

But how can prayer transform a decree if everything Hashem does is already for our ultimate good?

Can Prayer Change the Purpose of Suffering?

Jewish teachings explain that Hashem's ultimate desire is to bestow goodness upon us. Yet sometimes, difficulties can serve as an opportunity for spiritual awakening.

A challenge may cause us to reconsider our priorities, recognize what truly matters, or strengthen a connection with Hashem that has weakened over time.

This is where prayer becomes especially meaningful.

When someone turns to Hashem sincerely, opening their heart and recognizing their dependence on Him, they may experience the very spiritual growth that the hardship was meant to inspire.

According to this understanding, once that inner transformation has taken place, the original difficulty may no longer be necessary to achieve its purpose.

The same Divine goodness that was previously experienced through hardship may now be revealed through mercy and blessing.

Of course, this does not mean that every illness or difficulty will disappear once a person prays, or that continued suffering indicates a lack of faith. We cannot know the reasons behind another person's hardships or fully understand Hashem's ways.

Rather, this teaching offers one way of understanding how prayer can bring about change without contradicting the belief that Hashem always acts with wisdom and compassion.

I experienced something of this myself during a difficult period with my health.

Throughout that time, I prayed constantly. I thanked Hashem for the good in my life, asked Him to help me through the challenge, and tried to understand what I could learn from the experience.

Gradually, I realized that prayer was becoming something much more personal than asking for recovery.

It was a conversation with the Creator, one I had not always made enough time for before my illness.

At first, I felt that my prayers weren't being answered. I became frustrated. I cried. I prayed with even greater intensity.

Eventually, baruch Hashem (thank God), my medical problem resolved.

But something else had changed along the way: I was no longer quite the same person.

My circumstances had improved, but the experience of prayer had also deepened my relationship with Hashem.

And that is an important part of prayer's power.

We pray for healing, livelihood, salvation, and relief from suffering. Yet even before we receive an answer, the act of speaking to Hashem can bring comfort, strengthen our faith, and create a sense of closeness that might otherwise be difficult to experience.

Accounts from people who survived captivity under extreme conditions have illustrated this idea. Some have described finding moments of extraordinary spiritual strength and closeness to Hashem through prayer, even while their physical circumstances remained unchanged.

Prayer is therefore much more than a means of obtaining something we want. It is a relationship, and that relationship has value regardless of the outcome.

From Judgment to Mercy: The Deeper Meaning of Prayer

The extraordinary power of prayer also appears in the story of Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses).

Our sages teach that Moshe prayed 515 times to be allowed to enter the Land of Israel. Yet Hashem ultimately told him, "Enough for you" (Deuteronomy 3:26).

According to a traditional interpretation associated with commentators such as the Daat Zekenim, had Moshe offered one more prayer, the decree might have been overturned. Hashem therefore instructed him to stop.

This teaching emphasizes the tremendous spiritual potential of prayer, even though Moshe's particular request was not granted.

To understand this more deeply, we can look at two Divine Names used throughout the Torah.

The four-letter Name of Hashem, often referred to as Havayah, is associated with the Divine attribute of mercy, compassion, and kindness.

The Name Elokim, meanwhile, is associated with judgment, boundaries, and the laws of nature.

When we experience hardship, we may feel as though we are encountering only the attribute of judgment. Life seems restrictive, painful, or unfair, and Hashem's compassion can be difficult to recognize.

But the Torah teaches that these attributes do not represent separate forces.

As the prophet Eliyahu (Elijah) proclaimed, "Hashem, He is Elokim" (1 Kings 18:39).

The same Creator who governs the world through judgment is also the source of infinite mercy.

Consider a father who must sometimes set firm boundaries for his child. From the child's perspective, those boundaries may feel harsh. Yet the father's underlying intention may be love, protection, and concern for the child's well-being.

Similarly, Jewish thought teaches that Divine judgment can contain a deeper purpose that is not immediately visible to us.

This does not mean we can identify the purpose of every painful experience or explain why a particular person suffers. But it reminds us that Hashem's compassion is not absent simply because we cannot see it.

Prayer helps us reconnect with that understanding.

When we turn to Hashem from a place of distress, we acknowledge that even within the difficulty, we remain in His care.

In this sense, prayer can reveal the mercy concealed within judgment. It changes our spiritual perspective and can open the way for circumstances to change as well.

We are not attempting to persuade Hashem to abandon His wisdom. We are drawing closer to Him and allowing that relationship to transform us.

So Why Do We Pray If Hashem Already Knows What's Best?

The answer lies in understanding that prayer is not simply about changing Hashem's will.

It is also about changing the person who is praying.

When we pray sincerely, we may become more aware of our dependence on Hashem, more grateful for what we have, and more open to spiritual growth.

We become, in a sense, a different person from the one who first encountered the challenge.

According to this approach, that inner change can create the possibility for a different expression of the same Divine goodness. What was previously experienced through difficulty may now be received through blessing and mercy.

This is sometimes described as the sweetening of judgment: not the rejection of Hashem's will, but the revelation of the compassion within it.

And even when the circumstances we are praying about do not change, our prayers are not necessarily unanswered or meaningless.

The closeness to Hashem, the strength we find, and the spiritual growth we experience are themselves precious gifts.

We pray not because Hashem needs to be reminded of our needs, but because prayer brings us closer to Him. And sometimes, in changing ourselves, we also open the door for our circumstances to change.