Q:

Why did Moshe ask for a "free gift?"   (Rashi on Parashas Va'eschanan)

Parshas Va'eschanan starts off with Moshe's Prayer to Hashem.   Rashi comments that he asked for a free gift.    Why was he asking for a free gift? 

A:

Rashi indicates that a Tzadik does not make requests based on their merits.   Perhaps  the explanation of Rashi is that a Tzadik truly recognizes that any merit he might have before God is really as nothing.   If one truly perceives the reality of God and recognizes how lowly man is, as is said " Mah enosh Ki ziskerenu?"   What is man but nothing before God, he knows that he can make no demands or truly merit anything.  It is with this perception that a Tzadik does not make requests based on his merits, but asks based on Matnas Chinam, a gift from God.   Meaning a he recognizes he truly does not deserve it, but asks God to assist him in his pursuit of development.