Praying for Divine Assistance | Rabbi David Ashear

A man was telling me, Shemirat Einayim is too hard for him, so he just gave up. I asked him: Do you pray for Parnassah every day? He said: Of course. I said: If something is important, you pray for it. Shemirat Einayim is much more important. You need to ask Hashem for help. Another man told me he was working very hard on Shemirat Einayim. He switched his phone, he got a filter on his internet, he even switched houses to a more religious neighborhood. On the first night in their new home, they were looking out the window, and they saw an apartment building, a few blocks away. The apartments were clearly visible as it was made out of glass, and one particular apartment had people walking around immodestly. He quickly closed the shades. The next night, the same thing. It seems that these people did not close their shades at night, and it bothered this man so much to be faced with this test right when he moved into this neighborhood. They especially enjoyed natural sunlight, having the shades open during the day. But he didn't want to put himself in the test, so they just kept the shades closed. Over the summer, they went away, and the man was praying to Hashem every day, Please help me with this test. He said when he came back after the summer, a house that's in between them and the apartment building made an extension, and the extension went right up to where that apartment was and blocked it. And just like that, his Nisayon was gone, and he thanked Hashem. We have to ask Hashem for help. He could help us in ways we could never dream of. And if it's very difficult, we have to know, the rewards for doing it are so much greater. A seventh-grade Rebbe shared a story about a student in his class. He said the boy didn't comprehend anything they were learning. It was so difficult having him in the class. And last year after Pesach, when they started a new Masechet, all of a sudden, he was grasping it, he was remembering it. It was unbelievable. He asked the boy about it. The boy said: Rebbe, a month ago, you spoke about Matya ben Charash in the Gemara who had a test in Shemirat Einayim, and he was willing to even lose his eyesight not to fail. And Hashem made a miracle and restored his eyesight. I said: I have the same problem. Every day, when I'm waiting for the bus, it's across the street from a public school. And I watch the students come in and they're all dressed immodestly. I said: I have to work on myself. And ever since that day, when I'm waiting by the stop, I look down and I pray to Hashem and I say: Hashem, please enlighten my eyes in Torah. And since then, I started understanding the Gemara and the learning has been so beautiful. Hashem wants to help us. We have to put in the effort. We have to ask Him for help. The Chafetz Chaim said, What a pity it would be for someone not to work on Shemirat Einayim. All of the future pleasures come to someone who has pure eyes. He's going to bask in the radiance of the Shechinah. It is never worth it to trade fleeting pleasures of this world for eternity.