Basya Tsybukmakher
The book “Sha'arei HaAvodah,” attributed to Rabbeinu Yonah, states: “The prayer of someone who prays with tears is accepted, because the gates of tears have not been locked. Tears correspond to the water libation on the altar” (sec. 11).]
In this connection, it is fitting to quote tractate Berakhot (32b): “Rabbi Chanin said, Rabbi Chanina said: the prayer of someone who prolongs his prayer does not go unanswered.” Our teacher, the gaon Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky, of blessed memory, wrote about this in his book “Chayei Olam” (part 1, ch. 28): “It seems that this also applies to someone who prays very briefly but repeats his request day after day over a long period—such a person, too, is considered to be prolonging his prayer.” He also wrote there: “one of the foundations of prayer is that it must be a true request, uttered with submission and a broken heart, rather than words rolling off the lips while the person's heart is absent.”
“Sefer Chasidim” (ch. 131) states: “If a person asks for something that could bring praise to the Creator, for example, for <help> in studying Torah, or for something else pleasing to Heaven, and pours out his soul in this prayer—the Almighty hears it, even if no good deeds are credited to that person.”
Similarly, Rabbi Yosef Yaavetz, the Chasid, explained in tractate Avot (6, 8) the verse “The L-rd is near… to everyone who calls upon Him sincerely” as follows: “What is meant by ‘sincerely’?—‘Incline my heart to Your testimony (that is, to the Torah),’ ‘turn my eyes away from seeing vanity,’ ‘open my eyes, and I will see wonders from Your Torah.’” Here he writes that prayer for spiritual matters is called “sincere,” the kind of prayer for which the Almighty is likely to grant the supplicant's request.