Main idea: God is the true source of life and is a gracious provider; therefore, we can and should ask him to supply our needs.
- God is the source of life.
- God is a gracious provider.
- We should pray for only what we need.
Ever heard the phrase: “God helps those who help themselves.”?
Eighty percent of people who claim to be Christians think that this saying is from the Bible. Yet, this saying is not from the Bible. If this phrase is not from the Bible, then where is it from? It was coined and popularized by Benjamin Franklin, who wrote it in his Poor Richard’s Almanac.But this saying has been around much longer than Benjamin Franklin. Franklin got it from one of Aesop’s fables—the story of Hercules and the Waggoner.
This is the story from Aesop’s fable.
A Waggoner was once driving a heavy load along a very muddy way. At last, he came to a part of the road where the wheels sank halfway into the mire, and the more the horses pulled, the deeper sank the wheels. So, the Waggoner threw down his whip, and knelt down and prayed to Hercules the Strong. “O Hercules, help me in this my hour of distress,” he said. But Hercules appeared to him, and said: “Tut, man, don’t sprawl there. Get up and put your shoulder to the wheel. The gods help them that help themselves.”
So, the next time you’re tempted to quote this phrase, just remember that it came from Aesop, not Moses or David or Jesus or one of the prophets of the Bible.
Yet, there is a grain of truth in this saying. God does expect us to do our part. He expects us to work hard. God expects us to take personal responsibility for our needs.
For example, Jesus told his disciples to cast out their nets, and when they did, they caught a miraculous catch of fish. It was a miracle. Yet Jesus wanted them to throw out their nets so that he could fill their nets with fish.
But the Bible isn’t the only place where we find godly men and women who have understood the principle that, yes, we must trust God, but we also need to take responsibility to work hard and do our part.
One man who understood the principle of trusting God and working hard is Evander Holyfield.
If you’re a boxing fan, then you’ll remember that on November 9, 1994, Evander Holyfield defeated Mike Tyson for the heavyweight championship of the world. Holyfield had retired from boxing after losing the heavyweight title. Then, at the age of 34, he decided to fight Tyson. At that time, Evander Holy was considered to be a washed-up boxer. Yet, when it came time for the fight, Holyfield was amazingly optimistic. Prior to the fight, Holyfield was interviewed by a television reporter. The reporter asked Holyfield: “You have an awful lot of confidence. Not many people step into the ring without being intimidated and fearful of Mike Tyson. What will you do in those initial moments to counteract that?”
And Holyfield replied: “Well, you know, I’m led by the Holy Spirit, so whatever I do, I know I will have enough to win.”
Then, almost miraculously, Holyfield defeated Tyson. Holyfield’s victory over Tyson is considered one of the most famous upset victories in the history of boxing.
After the fight, Holyfield gave God the credit for the victory. Holyfield said, “I give all the glory to God. And He gets the credit for it. I thank God.”
But Holyfield understood that although he trusted God to help him, he needed to train and prepare for the fight. Holyfield said, “God don’t help nobody who don’t help himself.” Holyfield wanted God to help him, but he believed that God would not help him unless he also did his part.
The way that this principle was explained to me is that when we need to accomplish something, we should pray, and when we pray, we should pray believing that we can do nothing in our own strength—believing that everything depends on God, but when we work, we should work hard believing that everything depends on us.
In this way we pray with the deepest conviction that success will come only if God provides, yet we will work our hardest believing that only by working hard will we accomplish anything.
The problem comes when we start thinking that we had something to do with it–when we start believing that somehow God needs us or that we were able to accomplish something on our own.
We must always start with the fundamental belief that in our own strength we can do nothing. As Jesus said in John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in me and I in him, bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
So, we come to that part in the Lord’s Prayer where we acknowledge our belief in the sufficiency of God and our utter dependence on his provision.
Jesus tells us that when we pray, we are to pray: “Our Father who is in heaven, Your name is holy. Let your kingdom come, let your will be done as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:9-11).”
From this verse, I see three principles. The first principle is that God is the true source of life. The second principle is that God is a gracious provider. And the third principle is that since God is the source of life and is a gracious provider, we can and should ask him to supply our needs.
First, God is the source of life. And he has given the power of life to Jesus. Jesus says in John 5:21, 26: “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will… For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.”
Through Jesus, God created all things, and with his power he sustains all things.
The Bible says:
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:16-17).
When Abraham took his son Isaac to the mountain to offer his son as a burnt offering, Isaac became concerned because he didn’t see a lamb for the sacrifice. Isaac said to his father. “Father, I see the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” And Abraham said to his son Isaac, “God will provide.”
So too, we can pray with confidence: O Lord, the Great Creator God who sees everything, who knows everything, who has all power and is gracious and compassionate to those who love you, help us in our time of need. We believe that you possess all power and accomplish the impossible. We come today to your throne of mercy and ask you to give us this day our daily bread.
God is the true source of life, and he is a gracious provider.
The Bible gives many promises. Some of the promises are conditional.
2 Chronicles 7:14 says,
If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
This promise has an “if” condition. If we fulfill the condition, then God fulfills his promise.
But the Bible also has many unconditional promises. We find one of these unconditional promises in Romans chapter eight: “He who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things?”(Romans 8:32).
God is a gracious provider, and his provision is based on the fact that he has already given us the best that he can give. He gave his son.
This promise is found in many places in the Bible. Ephesians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”
Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
The Bible doesn’t say that God will supply all our wants, but it does say that he will supply all our needs. God is a gracious provider. He will meet our needs, and because he is a gracious provider, he will supply all our needs.
And this brings us to our last point. Since God is the true source of life and is a gracious provider, we can and should ask him to supply our needs.
The prayer that Jesus gives us as a model prayer says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” God says that we can and should ask him to supply our needs.
God wants us to come to him in prayer. He wants us to come to him with our requests. Matthew 7:7-11:
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
God wants to meet our needs. He is waiting for us to come to him and see that he really is a good and gracious God who can and will supply our needs.
God gives a very interesting promise through the prophet Malachi. Apparently, some of God’s people were not being obedient in their giving. They were bringing less than what God wanted. Rather than bringing a tenth of their income, they were throwing in a dollar here and a dollar there, or whatever happened to be in their wallet at the time, and God was displeased.
So, God spoke through the prophet Malachi to encourage the people to bring a tithe, a tenth of their income. But listen to how God encourages them to give. God says in Malachi 3:10, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”
God wants us to test him so see if he really is a great and powerful God. Do you really believe that God can do the impossible? Remember, he won’t give you what you want, but he will give you what you need.
God is the true source of life. God is a gracious provider. And because God is the source of life and because he is a gracious provider, we can and should ask him to supply our needs.