When you pray, do you ask God to do things for you? Do you then proceed to watch and wait for it to be done by God on your behalf? If you are then you are doing it wrong.
Don't just pray: In the Bible we are told "God only helps those who help themselves." We are also told that "give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime." So what does this mean? It means that just praying to God to make something occur will not work. God actually wants you to take steps to do something to further your own desire or need. Things don't go your way simply because you want them to or because you ask God, but because you started working toward that goal and acquire the knowledge to further achieve that goal. As such, by going out and trying to achieve the goal while learning as you go, you can succeed in what you want. Will you sometimes fail, yes of course, but you learned from it so you can avoid that failure next time.
Normally I would have at least said a bit more on this matter, but a story tells it better (it’s a variation of one I heard on the television show “The West Wing”).
A man is sitting in his living room
and listening to the radio. The radio shouts that a storm is coming. Then the
man thinks to himself, I'll be fine for I have God on my side.
The storm begins with trees being
blown over outside the mans house. A rescue worker knocks on his door. The man
is told you have to come with me, this place is not safe. The man refuses and
says "God will save me" and closes the door on the rescue worker.
Now the house is flooded and the man
is on the roof of his home. A boat comes by while the storm rages around him.
People on the boat beg him to come aboard knowing that if he stays he will die.
And still the man refuses, saying that "God will save me."
The man is now dead. He enters heaven
and demands to see God. As he approaches Gods throne, he demands to know why he
died claiming that he has always been faithful and has strived to remain free
of sin. God looks down on him and exclaims "I sent you a radio broadcast,
a rescue worker and a boat, so why the hell are you even here?!"
Conclusion: So what can we learn from this little story? The man had faith, and God did try to help him. One problem, he did not try to help himself. This applies to everything in life, if you want something done you can pray, but get to doing something about it. Try to reach your goal with all your might and then and only then will God help you on your journey towards that goal.
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