Do Not Make Your Prayer Fixed but Mercy and Supplications

196 - Do Not Make Your Prayer Fixed but Mercy and Supplications "When you pray, do not make your prayer fixed but mercy and supplications etc." (Avot 2:13). It is forbidden for a person to insist on anything – that is, to demand in prayer that the Holy One Blessed be He fulfill precisely his request, as this is like taking by force or robbery. One must only pray and supplicate before Hashem blessed be He with mercy and pleas: if He gives, He gives; if not, not (as explained elsewhere [Torah 9, Tikunim end 20]). "Do not make fixed" derives from robbery language, as in (Proverbs 22:23): "And he who robs their robbery soul" – for all requests (sustenance, children, other needs), it is forbidden to insist that Hashem act precisely as prayed, for this is a "fixed prayer," taking by force like robbery. Pray only with mercy and supplications.