“[Eliezer] said ‘Hashem the G-d of my master Avraham please arrange events for me today and perform kindness with my master Avraham.’ … Before he finished speaking out came Rivkah ...” (Bereishis 24:12–15)

Before Eliezer even finished davening he had been answered. His intentions were so pure and his desire to succeed in his mission to find a shidduch for Yitzchak the son of his master Avraham was so powerful that the sheer force of his will enabled him to attain his goal.…

For Hashem saw Eliezer’s true desire and even though he hadn’t yet fully expressed his need it was as if he had already said it all. It was as if the overflowing sincerity and truthfulness of his prayers were spilled out before Hashem and it was superfluous for him to continue speaking for he had already said everything necessary. (Rav Chaim Ephraim Zeitchik ztz”l Maayanei HaChaim)

There are times when my life feels like a stuck zipper: it won’t open and it won’t close.

It always happens the same way. I have to take care of the children the house and still be out of the house by seven to get to a conference on time. At ten to seven at lightning speed I pack a bottle of water and two pieces of bread spouting instructions like a burst pipe. But then my daughter suddenly remembers her class is having a party and she needs a white shirt.

A white shirt! “Go check the hamper and the pile of clean laundry next to the iron!” I call out to her. At six minutes to seven the shirt is found. I plug in the iron planning to run out in a minute when I suddenly remember I haven’t given the baby his antibiotics and another daughter complains about a hole in her sock. And now it’s two minutes to seven! Who will save me?

Only Hashem can save me. But I can’t even talk. I can’t ask for anything. I can’t daven; I’m filling an oral syringe with one hand holding my briefcase in the other and opening a pair of tights with the third. All I can do is say “Hashem! Hashem! Hashem!” And then again “Hashem! Hashem! Hashem!”

“Before they call out I shall answer; while they are still speaking I will hear” (Yishayahu 65:24). Why would they be answered if they haven’t yet called out? What justifies a response when no one has made a request?

Sometimes we’re too weak for words. We’re surrounded by our children’s cries by their pleas and tears and quarrels. And it weakens us so much to the point that we simply sit down without any strength. We don’t know what to do: Should we ignore the situation or should we pay attention to it? Should we scream back? Should we be firm or soft?

Hashem we think feebly help me to be a mother..

There are also times when we suffer unbearable pain. There are moments of terrible pressure and there are moments of confusion or shock. There are times when a child is hurt or bleeding. At moments like these we have no siddur or Tehillim to rely on no tefillos with a predetermined text; a cry simply emerges from the depths of our hearts: “Hashem please help me!”

Before the tefillah that we say aloud there’s also a silent prayer known only to He Who knows all hidden things. Hashem knows there are also prayers deep within the human heart and He knows the thoughts that come at the end of our prayers that we do not voice. It is therefore superfluous to verbalize all these things.

Hashem hears that cry. He hears the pain the difficulty and the desperation. He hears all these things within us; He knows all the hidden things and He reads all of our thoughts. He hears that silent plea we simply couldn’t say aloud but was crying out within our heart. He knows that moment when you realize that only He can help you.

He sees your faith and trust in Him even when you can’t say it. And then He answers the silent cry.