Crying Out for the Sake of Avodah

On the pasuk that the Children of Israel groaned because of the avodah, and their cries rose to Hashem, the Apta Rav teaches how a person should cry out in distress. He should not focus only on his own pain. He should focus on how the trouble prevents him from serving Hashem through Torah, tefillah and avodah. Then his prayers rise to Heaven to be answered, because he is davening for the pain of the Shechinah. So too in Mitzrayim, the Jews merged their private suffering with their sorrow at being kept from serving Hashem, and their salvation came.