People pray many prayers concerning themselves. Lord help me…lose weight, quit smoking, quit drinking, get a job, know You better, be kinder to others, lead others to You, be a good witness, and so on. Petitions come easily enough but should never be the end of our actions. A friend of mine loves the saying, “God feeds the birds of the air but He doesn’t drop the worm into their nests”. Our God is a God of action and He expects the same from us.
Even in the stories of God’s miracles in the Old Testament He expected to see some action from the people He was acting on behalf. God spared Noah and his family but first they had to build the ark. God parted the Red Sea but the people had to cross on their own two feet. God provided manna from heaven but the Israelites had to go out every morning and gather it. The walls of Jericho tumbled down but only after the Israelites marched around them. Naaman was healed of leprosy but only after he agreed to wash in the muddy Jordan River. God spared the Jews from annihilation but Esther first had to risk her life going before the king.
Jesus, God in flesh, often performed miracles with only a touch or word, but would at other times require action. He turned water into wine only after the servants filled the jars with water. He healed the 10 lepers only after they obediently started their walk away from Jesus and toward the temple to show themselves to the priest. He fed the multitudes but first asked the disciples to bring the loaves and fishes they had found in the crowd. The paralytic was healed as he was commanded to stand up and carry his bed. Jesus produced money to pay the temple taxes but first Peter had to go catch a fish and pull the money from its mouth. The exhausted disciples who had fished all night, but caught nothing, were blessed with a boatload of fish only after they cast their nets one last time on the side of the boat Jesus commanded.
The writer Philip Yancey put it this way. “Although we may ask God to intervene directly, it should not surprise us if He responds in a more hidden way in cooperation with our own choices. An alcoholic prays, “Lord, keep me from drink today”. The answer to that prayer will likely come from the inside-from a stiffening resolve or a cry for help to a loyal friend-rather than from some marvel like the magical disappearance of liquor bottles from a cabinet.
Whether God supernaturally intervenes or is giving us the power to obey Him, we trust His character. we see a true partnership, intimate and intertwined. “
So never cease praying and seeking God’s will. At the same time, be ready to spring into action in the direction He leads. He is faithful who has promised us.
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