Bakashot in Tefilah on Shabbat

Daniella Grodko asks: We were discussing in Halachah class that we do not have an Bakoshot, requests, in Shabbat Shemonah Esrei because you are not supposed to ask Hashem for things on Shabbat. I was wondering, does this apply to personal requests to Hashem also? I had learned that before you take your three steps back at the end of Shemonah Esrei, you can ask Hashem for anything. Does that mean that on Shabbat I have to remain silent at this part and am PROHIBITED from asking him for a good shabbos, or to be able to study well that Shabbat afternoon, or for a sick friend to get better...? Or if something really annoying or bad happens on Shabbat, then you can't silently ask Hashem if He could make it better? If the answer is no, then I feel like on Shabbat, a time when we are supposed to feel so connected to G-d, the power of our tefilah is weakened. I had always learned that Tefilla was about talking to Hashem whenever I needed to, and being restrained to ask Hashem for things cuts off that connection and closeness to G-d.

Hi Daniella! Wow, great question... I'm not sure if I have a good answer but I will try... so there is an idea based off of a Midrash Tanhuma (Parshat Vayera) that you should not pray for חולים on Shabbat since doing so will cause sadness, an inappropriate emotion for Shabbat. This is also why we don't have the 18 בקשות that normally appear in the weekday שמונה עשרה; Shabbat being a day for עונג and מנוחה, not for being worried and distressed, so personal requests are discouraged (in fact, doing anything that will cause you sadness is discouraged, an extreme example of this being the story about Beruriah, who hid the fact that her two sons died on Shabbat from her husband, R' Meir, until after Havdala). However, I agree with you that it seems strange to not be allowed to turn to G-d and pray for what is bothering you. Maybe one could split between communal prayers and individual prayers; while we don't make public bakashot within a regular שמונה עשרה format on Shabbat, perhaps individual, personal bakkashot would be fine. Additionally, if the point of not making bakashot is to prevent you from feeling sad, if not being able to turn to G-d would cause you even more צער, perhaps then it would be ok.

Furthermore, there are bakashot that we do make publicly on Shabbat during laining: for the person who got an Aliyah, for חולים, and more recently for חיילי צה"ל and captured Israeli soldiers. But at the end of the bakasha for חולים on Shabbat, we add in "שבת היא מלזעוק, רפואה קרובה לבא", that "Shabbat prevents us from crying out, but there should be a speedy recovery", almost as a token way of acknowledging that this isn't the ideal type of prayer for Shabbat. So maybe you could add that line in to your personal tefillot as well. Either way, I remember being in numerous batei knesset, where the shul Rav led everyone in saying Tehillim when a member of the congregation was very ill, or there had been a pigua in Israel (לא עלינו), where clearly the need to turn to G-d in tefilah far outweighed any concerns about bakashot.