GEN647 The reason Hashem obligates man to actively strengthen his faith and persist in prayer is solely for the benefit of man. Hashem, Who is exalted beyond all blessing and praise—and everything is revealed before Him—does not need the praise of man Yet we know that the purpose of man’s creation in this world is only to enable him to receive benefit in the Next World, to grant him the inheritance of eternal life and everlasting joy.  There in the World of Recompense, he will receive the fruits of his efforts and exertions. Clearly the mitzvah to “Watch yourself, lest you forget the Lord, your God” Deuteronomy 6:13 serves the same purpose as prayer, as Rabbeinu Younah wrote in Sha’arei Teshuvah, “Through this mitzvah, we are exhorted to always remember Hashem.” This means that when man continuously reflects on Hashem, he will proceed in the straight paths of Hashem—observing Torah and mitzvos. This is the first halachah in the Shulchan Aruch, “’I place Hashem ever before me’ – this is a primary axiom of the Torah, and [fulfilled in] the exalted level of the tzaddikim.”  However, since the soul of man is imprisoned within his body, and “man’s heart is evil from his youth” [this verse], and his heart is attracted to earthly passions—man is apt to forget Hashem and to stray from the path of Torah and mitzvos. Therefore, Hashem wisely opened a path for man through which his interaction with the physical actually serves to constantly remind him of Hashem. It is for this reason that Hashem commands man to always pray to Him and to plead for mercy that Hashem provides his needs. Likewise, man must always remember the constant lovingkindness and unbounded goodness of Hashem, thank Him for the kindness that He bestows, and bless Hashem for each pleasure that he enjoys in this world. OHRYIS 576-7