There are three things which help when in a time of trouble to annul the evil decree. They are fasting, “voice” and “money”.
The explanation of the first one is that one should afflict one’s soul with fasting as fasting replaces offerings and it will be acceptable before Him to atone for him. Klal Yisrael are accustomed for many years to fasting in times of trouble as we find in the Talmudic Tractate of Ta’anis that they used to decree fast days for the entire community in times of trouble.
The explanation of “voice” is that the voice is the voice of Ya’akov which helps his descendants in times of trouble. This refers to the voice of learning Torah meaning that one should occupy oneself with Torah. It also refers to the voice of praying and reciting Tehillim with concentration and humility. If one does these things with a quorum, there is all the more reason that it has special powers to help against any trouble and to save oneself from it.
The explanation of “money” is that one should give donations to charity as the power of charity is great as it annuls the evil decree and gives life to those who perform it. When giving charity, one should make one’s trouble known to many people so that the recipients of the charity should pray on behalf of the donor so that he should be saved from his trouble.
Since the fact is that there is no trouble in the world as great as the trouble of the soul, it is correct for a person to precede with prayer and pray and pour out his soul to Hashem that He should be with him during his troubles, and that He should help him to fight with his evil inclination and to be saved from arrogance and anger and theft and embezzlement and forbidden speech and that He should help him to serve Hashem in the perfect manner and to say prayers and blessings with the correct concentration and to love and fear Hashem and cleave to Him etc., to fulfil all good things. For all of this he should pour out his heart before Hashem in case there is hope.
