Everyone Has Emuna

In reality, all of us have emuna; most people simply fail to "live" their emuna. In other words, they don’t know how to apply the powerful concept of emuna to daily practice. We tap our cogent resources of emuna once we begin speaking to God and asking for all of our needs. Emuna isn’t activated in its entirety until a person begins a daily personal dialog with God. As such, whenever we speak about emuna, we intrinsically refer to prayer.

 

Let’s examine five principle doubts that prevent us from "living" our emuna:

   

1. Doubt that God is constantly within our midst, watching over us and managing the minutest details of our lives: If a person doesn’t believe in God at all, or believes that He created the world but leaves everything to the course of nature, then he or she won’t consider the option of turning to God.

 

2. Doubt that we have the power and privilege to speak to God – in our own language and in our own words – whenever we wish.

 

3. Doubt that God listens to us, heeds our prayers and the prayers of every creation.

 

4. Doubt that God loves each of us and desires to help us, especially those that turn to Him and speak to Him.

 

5. Doubt that God’s power, mercy, and compassion are limitless, and that He possesses the resources and the ability to help us in any situation, even when we don’t deserve His help.

 

 

Internalize this golden rule: With true emuna, a person – by means of simple personal prayer and dialog with God – can transcend any natural limitation and work wonders!

 

Prayer has the capability of changing nature. Since God is above nature, those who turn to Him raise themselves above the limitations of nature.

 

Jewish tradition is full of stories about how our sages initiated nature-defying miracles from the power of their prayers. The list is long and exhaustive. Don’t ever forget that God listens to, sees, and personally provides for the lowest and simplest creatures in the universe. It therefore goes without saying that God is always ready to help one of His beloved sons or daughters, the highest order of creation.

 

As soon as we activate our emuna and turn to God – in our own words, like speaking to a beloved parent or best friend – we can achieve literally anything, such as a remedy for our ills or the fulfillment of all our needs.

 

Reb Natan of Breslev, Rebbe Nachman’s prime disciple, always said, "Wherever I see deficiency, either there was no prayer or insufficient prayer." Consequently, sufficient prayer can invoke a solution to any problem.

 

A sure-fire spiritual law says that each prayer has its power, and that each request requires a certain amount of prayer – or spiritual power – to bring about its manifestation. Just as an ounce of dynamite is enough to put a hole in a laboratory table, one might need a ton of dynamite to blow a hole in a mountain. By the same token, the greater the request, the more prayer – or spiritual dynamite – is required.

 

 

One who believes in the power of prayer has the perseverance to keep praying until his or her request is fulfilled. The Talmud testifies (tractate Berachot 32b), "Rabbi Chanina says, anyone who prays long enough doesn’t go away empty-handed!"

 

The Midrash explains (Yalkut Shimoni, 31) that when God decreed that Moshe (Moses) wouldn’t be allowed to enter the Land of Israel, Moshe prayed 515 prayers, until God commanded him to stop praying! Why? With one more prayer, God would have been obligated to rescind the decree.

 

We learn from the above Midrash that when we meet the required prayer quota for a given request, the request is filled! As long as God doesn’t command us stop praying, we can – and must – continue to pray until our prayer is answered!

 

 

Clearly, people don’t take advantage of emuna and prayer – the tremendous power that’s always at their disposal – simply because they’re unaware of their own potential.

 

Some believe in a faraway Creator, or a Creator that has some undefined, removed, and minor influence on their lives. Few fully connect the tiny and mundane details of their daily lives to emuna and to divine providence. Emuna shlema, or complete emuna, means that one relates every single happening in life to Divine will and

For example, when a wife scolds her husband, the husband – with proper emuna – doesn’t lose his temper because he knows that God decreed that she scold him. The same goes for more difficult situations, such as health and financial problems.

 

Emuna means that we accept everything that happens to us as God’s will. And, when we need help, a solution to a problem, our daily needs, or whatever we desire, we speak to God.

 

 

God wants you to turn to Him for all your needs, big or small. God doesn’t care about how your power, your much money and influence, or whether you have a university degree or not. King David wrote (Tehillim 147:10-11), "Not in the strength of the horse does He desire, nor in the thigh of man does He favor; God favors those who fear Him, those who long for His lovingkindness."

 

In contemporary jargon, God doesn’t need you to show off the "horses" in your fancy stable – military might, technological achievements, or a Swiss bank account. He also isn’t impressed by the "thighs" you’ve developed in your weightlifting, aerobics, or judo workouts. He wants you to pray to Him, to be one of those who "long for His lovingkindness."

 

Once a person becomes accustomed to praying in every situation, he or she develops a spiritual sensitivity that is conducive to feeling God’s constant presence. When we feel God’s presence, we willfully and happily thank Him, speak to Him, and pray to Him literally all the time. When we’re constantly seeking God, he doesn’t need to send us wake-up calls of troubles, trials, and tribulations.

 

To be continued…