Hashem hears our prayers and our groans, and he saves us from our predicament; sometimes even in ways that don't make us happy at first.

There is a prayer which we recite every morning during Birchas HaShachar (the Morning Blessings) which, if we paid more attention to what we are actually saying, we might not be so quick to beg. "Vechof es yitzreinu lehishta'abed lach - Force our (Evil) Inclination to be subservient to You." In other words, we are asking Hashem that when we are tempted to do what is wrong, He should fight against us and force us to do His Will.

The following story, related by Rabbi Zilberstein shlita in Borechi Nafshi, demonstrates one way that this can work.

We are all quite familiar with the custom of many families to spend the hot summer weeks in bungalow colonies in the Catskill Mountains. Since most husbands cannot take leave of their jobs for two whole months, they send their wives and children to the country and stay home alone all week; joining their families for the weekends.

Being home alone, with no one looking over your shoulder, often presents the husband with temptations he might not have usually had. One husband had an urge to go see a movie which he ordinarily would not have done if his family were around. He bought a ticket and drove to the theatre, but discovered that, in his excitement, he had arrived an hour early. Not wanting to sit around doing nothing, he decided to drive around town in his new car and return before the hour was up.

Not much time had passed, and he found himself facing the Jewish cemetery, at the outskirts of the neighborhood. He noticed a large hut on the field, and realized that some holy rabbi must be buried within. He approached the gravesite and found that it was the resting place of the Tzehlemer Rebbe ztvk"l. He bought a candle, lit it, placed it on the tombstone, and recited some chapters of Tehillim (Psalms) in honor of the tzaddik. Suddenly, he realized that time was flying by and he had to move quickly if he wanted to get to the movie theatre in time.

He rushed back to his car, but, to his amazement, it wouldn't start. This was very strange for a new car and so he began to look around for some problem that he could probably solve quickly. However, nothing he did made the car start. Frustrated and disappointed, he sat down in the driver's seat to think what else he could do. Suddenly, he fell asleep, and dreamed that an old Rabbi with a beautiful countenance said to him, "My dear Jew, as long as the candle is burning on the grave, you will not go to see the movie!"

The fellow woke up startled, but thought to himself that it was just a dream and nothing to take seriously. He continued in his efforts to start the car, but did not succeed. Eventually, he fell asleep again, and had the same dream he had had before. This time, it really shook him up and he decided to return to the hut. He looked around to see if there was any picture of the Rabbi interned there, and, sure enough, he found one. He almost fainted when he realized that the picture matched the face of the Rabbi who had just appeared to him in his dreams.

He ripped up his ticket and repented on the spot. He returned to his car, which now started without any difficulty, and returned home a more pious person than before.

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