Words of Prayer Are Windows
The tzaddikim break through the barrier that sin builds between us and Heaven, and Noach did it with the words of his prayer.
When the flood ended, the Torah says that Noach opened the window of the ark. The Yismach Yisroel explains this with a teaching of the Chida. Because of our sins, a barrier stands between us and Heaven. Tzaddikim who do mitzvos as they should be done break through it as if making windows, and people whose mitzvos are less complete make only cracks. In the Rebbe's reading, the Hebrew word for ark, teivah, also means a word. Noach made windows in the barrier through the words of his prayers. The Rebbe also cites the verse "death has come up through our windows" (Yirmiyahu 9:20): the tzaddikim who made such openings have passed on, and so the windows have closed.
Source: Yismach Yisroel, Noach, on Bereishis 8:6 (citing the Chida, Midbar Kedemos, Tzaddikim)
Pick a single tefillah today, whether Modeh Ani, a bracha before eating or the opening of Shemoneh Esrei, and say each word slowly, as if you were opening a window and not reciting a line. If your concentration slips, begin again at the last word you understood. You do not need to feel inspired; sincere words are enough, and even a small crack lets light in. The Yismach Yisroel teaches that words said with attention are the way through, so give a few of them your full attention.