Ekev
There is an important Mitzvah in Parashat Ekev that most people fulfill every day. And that is the Mitzvah of Tefilah, of praying. The pasuk says in the Parasha, "U’Liavdo Bichol Livavchem", that we must serve G-d with all our hearts. The Gemara in Ta’anit asks how does one serve G-d with his heart? So the Gemara answers that it is referring to prayer. Prayer would be the service of the heart.
There is a book called ‘Yisod BiShoresh Ha’Avoda’ that says there are certain things that interfere with a person’s prayer. Lack of concentration is one thing that impedes Tefilah, and a person must be very careful to focus his concentration appropriately. But there are certain sins, that if G-d forbid a person has, would scramble his Tefilah and cause his Tefilah not to be accepted.
One of those sins is stealing. A person can sit in the synagogue and pray with all the concentration in the world, but if he is dishonest and he steals then his prayers would not be answered.
Another one of those sins would be if someone does not pay his workers on time. That’s a sin in the Torah. So besides carrying out the sin D’Orita (from the Torah) of not paying your workers on time, it also can interfere with a person’s prayers to be answered.
Furthermore, if a person is G-d forbid wearing a garment that is of wool and linen (Shatnez), so that too would prevent his Tefilot from being answered. That is why Halacha brings down, that especially before the high holidays, one should go and check his suits for Shatnez. You wouldn’t want to spend 25 hours of Yom Kippur for nothing.
But there is one more sin that is mentioned in the Zohar that we are probably all guilty of. And that is Lashon Hara. The Zohar says that a person who defiles his mouth with bad speech, with talk of people, and with slander, so that mouth piece would not work for Tefilah.
The Chafetz Chayim in one of his parables says that there was a fellow that came to have dinner by his friend. The fellow was served 7 courses. After the 7th course, the host asked how the meal was. And the fellow answered that it was good, but that there was a terrible after-taste after every dish. The host couldn’t believe it. After he investigated in the kitchen, he found that they served his guest on dirty plates, and hence, the after-taste. The Chafetz Chayim says, when a person uses his mouth for Lashon Hara, and then goes and prays, there is then an after-taste on the prayer. There is a bad trace of Tum’ah (impurity) that goes up with the prayer, and the prayer becomes abominable. So therefore he advises that a good idea before praying would be to ask G-d for forgiveness for sins of speech. One should say, "Hashem, please forgive me for the bad words I spoke with my mouth, for the Lashon Hara and Richilut (slander)." Such would be a good start and preparation for Tefilah.
So you see, as important as prayer is, there are many prerequisites in order for our prayer to go up and be accepted. But once we fix these external problems, and we pray a heart-felt Tefilah, Be’Ezrat Hashem, Bore Olam will answer all our Tefilot and all the Tefilot of K’lal Yisrael, Amen.
