We continue to thankfully acknowledge our total dependence on God and recount the daily wonders and miracles that fill our lives: “We thank You and we speak Your praises, for our lives are in Your hands and our souls are in Your charge, and for all Your miracles that are with us daily, and for Your wonders and Your goodness in every time—morning, evening and afternoon. [You are] the Good, because Your compassion has never ended, and the Compassionate, because Your kindness has never ended. We have always put our hope in You.” This seems to contradict all the requests we have made so far. If we actually believe that our life is in God’s hands, that our soul is in His charge, if we truly believe that miracles and wonders are happening everyday, and that God gives us never-ending goodness and compassion, then why pray at all? What was the purpose of all the previous requests? It is a paradox. Even though we know that God is always in control and that whatever He sends our way is only in our best interest, nonetheless we pray for what we perceive to be our needs, for what is good and pleasant from our limited perspective. We really should be thanking God when we are sick in the same way we do when we are feeling great. However, God commanded us to ask of Him according to our needs as we perceive them. Rav Kook explains that there are two ways to relate to our life situation: there is the way of the holy people (tzaddikim), and the way of everyone else. Tzaddikim trust God completely. From their perspective they know that it is all good even when it feels bad, therefore they do not ask anything of God for themselves. Others, however, ask for improvements when their life situation feels bad. According to the Torah, we are meant to always enjoy God’s presence with all the blessings of life and vitality it brings. However, this can only happen when we acknowledge God as our provider and invite Him and His blessings into our life. For example, we get sick when God’s presence is not sufficiently manifest in our lives. Healing, however, can come through increasing our awareness of God and acknowledging Him as the source of our well-being. With the increase of God’s presence in our lives we become filled with more and more vitality and wellness. There are, however, two different ways we can acknowledge God’s presence in our life. The way of the tzaddikim is trust and constant thanksgiving no matter what the circumstances are. The other way is to use the pain and discomfort as catalysts to seek God’s presence through prayer, acknowledging that only He is the true healer. When the tzaddik is sick he demonstrates His unwavering trust in God’s goodness and wholeheartedly thanks God for providing him with all that He needs. Rather than ask God to change his situation, he accepts his problems with love. The trust itself augments his awareness of God, increases the presence of God in his life and he ends up becoming revitalized and healed. Others, however, pray that God heal them. They use their health challenge as a catalyst to acknowledge and invite God’s intervention. Their heartfelt prayers generate greater awareness of God and an increase in His healing presence in their lives. They turn their pain and discomfort into an opportunity to come closer to God through prayer. Much of the Amidah is obviously built upon the approach of asking God for improvement. However, as we come to its conclusion we must, nonetheless, remind ourselves that in truth God is in control, He is the Good and the Compassionate and His kindness is never ending. He always loves us and only seeks our best interest. We must remember to trust Him and be thankful for all His gifts and challenges. We must remember to add a little trust to our prayers, to see the good and not only the problems. This eighteenth blessing affirms our trust in God. On one hand, we use our struggles and pain to grow closer to God through our prayers. On the other hand, we acknowledge that everything God gives us is good, our life is in His hands and we simply give thanks. The Amidah reflects the paradox of Jewish life. Throughout our history, we put in our best efforts to make the world better, all the while believing that God was the one in control. We have cried out to God to change our miserable lot, all the while trusting that things were as they should be in accordance with God's plan. We trusted in God, yet never ceased praying. This is the dialectical dance of the Jewish people. This blessing of thanksgiving is not a contradiction. It simply reflects the paradox of Jewish life. Here we affirm, “Yes, God, we have asked for many things, but we also know that everything in life is exactly on target and completely good. Thank You.”