No one believes in the power of prayer more than I do. It is the avenue that puts us in direct contact with the ultimate power – God himself. And God can do things for us that we never dreamed possible. I truly believe that because I’ve seen it happen in my own life many times.
But sometimes our expectations of God set us up for disappointment and frustration because those expectations are in direct opposition to an important principle, and that is this – God won’t do something for us that we can do ourselves. Starting with Noah, in the Old Testament, the Bible reveals this principle over and over again.
Noah and the ark. Everyone is familiar with the story. But did you realize he and his sons worked on building the ark for 120 years?! You think you work long hours at your job?!
The interesting thing to me about that is in the twinkling of an eye God could have given Noah an ark – complete and furnished. Instead, God had him labor over a hundred years on the project.
I have to believe that Noah and his sons learned many valuable lessons over that span of time while working together to accomplish God’s will.
The Kingdom of God is not some kind of welfare state that rewards people who sit on their hands and do nothing.
So if you are frustrated in your prayer life because God is not giving you what you ask for, then perhaps you should look within yourself and ask if there is something you should be doing.
Stories With Heart 
TY David for sharing this, it puts a lot of things into perspective. I’ve always been raised to understand this: If God isn’t answering a prayer for ‘something’ we are asking him for, regardless of what it is, perhaps the reason is that he, in his omnipotence, knows it’s not in our best interest. That’s where faith comes in! Since Jesus was a carpenter, this analogy works: If we hire a carpenter to build a house, we must also trust him to make certain decisions, such as hiring a capable electrician, plumber, & etc, thus achieving the plans we agreed on. This is also applicable with God, he created us and he knows what is best for us, and we have to allow him to do his work and realize that maybe what we ‘asked’ for isn’t good for us … OR…. can’t happen on our timing, but his. We must listen for that ‘still small voice’ .
Thanks again for sharing…. Vin
I agree with you, Vin, and your analogy holds true.
Another analogy that fits the point I was trying to make in my blogpost is the person who is praying for a job but has not searched for a job, nor filled out any job applications, nor asked for help with his resume, etc. We must be certain we are doing everything WE can do. Because that’s what God expects of us.