Q: What is the reaction of the mind to prayer?
A: A prayer is the work of the heart, but the mind does not always agree with that sensation. For example: a person has to pass a very important and difficult test, and it terrifies him. His whole being may cry, “I don’t want that test!” But the mind helps him understand how important it is to pass the test. Therefore, he turns to the Creator with a conscious request to take the test and pass it.
Q: Can we change our feelings with our mind?
A: The mind can help us decide whether or not to make the effort. We can influence it, convince it to obey us. Ultimately, we will make the effort and from Above we will be given new desires and emotions.
Feelings are what I experience in my will. The mind complements, corrects, evaluates and assesses the feelings, and that is why it can change one’s attitude toward them. Therefore, all the things that affect the mind – friends, group and teacher – are what determine one’s future. Study the articles of Rabbi Baruch Ashlag about the group.
Kabbalah teaches how to change the way we relate to our feelings so that “true” and “false” will have the power over us, instead of “bitter” and “sweet."