Every Jew has the power of prayer to Hashem, and that power is very mighty. But some people, because of their special merits, have a greater chance of having their prayers and blessings granted.

In Aleynu Lishabeach, Rabbi Zilberstein shlita tells a story of a Torah scholar whose wife had not given birth to a child although they had been married several years. They went to many holy places and holy people for blessings; all to no avail.

One of the Rabbis the husband visited several times was Reb Chaim Kanievsky shlita, who granted him his blessing, but there was no change in his wife's status. Finally, he returned to Reb Chaim and cried profusely; begging that he and his wife be privileged to have children. After a while, the Rav told him to find a person who is silent when abused and ask him for a blessing.

The husband left Rabbi Kanievsky's house very encouraged but soon realized that it was not as simple as it may have seemed. Such people are very rare and hard to find and, after all, one cannot put an add in the classified asking for someone to reply. But he prayed to Hashem that he find such a person, and it didn't take long at all.

A short time later, the husband was at a wedding. A group of people were sitting around a table enjoying the meal. Suddenly, someone entered the hall who was in the midst of a quarrel with one of the men sitting there. As soon as he saw him, he began to shower him with insults. However, the victim just sat there calmly, totally ignoring his abuser. The husband's heart began to beat very quickly as he hoped that he would soon be able to ask for the coveted blessing.

However the abuser did not stop insulting his prey. As the insults got louder and more offensive, the fellow showed signs of losing his patience and it appeared that he was about to reply in kind. Suddenly, the husband ran over to him and begged him to remain silent. The fellow was very confused and couldn't understand what business this was to the man who was a total outsider.

"I'll explain it to you later," the husband said, "but right now I am pleading with you to overcome your anger, as justified as it may be, and don't respond to your abuser." The man did as was requested of him and kept his tongue until the other fellow had said enough and finally walked away.

With a sigh of relief, the husband explained what Reb Chaim had told him, and asked for a blessing that his wife have a child. The blessing was given and nine months later his wife had a healthy baby boy.

Rabbi Zilberstein points out that we should learn from this that if we could control ourselves in similar situations, it would be an opportune moment for us to pray for ourselves, for others and for Klal Yisroel. Because a prayer then is very powerful indeed.

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