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A similar theme may be found in a Gemara in Yoma (76a), but there the message is for all of K’lal Yisrael. Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai’s students asked him, “Why didn’t Hashem make the manna fall just once a year (instead of falling every weekday)?” He answered with a parable. There was a king who had an only son. The king used to give him an allowance once a year to cover his expenses for that year. Consequently, the son came to visit only once a year. So the king changed his routine and decided to give his son only enough funds for that very day. Now the son visited his father daily.

K’lal Yisrael is the same. Were the manna to have fallen but once a year, they would not have felt the pressure to pray save that lone time. Now a father of four or five children would worry and say, “Perhaps the manna will not fall tomorrow.” Consequently, they prayed with fervor daily. Hashem made the manna fall every day to give K’lal Yisrael a reason to beseech Him daily.

Hashem wants to have a relationship with us, just like the king who wants one with his son. The king withholds some funds to get his son to visit. Unfortunately, just like the son in the parable, we cannot be trusted to approach Hashem with our fervent requests daily if our sustenance is assured. Hashem, therefore, sometimes withholds certain gifts to encourage us to develop our relationship with Him.

This phenomenon is repeated throughout Aggadah. After the plague of the firstborn, the Egyptians begged K’lal Yisrael to leave Egypt. Still, Hashem put the idea in the heart of Pharaoh to pursue the B’nei Yisrael despite the relentless punishments he suffered at His hand.

The Midrash relates that when K’lal Yisrael reached the Yam Suf, they realized they were trapped. The sea was in front of them, wild beasts were on their sides, and the Egyptians were closing in behind them. Being surrounded, they cried out to Hashem, whereupon He gave Moshe the instructions to go into the sea. Why did Hashem cause the Jewish nation to be placed in this apparent death trap? Rebbe Yehoshua ben Levi says it was because He desired their tefillos.

Rebbe Yehoshua ben Levi suggests another parable to explain this. A king once chanced upon a princess who was being attacked by bandits. The princess cried out for help, and the king rescued her. After some time, the king wanted to speak to her to ask for her hand in marriage. The princess refused to talk to him. So the king instigated the bandits to attack her again. She once again called out to the king for her help. The king said, “All I wanted was to be able to speak to you.”

However, the parable and the story of the Exodus hardly seem parallel. After all, the princess was attacked but one time. The Jewish nation had been tortured relentlessly for many years. They were subjugated to the point that they didn’t even feel they were free until they saw the corpses of the Egyptians strewn out on the banks of the sea. Further, Hashem didn’t just perform miracles for them one time. He performed ten miraculous plagues. Moreover, there are opinions that each plague comprised several component plagues. Is it possible that K’lal Yisrael were not “speaking” to Hashem and thanking him incessantly upon their exodus from Egypt?

Yet, the Midrash says that Hashem desired our prayers and placed us in an impossible situation to elicit a response. Apparently, no matter what situation a person has to overcome, his prayers just are not the same as when he is desperate. As in the parable, Hashem wants those desperate prayers because he wants to have a relationship with us.

These last two sources are not specifically discussing the prayers of the righteous, but rather all of K’lal Yisrael. R’ Yonasan Eybeschutz explains that even the first two sources that say Hashem desires the prayers of the righteous may be applied to any Jew. In this regard, “righteous” is interpreted to mean someone who is currently following the will of his Creator. Further, he notes that in fact Hashem desires even the prayers of the non-righteous. However, the prayers of the righteous cause all the prayers to be considered acceptable. The prayers of the righteous are especially dear because they raise everyone else’s prayers as well.

The P’ri Ha’aretz states that the aforementioned answers the famous question: Why do we pray? Are we arrogant enough to believe that we can change Hashem’s will? However, in the parables above, the king’s will was never changed. In the first parable he was going to provide his son sustenance; all the son had to do was to make a request.

So, too, Hahsem wants to bestow blessings upon us; but sometimes He is just waiting for us to ask. An otherwise impossible situation may just be a ploy that Hashem is using to bring us closer to Him. We should view every obstacle and precarious situation as an opportunity to more fully develop our relationship with Hashem.