Pray and Act

The final requirement for answered prayer is action. Someone has said, "Pray like everything depended upon God and then work like everything depends upon you." Although this is not Scripture, it does contain much truth.

When Nehemiah led the Israelites to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, they had many enemies seeking to prevent them from accomplishing their task. We are told how they dealt with this threat. Nehemiah said, "Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them." (Nehemiah 4:9)

They prayed that God would help and protect them. They also appointed guards to watch for the enemy and give them warning. They were depending upon God, but they also did what they could. We should pray but we also must work to bring about the answer to our prayers.
Pray for your daily bread and then go out and work for it. Pray for souls to be saved and then go out and witness to the lost. Pray for health and then take care of yourself. Pray for a strong marriage and then build a good relationship with your spouse. Pray and then act.