1. RABASH, Article No. 29 (1986), "Lishma and Lo Lishma"

Now that he sees that he is far from spirituality, he begins to think, “What is really required of me? What should I do? What is the purpose I should achieve?” He sees that he has no power to work, and finds himself in a state of “between heaven and earth.” Then, man’s only strengthening is that only the Creator can help, but by himself, he is doomed.

It was said about this (Isaiah, 4:31): “Yet those who hope for the Lord will gain new strength,” meaning those people who hope for the Creator. This means that they who see that there is no one else in the world who can help them regain strength each time.

2. RABASH, Article No. 12 (1988), "What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?"

Feeling the vitality in the Torah requires great preparation to prepare his body to be able to feel the life in the Torah. This is why our sages said we must begin in Lo Lishma, and through the light of Torah he obtains while still in Lo Lishma, it will bring him to Lishma, since the light in it reforms him. Then, he will be able to learn Lishma, meaning for the sake of the Torah, which is called “Torah [law] of life,” as he has already attained the life in the Torah, for the light in the Torah will have given such qualification to a person as to be able to feel the life that is in the Torah.

3. RABASH, Article No. 19 (1985), "Come unto Pharaoh – 1"

We should pay attention [...] and believe through the worst possible states, and not escape the campaign, but rather always trust that the Creator can help a person and give him, whether one needs a little help or a lot of help.

In truth, one who understands that he needs the Creator to give him a lot of help, because he is worse than the rest of the people, is more suitable for his prayer to be answered, as it is written, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.”

4. RABASH, Article No. 42 (1991), "What Is, 'An Ox Knows Its Owner, etc., Israel Does Not Know,' in the Work?"

A person believes that the Creator does everything, and there is no doubt that the Creator does everything for man’s sake, so the descents that he receives, he says that the Creator sent him these states for his own benefit.

This gives a person strength not to escape the campaign although he does not see that the Creator watches over him, meaning feels that the Creator helps him. Rather, not only is he not advancing in the work, but he has even regressed. Yet, if he believes that the Creator helps him by sending him the descents, then he no longer escapes the campaign.

Instead, he says that the Creator does help him, but not in a way that the person understands, meaning in ascents. Rather, the Creator helps him through descents. This is why this faith makes him stronger so he does not escape the campaign. Instead, he waits for the help of the Creator and prays that he will have the strength to continue the work until the Creator opens his eyes and he will be rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator.

5. RABASH, Article No. 19 (1985), "Come unto Pharaoh – 1"

To keep from losing what he is given, one must first make great efforts, for something that comes to a person through labor causes him to keep the thing and not lose it. But during the exertion, when a person sees that the work is still far from finished, he sometimes escapes the campaign and falls into despair. At that time he needs great strengthening, to believe that the Creator will help him, and the fact that help has not arrived is because he has not given the required quantity and quality of labor for preparing the deficiency in order to receive the filing, as it is said (“Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” item 18), “And if one practices Torah and fails to remove the evil inclination from himself, it is either that he has been negligent in giving the necessary labor and exertion in the practice of Torah, as it is written, ‘I have not labored but found, do not believe,’ or perhaps one did put in the necessary amount of labor, but has been negligent in the quality.”

6. RABASH, Article No. 924, "And God Spoke to Moses"

It is impossible to receive something above nature before one decides that this cannot happen within nature. Only after one despairs from nature can he ask for help from above, to be given help above nature.

7. RABASH, Article No. 10 (1986), "Concerning Prayer"

Before one knows that he cannot obtain the vessels of bestowal by himself, he does not ask the Creator to give them to him. It follows that he does not have a real desire for the Creator to answer his prayer.

For this reason, one must work to obtain the vessels of bestowal by himself, and after all the work that he has put into it without obtaining it begins the real prayer from the bottom of the heart. At that time he can receive help from above, as our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided.”

But since this prayer is against nature, since man was created with a desire to receive, which is self-love, how can he pray to the Creator to give him the force of bestowal while all the organs oppose this desire? This is why this work is called “prayer,” meaning he must make great efforts to be able to pray to the Creator to give him the force of bestowal and annul man’s force of reception.

8. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 5, "Lishma Is an Awakening from Above, and Why Do We Need an Awakening from Below?

He should believe that the Creator accepts the work of the lower ones regardless of how and how much is the form of their work. In everything, the Creator examines the intention, and this brings contentment to the Creator. Then one is rewarded with “delight in the Lord.”

Even during the work of the Creator he will feel delight and pleasure since now he really does work for the Creator because the effort he made during the coercive work qualifies him to be able to truly work for the Creator. You find that then, too, the pleasure he receives relates to the Creator, meaning specifically for the Creator.