Nora'ot b'tzedek ta'anenu Elohei yeshu'otenu. Rabbi Chanina bar Papa asked Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani, "What does it mean, 'Her Sukkah is in a cloud for us?'" He replied, "The gates of prayer are sometimes open and sometimes closed, but the gates of repentance are never closed, as it is written, 'The hope of all the ends of the earth and of the distant seas.' Just as the sea is never closed to anyone who wishes to bathe in it, so too the gates of repentance are always open to anyone who wishes to return.
And the Lord accepts him. But prayer has its times. Rabbi Yosei bar Chalafta says, 'And as for me, let my prayer come to You, Lord, at a favorable time. In the abundance of Your mercy, answer me with the truth of Your salvation.'
There are times for prayer. Rabbi Berekiah, Rabbi Chilbo, and Rav Anan bar Yosef say in the name of Rav Idi that even the gates of prayer are never closed. Ben Azzai and Rabbi Akiva disagree. One of them says that whoever practices kindness should be confident that his prayer is heard, as it is written, 'Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruits of mercy.'
What is written after it? 'Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord.' He prays to the Lord, and he is answered, so he should be confident that his prayer is heard. The other says, 'I do not reject the words of Rabbi, but I add to them.
'But as for me, through the abundance of Your steadfast love, I will enter Your house; I will bow down toward Your holy temple in awe of You.' Answer me, God, in Your faithfulness, in Your salvation that never fails."