God Helps Those Who Labor

I do not say this to belittle human efforts, or to try to discourage anyone from his purpose of working and doing his best. But I lay this down clearly and most earnestly, giving not my own opinion but that of the elders: perfection cannot possibly be gained without these efforts, yet by these alone, without the grace of God, nobody can ever reach it. For when we say that human efforts cannot secure it of themselves without the help of God, we are insisting that God’s mercy and grace are given only to those who labor and exert themselves, and are granted, to use the apostle’s expression, to those who “will” and “run.” So it is sung in the person of God in the eighty-eighth Psalm: “I have laid help on one who is mighty, and have exalted one chosen out of my people.” [a]

For we say, in keeping with our Savior’s words, that it is given to those who ask, opened to those who knock, and found by those who seek; but that the asking, the seeking and the knocking on our part are not enough unless the mercy of God gives what we ask, opens what we knock at, and lets us find what we seek. For he is at hand to grant all these things, if only our good will gives him the opportunity. He desires and looks for our perfection and salvation far more than we do ourselves. And the blessed David knew so well that he could not secure the increase of his work and labor by his own efforts that he begged with repeated prayers to receive from the Lord the “direction” of his work, saying, “Direct the work of our hands over us; yes, direct the work of our hands”; and again, “Confirm, O God, what you have worked in us.”