Before a person is rewarded with faith, he must work in Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], which comes to a person by the mixing of Malchut with Bina, as said above.
Thus, a person cannot work Lishma [for Her sake] until he has faith. For this reason, if a person wants to work Lishma, he must focus all his energy only on this point: to pray to the Creator to send him the light of faith, for only then will he be rewarded with engaging in Torah and Mitzvot Lishma.

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

The need for man’s work in order to receive the Lishma from the Creator is only in the form of a lack and a Kli [vessel]. Yet, one can never obtain the filling by himself; it is rather a gift from the Creator.
However, the prayer must be a complete prayer, from the bottom of the heart. This means that one knows one hundred percent that there is no one in the world who can help him but the Creator Himself.
Yet, how does one know this, that no one will help him but the Creator Himself? One can acquire that awareness precisely if he has exerted all the powers at his disposal and it did not help him. Thus, one must do every possible thing in the world to attain “for the sake of the Creator.” Then one can pray from the bottom of the heart, and then the Creator hears his prayer.

3. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 20, "Lishma [for Her sake]"
Concerning Lishma [for Her sake]. In order for a person to obtain Lishma, one needs an awakening from above, as it is an illumination from above and it is not for the human mind to understand. Rather, he who tastes, knows. It is said about this, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
Because of this, upon assuming the burden of the kingdom of heaven, one needs it to be in utter completeness, meaning only to bestow and not at all to receive. If a person sees that the organs do not agree with this view, he has no other choice but prayer—to pour out his heart to the Creator to help him make his body consent to enslaving itself to the Creator.

4. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 79, "Atzilut and BYA"
One should come to learn Lishma, for the sake of the Torah, meaning that the Torah will teach him the ways of the Creator. And then he should first make the sweetening of Malchut in Bina, which means that he elevates Malchut, called “will to receive,” to Bina, which is considered bestowal. That is, that all his work will be only in order to bestow.
And then it becomes dark for him. He feels that the world has grown dark on him since the body gives strength to work only in the form of reception, and not in the form of bestowal. In that state, he has but one choice: to pray to the Creator to open his eyes so he can work in the manner of bestowal.
This is the meaning of “Who stands for the question?” It refers to Bina, called Mi [water] and the question comes from the verse, “asking about the rains,” meaning prayer. Since they arrive to the state of “water of Bina,” there is room to pray for it.

5. RABASH, Article No. 24 (1991), "What Does It Mean that One Should Bear a Son and a Daughter, in the Work?"
When a person prevails and asks for help from the Creator, after he has decided that he has a harm-doer in his heart, called “will to receive,” and that he cannot emerge from it, meaning after going through several ascents and descents, he finally sees that he has remained bare and destitute. At that time, his prayer is from the bottom of the heart. That is, he sees that if the Creator does not help him, he cannot overcome it.

6. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 19, "What Is 'The Creator Hates the Bodies,' in the Work?"
There is room for work precisely when the will to receive awakens.
Then one has close contact with the Creator to help him turn the will to receive to work in order to bestow. One must believe that from this extends contentment to the Creator, from his praying to Him to draw him near in the manner of Dvekut [adhesion], called “equivalence of form,” discerned as the annulment of the will to receive, so it is in order to bestow. The Creator says about this, “My sons defeated Me.” That is, I gave you the will to receive, and you ask Me to give you a desire to bestow instead.

7. RABASH, Article No. 40 (1990), "What Is, ‘For You Are the Least of All the Peoples,’ in the Work?”
A person sees that there is no way that he will be able to work with the desire to bestow and not for his own sake. Such a thing can happen only through a miracle from above. And indeed, this is called “the exodus from Egypt,” meaning to emerge from the mind he has by nature, where it is impossible to move unless he enjoys it. Conversely, here he is asking the Creator to give him the strength to work where he has no feeling or flavor, but to believe that the Creator enjoys this work, since it is all in order to bestow.
For this reason, this prayer is an honest prayer, since a person sees that he cannot hope to ever be able to do anything in order to bestow. It follows that a person feels that he is lost. At that time he has close contact with the Creator, and this is something that a person should appreciate—that he is asking the Creator to help him and there is no one in the world who can save him.

8. RABASH, Letter No. 9
One who sees one’s lowliness sees that he is treading the path leading to the work Lishma. This gives one room for real prayer from the bottom of the heart, when he sees that no one will help him but the Creator himself, as Baal HaSulam interpreted concerning the redemption from Egypt, “I, and not a messenger,” for everyone saw that only the Creator Himself redeemed them from the governance of evil.
And when rewarded with the work Lishma there is certainly nothing to be proud of because then one sees that it is only God’s gift, and not “my power and the might of my hand.”