The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
R' Frand noted that the section of this parsha containing the 13 middos is one of the most well known sections of the Torah due to its being read so often. He quoted the Gemara in Rosh Hashana 7b which states in the name of R' Yochanan that had this section not been written in the Torah (specifically וַיַּֽעֲבֹ֨ר יְהֹוָ֥ה |עַל־פָּנָיו֘ וַיִּקְרָא֒ יְהֹוָ֣ה | יְהֹוָ֔ה אֵ֥ל רַח֖וּם וְחַנּ֑וּן אֶ֥רֶךְ אַפַּ֖יִם וְרַב־חֶ֥סֶד וֶֽאֱמֶֽת) it could not have been said as we learn from this pasuk that Hashem wrapped himself up like a Shaliach Tzibbur and told Moshe - whenever the Jews are sinning, do before me like this and I will forgive them.
R' Frand remarked that this is the reason why we repeat the 13 middos so many times in the Ne'ilah of Yom Kippur.
The Gemara also quotes R' Yehuda as saying that it is guaranteed that a person who invokes the 13 middos will not return empty handed.
But there are times when it seems that the prayers were not answered?
R' Frand addressed this first by quoting the sefer Reishis Chachma which states that the language of the Gemara is that the Jews should "do before me like this." He explains that the person praying should emulate Hashem - just as He is merciful, you should be merciful to others.
The sefer Ya'aros Devash has a problem with this concept as not all of the 13 middos can be emulated by man. He identifies "Kel" which means "all powerful" as a middah of Hashem that we cannot replicate.
R' Frand then offered a different explanation in the name of the sefer Imrei Binah. He notes that the language of the Gemara is that Hashem wrapped himself like a Shaliach Tzibbur. The Shatz has significant weight on his shoulders and does not only daven for himself, he prays on behalf of Klal Yisrael. If a person wants to be answered, he needs to be like the Shatz and daven for others.
R' Frand then quoted the sefer Mikdash Mordechai by R' Mordechai Rogoff who explains that the pasuk states that Hashem appeared in a cloud. He observed that it is easier to pray for others when your life is not cloudy and everything seems in order. It is much more difficult and the prayers can have a greater impact, if you pray for others when things are not as clear and rosy for you.
R' Frand closed the vort by telling a story about R' Binyamin Kaminetsky. There was a boy in the community whose father had passed away and shortly before his bar mitzvah, his mother was hospitalized. When R' Kaminetsky went to visit him in the hospital, the mother asked him not to come to the boy's bar mitzvah. She explained that there was another boy in a different shul who was turning bar mitzvah that Shabbos and she was sure that all the Rabbis in the community would come to her son's bar mitzvah because his father had passed and she was in the hospital. The mother did not want the other's simcha to be lacking in Rabbanim and as a result she asked R' Kaminetsky to make sure that he would attend the other bar mitzva.
This is an example of looking out for others despite being in a situation which is cloudy.
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