koach ha'tefilah to make a difference

 וַתָּשֻׁבוּ וַתִּבְכּוּ לִפְנֵי ה׳ וְלֹא שָׁמַע ה׳ בְּקֹלְכֶם וְלֹא הֶאֱזִין אֲלֵיכֶם

Netziv explains (1:45) that there are two type of tefilah.  There is tefilah where you just cry out in an inarticulate cry, where you cannot even form the proper words to express the anguish you are feeling.  We read by yetzi'as Mitzrayim that וישמע ה׳ את קולנו.  It was just a קול, a cry - we were slaves too busy with hard labor to think about the best way to express our needs, but G-d still listened and responded.  A peasant doesn't know proper diplomatic language or the protocols of the court, and when he addresses the King, he just speaks from the heart.  Someone raised in the palace, however, or someone who is part of the diplomatic staff, is expected to know the language of court and know exactly what to say and how to say it.  This is the second type of tefilah - tefilah precisely calibrated, with every word capturing just the right nuance of meaning required.  

Our pasuk tells us that in this case Hashem's response was the same in either case:  וְלֹא שָׁמַע ה׳ בְּקֹלְכֶם, He did not want to hear that inarticulate cry of the simple person, and לֹא הֶאֱזִין אֲלֵיכֶם , He did not listen even to nicely formulated supplications.  

We have been praying now for 10 months, and sometimes it feels that nothing we say is getting through, no matter what we say or how we say it.  We have been praying for 2000 years and sometimes it feels that nothing we say is getting through, no matter what we say or how we say it.

The next pasuk continues:

 וַתֵּשְׁבוּ בְקָדֵשׁ יָמִים רַבִּים כַּיָּמִים אֲשֶׁר יְשַׁבְתֶּם

This is not just a narrative recapping what happened over the past 40 years, says Netziv.  It's a continuation of the description of Hashem's reaction to our tefilos.  Even though we were not forgiven and had to spend 40 years in the desert, we did not spend those years wandering from place to place like nomads constantly on the move.  We spent 19 years in one place, and the remainder was spent in a small number of travels.  We lived a relatively stable life, surrounded by the ananaei ha'kavod, sustained by the mon and the be'er, with our needs basically cared for.  We learn a valuable lesson from this: 

כל זה מוסר והדרכה לישראל גם כן לדורות שלא יתייאשו מן התפלה, ואם לא תועיל כפי שמתפללים מ״מ תועיל הרבה.

Our prayers are not always answered 100%, but don't for a moment think that they are not answered at all, that they are ignored, or that they make no difference.

In Parshas VaYeitzei, Hashem makes a promise to Yaakov Avinu (28:14)

 וְהִנֵּה אָנֹכִי עִמָּךְ וּשְׁמַרְתִּיךָ בְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר⁠ תֵּלֵךְ וַהֲשִׁבֹתִיךָ אֶל⁠ הָאֲדָמָה הַזֹּאת כִּי לֹא אֶעֱזׇבְךָ עַד אֲשֶׁר אִם⁠ עָשִׂיתִי אֵת אֲשֶׁר⁠ דִּבַּרְתִּי לָךְ.

The simple reading of the pasuk implies that Hashem will not abandon us until  עַד אֲשֶׁר אִם⁠ עָשִׂיתִי אֵת אֲשֶׁר⁠ דִּבַּרְתִּי לָךְ, but after that, we are on our own.  How can that be?  We need Hashem's protection at every moment!

In Rav Teichtel's sefer Mishne Sachir he quotes from R' Menachem Mendel of Vizhnitz (the source he is citing is here, and it's worth looking at for the story with the Berdichiver) that the meaning is just the opposite.   אֵת אֲשֶׁר⁠ דִּבַּרְתִּי לָךְ is referring to the promise of complete yeshu'a, total salvation.  Hashem promised to get us to the finish line.  But what are we supposed to do until we are worthy of all our prayers being answered and getting to that point?  Are we going to be ignored and left on our own until then?  That's the issue the pasuk is addressing.  Of course at the moment of complete redemption Hashem will be there, but Hashem promises that He will also be there עַד אֲשֶׁר אִם⁠ עָשִׂיתִי אֵת אֲשֶׁר⁠ דִּבַּרְתִּי לָךְ, until that point in time as well.  Maybe it won't be the complete salvation, maybe it won't be in the form of getting 100% of what we want, maybe it won't be the real end, the real finish line, but He will still be there just the same, providing the small comforts along the way to keep us going.

The gemara says that R' Tzadok fasted 40 years in order to avert the churban. After all that, we know there was still a churban.  Does that mean he wasted 40 years for nothing?  

A bunch of years ago I posted from the Radomsker in Tiferes Shlomo that this is the wrong way to look at things.  The Radomsker explains that R' Tzadok in fact had 39.99 years of success, of tragedy averted, of tefilos and fasting that made a difference. It was not enough to completely avert the churban forever, but it was certainly not a waste of time.  Small victories are victories nonetheless.

I wanted to point out one more mareh makom on the theme of koach ha'tefilah that is indirectly related to the topic above, but it will knock your socks off so I have to include it.  R' Chaim Kanievsky in his Orchos Yosher discusses the tremendous power of tefilah k'vasikin, quoting the gemara's (Brachos 9) promise that someone who davens vasikin will come to no harm all day.  He then cites R' Yonasan mi"Prag's commentary to Eichah in which he writes that tefilah k'vasikin is guaranteed to be answered.  Therefore, had Bn"Y davaned tefilah k'vasikin on 9 Av at the time of the churban, the Mikdash would not have been destroyed.  Wow!  Megillas Eicha tells us (3:44) סַכּוֹתָה בֶעָנָן לָךְ מֵעֲבוֹר תְּפִלָּה, Hashem enveloped himself in a cloud and would not accept our prayers.  This is not a mashal, but is meant literally -- Hashem made the sky cloudy so that the precise time of haneitz could not be determined, because otherwise we could have averted the churban.  

I would not have believed this pshat had I not seen it, but there it is, so you can take a look yourself.  I don't know if it is enough motivation to get you up tomorrow morning before 6:00 to make ha'neitz, but as RCK writes, there is still an inyan of getting out of bed as soon as one is able in order to start the day properly with tefilah, and as the Netziv says,  ואם לא תועיל כפי שמתפללים מ״מ תועיל הרבה.