Praying versus acting

[kowalskil]

The following advice is from a prayer book:

"Pray as if everything depended upon God, act as if everything depended on you."

I think that this is consistent with the idea of NOMA, formulated by the biologist Stephen Gould. We exist in the material world; God exists in the spiritual world.

The context in which the idea of NOMA was formulated is summarized in my article about futile conflicts between theists and atheists:

atheist

 

[rdean]

Office of the Governor Rick Perry - [Proclamation] Gov. Perry Issues Proclamation for Days of Prayer for Rain in Texas

 

[waltky]

Granny says now dat she gotten old...

... she prays dat somebody else will act...

... an' dat the gubmint will send her...

... dat second stimulus check.

 

[imeaganfox]

It doesn't make sense if we pray without act. We're just asking God's favor without any willingness to make a move for that prayer. Although God can do everything, of course we should work also by depending in God and entrusting everything in Him.

 

[Avatar4321]

Office of the Governor Rick Perry - [Proclamation] Gov. Perry Issues Proclamation for Days of Prayer for Rain in Texas

And Texas got a whole heck of a lot of rain while other states were struggling through the drought. seems to have worked.

 

[Avatar4321]

It doesn't make sense if we pray without act. We're just asking God's favor without any willingness to make a move for that prayer. Although God can do everything, of course we should work also by depending in God and entrusting everything in Him.

If we aren't willing to act, we don't have faith. It's faith that proceeds the miracle.

 

[The Irish Ram]

Actually, ifox, it does.
God's plan for man is to rest in the Lord, and for Him to take care of your every need.
Why do you think God rested on the seventh day? Not because He was tired. The God of Israel never wearies. It's because He was done. And He created His child last because He wanted everything to already be done for His child before hand. Adam didn't have to lift a finger.

Adam's 1st. full day of life was a day of rest! He didn't go to work, fertilizing his garden or pulling weeds. God told to Adam to kick back. "Relax, and I'll bring you some of the funny things I made for you." I'll bet they laughed like crazy at some of those creatures. God went and got them. He did the work. Adam sat with his feet up and gave them silly names.

Our health depends on resting and letting God do the work.
Rapha is the Hebrew word for "the Lord heals." Christians call on Jehovah Rapha when they have a health issue.
Rapha comes from the word Raphah, which means relax. In other words, Relax, the Lord heals.
Our DNA has a little tip on the end to keep it from unraveling, much like the tip of a shoe lace. The tip can be broken or worn away. When that happens, our DNA frays and disease appears. What wears down the tip is stress. We were not wired for stress or labor to to be heavy laden.

How many of us rest when a problem arises? What should be the easiest way to handle a situation, is for me at least, the hardest.
God tells us over and over not to fear what is in the earth. What He tells us we should fear, is not resting in His abilities. When we take over, He rests. When we rest, He takes over. God's advice is:
sit,
rest,
be still.
let me handle it.
Where we are weakest, He is strongest. < It's nice for us how that works out.

The next time you are faced with a problem that requires action, relax. Give it to the Lord, and then sit. See if God doesn't take care of it for you, more effectively that you could have done yourself.
Better yet, see if you can relax in your faith for 10 minutes before you take up the cause and start handling the problem yourself. You'll be amazed at how hard it is to give your problem to someone else to handle. It takes real faith. And practice.