I knew someone trying to get a job once and in their frustration they shared something with me. They said,”Man, they keep having me do this and do that, they make it so hard to just get a job.” My response was, “Funny, it’s almost like they want you to work for it huh?”
We see this same principle play out in scripture. In Joshua chapter 3, the children of Israel were facing the Jordan River. God had told them to take the Promised Land, but they had to cross the Jordan when it was at its peak flood stage. How were they supposed to overcome the very obstacle that stood between them and their destiny? They had to walk right into it.
Joshua 3:15-16 (NIV)
Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho .
They had to put legs on their prayers.
Sometimes we pray for God to do something, but we still have a part to play in the outcome. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, but He told the people to roll the stone away first. He fed the multitude with the fish and loaves, but a young boy had to willingly give what he had.
Simply put, we can pray for God to help our garden grow, but if we don’t plant the seeds and pull the weeds, we will end up with a barren piece of ground. We can pray for a job, but if we don’t apply, don’t do the exams, or don’t complete their tasks then we won’t get hired. We can pray to pass a test, but if we don’t study, we won’t get a good grade. The list goes on and on.
We cannot do what only God can do, but God will not do what we can do. If we want to see our prayers come to pass, we must be willing to put legs on them.
James 2:17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
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