Vayeira

Once Avraham has given the Angels food, they ask him where his wife, Sarah, is, to which he responds, “in the tent”. The Angel then tells him that next year I will return to you and your wife Sarah will have a son. Sarah heard from behind the door and laughed thinking, is it possible for an old couple like us to have children?

 Hashem then goes to Avraham asking him למה זה צחקה שרה why did Sarah laugh? היפלא מה' דבר? Is anything beyond Hashem?

The sefer אור יחזקאל writes that Hashem was disappointed that Sarah didn't believe the blessing of the Angels that she would have a son and it was considered a lack of emuna.

We need to understand this; she had no idea that they were Angels. She thought they were Arabs who were giving her a blessing that was an impossibility. If a collector goes over to a ninety-year old lady asking for a handout then blesses her that she should have children, would anyone pay any attention to that? No, so what's the disappointment in Sarah?

This teaches us how far emuna must reach, since everything is in Hashem's hands and there is no stopping Hashem from doing whatever He wants. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to believe that anything is possible. When one is blessed with a bracha that may seem impossible, the response must be amen, for Hashem can do anything. 

The midrash compares this to someone who brought two pieces of gold to a jeweler and asked him to make two rings. After a while, one of them broke and he went back and asked the jeweler if he could fix it. The jeweler responded, “do you think I can make the rings from scratch but I can't fix them? Of course, I can fix them!” This is what Hashem was saying to Sarah; I made you from scratch; I created you; don't you think I can fix you?

The ספורנו says the reason Sarah laughed was because she thought that what she was being told was just a bracha and not a promise from Hashem. She believed that the only way to turn an old lady back into a young one, which is like reviving the dead, was through a direct promise from Hashem or from תפלה משגת חן מאתו. In teaching us that prayer has the power to make what seems impossible a reality, the ספורנ uses an interesting term. What is תפילה משגת חן מאתו?

Rab Zilberstein explains that it means that the prayer is coming from someone who finds favor in Hashem's eyes. How does one do that? By overcoming one’s nature, when one doesn't always have to do things his way and gives in to the other person, when a person puts aside his way and does what is better for the other person, then he will find favor in Hashem's eyes. Hashem, likewise, will put aside His will for the will of that person. This is the key to have one’s prayers accepted by Hashem.

Surely, if one puts aside his will for the will of Hashem and accepts what Hashem gives him with love, his prayers will be answered.

I saw a story on the Daily Emuna about a childless couple for whom all the doctors had given up hope. They went to Rav Shlomo Bochner of Boneh Olam as their last opportunity. There was one top doctor who agreed to try to whom they went for treatment. A few weeks later, Chana sat in the waiting room with a Tehilim drenched with her tears. She was waiting for the results of what appeared to be her last possible chance of having a child. Unfortunately, Rav Shlomo had to inform her that the treatment had failed and she would never have a child.

 Less than a year later, Rav Shlomo received a call from the husband, Elchanan, who told him the following: "The night you told us the news, I felt as if a black cloud had enveloped me. I couldn't think straight. I was driving around late at night through the quiet streets, absorbed in thought. When I arrived home, I stumbled out of the car in a fog. I opened the front door and was shocked by the scene that greeted me. The table in the dining room was decked with the finest tablecloth and set with our finest dinnerware. My wife stood there smiling and said, 'We now ended one chapter in our life. We were dealt a blow today. I don't want to be angry with Hashem.  I want to make a Seudat Hoda'ah, a meal to thank Hashem for giving you to me and me to you. We have each other, and we are not angry. Let us enter the next chapter of our lives without bitterness. Let's celebrate what we have.' My wife served a magnificent meal that night. By the time I went to sleep, my wife's serenity had affected a considerable change in me. It seemed like I had only slept a few minutes when I heard the phone ringing at five am the next morning. It was someone from the hospital, asking me to return immediately. They had studied my chart,  and claimed there was something they could do. Now, Baruch Hashem, we just had a baby boy, and the Berit Milah is next week."