If Hashem already decided my future, why should I pray?

Rabbi Landau explains that prayer is not meant to change Hashem’s plan. It is meant to prepare you for it. Forty days before you were born, Hashem already said who your wife would be, what would be yours and what your livelihood would be. So why pray? Why manifest?

The answer, he says, is simple: you have to connect to Hashem, and you have to be ready to receive what He gave you, so you can use those gifts for your mission. To get what Hashem prepared for you, you prepare yourself, so you can align with it and resonate with it. “You can’t manipulate Hashem with manifestation.”

That, Rabbi Landau teaches, is the big difference between secular manifestation and Torah manifestation. “In the secular world, it’s about twisting the universe to get what you want. In the Torah of manifestation, it’s twisting yourself to get what is prepared for you.”

Also answered in this teaching

What does it mean when my prayers seem unanswered for a long time?

In A Soul at Peace, Rabbi Landau writes that a time of delay is not a failure but a time of work. The vessel is being refined and the heart is softening, while the gift is already written above and waiting.

Going deeper: Rabbi Landau's teaching, level by level

Surface claim

Prayer does not change what Hashem decided; it prepares you to receive it.

Fear, vulnerability, or tension

If everything was set before birth, a person wonders whether his prayers can change anything at all.

What may be behind it

In A Soul at Peace, Rabbi Landau writes that for blessing to be revealed below there must be a vessel to receive it. The good is ready; the person has to become ready.

Deepest human truth

You do not bend reality. You bend yourself, bringing your will in line with Hashem’s will, so you can receive what He prepared and use it for your mission.

More questions from this teaching

• What is the difference between secular manifestation and the Torah’s way?