Prayer During the Aseret Yemei Teshuva 5782

We know that the Yamim Noraim, the days starting with Rosh HaShana and going through Yom Kippur, have tremendous power, and tremendous potential. We also know, as the halacha is brought down in the Shulchan Aruch, that it's a time of increased tefillah- including the Avinu Malkeinu prayer. This tefillah really encapsulates the theme of these days, and the emotions of the time- intense fear, and hopefully intense love as well as a longing to do real teshuva and to be better over the next year.
This theme is discussed many times in Avinu Malkeinu, even with the name of the prayer itself. In this time we focus on HaShem in these two roles- as Avinu, our loving Father, and as Malkeinu, our King who rules with justice. While there's a lot to focus on in this lengthy and powerful tefillah, one line stands out.

I heard in a shiur by R' Shraga Kallus that Rav Pam, zt"l, recommended that one place special emphasis on the words, אבינו מלכנו נא אל תשיבנו ריקם מלפניך, "HaShem please don't let us leave from before you empty handed".
These are days of tefillah, of communicating with HaShem, but as R' Kallus put it- we don't want just communication, we want connection. We don't want to just be saying some words- we want to be speaking the same language as HaShem. We don't want it to just be lip service.

So what does it mean, that we don't want to leave empty handed? The start of the answer can be found in R' Yosef Albo's Sefer HaIkkarim. There's a very famous question that almost everyone has asked at one point or another- if HaShem knows what's going to happen, how does tefillah work? Are we changing His mind? What's the point of davening?

R' Albo's famous answer is found shortly afterwards.

Doing sincere teshuva completely changes a person, and therefore, the previous gzeiros and decrees no longer apply. As R' Albo explains, the same thing goes for tefillah. The point of tefillah, so to speak, the reason that tefillah is so effective is because true, effective tefillah changes you as a person. When you walk into Shacharis, and pour out your heart and communicate with HaShem- really communicate, not just presenting your "shopping list" of needs- you should walk out of Shacharis a little different than you went into it. If this occurs, HaShem is more than happy to change the situation.
This is what we are asking for when we say נא אל תשיבנו ריקם מלפניך. We are expressing our desire that this tefillah is the one that changes us forever, that this Aseres Yemei Teshuva is one where we change for the better, where we make a kabbalah that actually sticks, where we become just a little bit holier than we were in 5781.
Sometimes, however, we are unsure of what to do. We daven, and we feel refreshed after, like we really had a great conversation with HaKadosh Baruch Hu, but then we get lost. When we get lost, when we don't know what to do next, or feel like we've bitten off more than we can chew, this is where we can turn to HaShem for some Divine Assistance.

If we come to HaShem, if we show up to Avinu Malkeinu with Kavanah, and we tell Him how much we want to grow, we can be sure that He will help us. However, we have to really want it. Chazal tell us famously:

Whichever way, whatever path we choose to take in life, for better or for worse, HaShem leads us and assists us. Rav Avigdor Miller, zt"l, used to add that HaShem helps us in direct proportion to how strongly we desire it- meaning that the more we want to walk the path of growth, and the more kavanah we have in Avinu Malkeinu when asking for His help, the more help we shall receive.
This is similar to another point R' Kallus made in the shiur. We know that Yom Kippur is on the tenth of Tishrei because that's when HaShem said סלחתי כדברך to Moshe Rabbeinu, telling him that Bnei Yisrael were forgiven after the sin of the Golden Calf. R' Kallus asked, why סלחתי כדברך? "I have forgiven like you said"? What does that mean?
The verbiage is to teach us a lesson. HaShem's forgiveness depends on us. If we put a lot of effort into teshuva, if we really daven and really want it, then, כדברך, like we said and asked for, HaShem will put a lot of effort into our forgiveness, so to speak. If we only put a little bit of effort in, then כדברך, HaShem will only give us a little bit of forgiveness.
So you see, we've been equipped with the tools for these holy days. We have Avinu Malkeinu, we have Vidui and the Al- Cheits and all the rest of the beautiful tefillos we say in this time frame. But then it's up to us. We have to want it. That can be frightening at times, because it feels like such a big task, and we don't know where to start and it's really not such a big span of time that we have to work with. For that reason, HaShem reminds us that if we attempt to do teshuva, we can't go wrong, He's on our side.
Though teshuva often seems like it's this big scary task, now that we understand Avinu Malkeinu and the power of tefillah, and we are at the stage where we want to do teshuva- or at least we want to want to do teshuva- we must remember:

Shir HaShirim Rabbah 5:2 tells us- HaShem says to Bnai Yisrael, "make me an opening for teshuva the size of an eye of a needle, and I will open for you openings that even wagons can fit through."
Remember that a little bit of prayer- true, heartfelt prayer- and some Divine assistance can go a long way, and 'בעזרת ה we will not exit these auspicious days empty handed, but rather we will be able to show the Bais Din a completely new person on Yom Kippur- the person of the year 5782, who's worlds away from the person they were in 5781.
Gmar chasima tova to all.