The Torah Reading for this week relates the confrontation between our forefather, Jacob and his brother Esau.

For 34 years Jacob had avoided his brother`s revenge for taking the blessings right out from under his brother`s nose so many years ago. He was now returning to face the music at the age of 97 years old, married to four wives and after having fathered 11 of the 12 tribes.

Yaakov Aveinu (our Forefather Jacob) is told that Eisav (Esau) is coming with an army of 400 men. Yaakov prepares for this meeting with three tactics; by appeasing Eisav with gifts, with tefila (prayer) and if necessary, to wage war. This preparation is described in the posuk; Bereishis 32:8-9, Then Yaakov was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, in two camps. And said, If Esiav comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the other camp which is left shall escape. 

Rav Boruch Halevi Epstein zt`l asks, 

How was Yaakov so confident that ruthless Eisav would only attack one camp and not both? He answers that Yaakov was confident that his tefilos would help since as the Midrash says; Tefila helps (in every case, at least) halfway. So he was therefore confident that at least half his family would survive.

There is a lesson behind this. Many times we daven and we don`t see results. We must know however, that EVERY tefila makes its mark in Heaven. Hashem has things planned out in a precision-perfect way. The results may come in a form other than we would have wanted. But we can still rely on this guarantee that a sincere tefila will at least accomplish halfway.