[Pastor Ralph]

Q3. Why do we sometimes resist calling on God to be our Helper? Why do we try to do it ourself first? What is required of us if God is to be a Helper and Shepherd to us?

[hermitix]

Q3. Why do we sometimes resist calling on God to be our Helper? Why do we try to do it ourself first? What is required of us if God is to be a Helper and Shepherd to us?

It is all a matter of trust. We must trust and surrender to God...

[Teodora]

Why do we sometimes resist calling on God to be our Helper? Why do we try to do it ourself first? What is required of us if God is to be a Helper and Shepherd to us?

"Happy is the man, who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord." (Ps.146:5)

God helps those who seek His help. Sometimes we resist calling on God for help, because of arrogant pride - we want to prove to ourselves and the others, that we "can do it", or we lack faith and trust in God. The Bible teaches us to trust in the Lord with our whole heart and not to lean on our own undestanding, to commit our ways to the Lord, to rest in Him, to delight in Him. Then we will find out that the Arm of God is better than the arm of the flesh.
God's help is timely - "He is very present help in time of trouble" - Ps.46:1
His help is wise - He knows how to give what is good for us - James 1:17
His help is effective and all-sufficient - He carries all our burdens and supplies all our needs. Because He has been Our HELPER, we are confident in Him for the present and the future. He is not only our Helper, but also our Comforter "You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me"(Ps.86:17)

"Thus says Jahweh: Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from Jahweh" (Jer.17:5)

[pickledilly]

Pride. We think we are self-sufficient and don't need any help. We don't want to be indebted to anyone.
Doubt. We don't believe God will really make a difference in whatever situation we're personally facing.
Ignorance. We don't have personal knowledge of what God is able to do as Helper and Shepherd.

If God is to be my Helper and Shepherd, I must have a submissive and humble heart. I'll use the context of the four main responsibilities of a shepherd that Pastor Ralph described earlier. I cannot be led unless I am willing to follow. I cannot be protected unless I am willing to be defended and stop trying to cover myself. I cannot be healed unless I am willing to yield to the prescribed therapy. I cannot be rescued and helped unless I am willing to recognize my need and lack of ability to provide for it, and then accept assistance.

I have to train myself to look first to the LORD instead of making Him my last option when I've exhausted all my own efforts and made a total mess of things. I like the thought in Psalm 118:7 that because "the LORD is on my side as my Helper, I shall look in triumph…" If I am being helped by Yahweh, then I should be operating in faith and expectation of victory!

[Lisa Rupert]

Q3. Why do we sometimes resist calling on God to be our Helper? Why do we try to do it ourself first? What is required of us if God is to be a Helper and Shepherd to us?

1John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things [that are] in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1John 2:16 For all that [is] in the world, the **** of the flesh, and the **** of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1John 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the **** thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

There are those who resist calling on God's help because that would mean one would have to "Surrender". Surrending would mean yielding ownership, reliquishing control over "Our Property, Our Time, Our Rights, Our Loyalties". Some believe in God but believe that their accomplishments are their accomplishments, no one helped them, no one loaned them a hand, they achieved their success from the work of their own hands with no assistance from anyone.
In surrendering we are saying that what we have belongs to God. That we are only stewards of this earth and it's inhabitants. We are stewards of God's Property. That God is the ultimate control of everything in our lives and that he is the Master, The Property Holder, The Owner..... Including our present circumstances. By surrendering control of our lives we LET GO of whatever is hindering us from wanting GOD first in our lives.

[JustJeff]

Flesh. Pride. Humility.

[Sadie Stromberg]

Q3. Why do we sometimes resist calling on God to be our Helper? Why do we try to do it ourself first? What is required of us if God is to be a Helper and Shepherd to us?


I'm a very independent person. I think that can be a fault when I don't call on God to be my Helper. He wants to help us with all our problems, and He wants us to be dependent on Him. We do usually make a mess of things when we try to act on our own and don't ask God's help and advice.

God does help us many times even when we don't ask for His help. However, we should call upon Him in humility and obedience.

[Salome Ross]

I don't want to go to the Lord with everything. I feel I should try and sort out my problems first and if I do not succeed, then to go to Him. Not always because of pride, but I do not want to be a pest and we should try and do things ourself as well.
We have to relinquish our all to Him and to praise and thank Him in all things - good and bad.
I loved how Pickledilly put it, I could not have said it any better!

[June]

Pride gets in the way. We are a proud people and like to be independent of others, even God. We don't like to have anyone tell us what to do or how to do it but if we would just call out to God, life would be so much easier. He is ready and waiting for that call. Are we ready for Him to do for us what no other person can do? We must give it all to God and let Him rule and reign in our lives. We need to learn humility!!

[steve.c]

Why do we sometimes resist calling on God to be our Helper? Why do we try to do it ourselves first?

When we fail to call on God as our Helper first we show our pride in ourselves and our lack of sincere believe and faith in our Lord and a disobedience to His teaching. It shows a lack of trust and also a lack of gratitude. We cannot resist to take credit for gifts which are fom God. We claim that they come from our own abilities. We are ungrateful and are deluded from where our source of help really comes. It shows that we are not putting our Lord first in everything we do. It is a failure in our discipleship. "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciple" John 8:31. We must deny ourselves and follow Him then we will want for nothing God is a Generous Host.

What is required of us if God is to be a Helper and Shepherd to us?

The answer to this is given in some of the passages you quote: We must follow the teaching of Jesus completely. We must not sin and we must give up everything to be a disciple of Jesus. It is not there for us to pick and choose. "Nothing is withheld from those who are blameless." Psalm 84:11. "Pay attention to His commands and keep His decrees..." Exodus 15:26. In short we must put Jesus first in our lives, in every waking moment, then we will receive God's blessings in abundance; yes, to overflowing. He will help and shepherd us always. We can trust Him because He is always faithful.

"Then He said to them: if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up is cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23

[dalovelygirl]

Why do we sometimes resist calling on God to be our Helper? Why do we try to do it ourselves first?

I think this is because of pride and fear. The reason is because we want to show God that we can do things on our own which is our pride and fear because sometimes you fear that you are going to fail and God will see you as a failure. I don't think people do this on purpose. I think it happens because people have tunnel vision when it comes to there lives.

What is required of us if God is to be a Helper and Shepherd to us?

We must strip away our pride and fear and look to God as someone to lean on when are burdens become to heavy. Also we must look to God in a new light againts our adversty because sometimes things are not as bad as they seem when you put trust in God.

[s8nfighter]

Pastor Ralph, on Mar 1 2006, 11:14 PM, said:

Q3. Why do we sometimes resist calling on God to be our Helper? Why do we try to do it ourself first? What is required of us if God is to be a Helper and Shepherd to us?

My nephew tried to quit smoking, bound and determined he first prayed to God to take away the urges, and nothing happened. Then without praying he white knuckled it, leaving out his prayers to God. Same result. Then one day he was driving to work and a message came to him through a sermon on the radio. The LORD said, "Just quit and I will see you through it." "What." my nephew said. The LORD said again, "Just quit and I will see you through it."
A friend of mine has been disabled since a car accident eight years ago. He has aches and pains, not unlike mine witch is from years of hard work, and wanted me to again to pray for his finances. This time I said maybe we have been praying the "Wrong Prayer". The "Prayer of Jabez" was the hot story among Christians at this time and I never put any faith in that book. He said what do you mean? I said maybe instead of praying that God take care of your finances let's just pray that God direct you into an occupation that is suited to you and will meet your needs. Two years have passed by and he now has his class A license and is employed as a bus driver for the school district. You see he loves kids and driving is easy on his back.
Exodus.14:11 Then they turned against Moses and complained, "Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren't there enough graves for us in Egypt? Why did you make us leave? 12 Didn't we tell you to leave us alone while we were still in Egypt? Our Egyptian slavery was far better than dying out here in the wilderness!" 13 But Moses told the people, "Don't be afraid. Just stand where you are and watch the LORD rescue you. 15 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving!
Three things I have discovered about the physical laws of nature that apply to the spirit. First law is that it is difficult to steer a motionless object. The second is aerodynamics, without motion there is no lift. And last, if you steer a plane into the wind the lift comes with less motion.
There are a few things I often think about. What would have happened if Moses said, "Just sit here in Egypt and wait."? What would have happened if David hadn't said, "Give me a rock."? What would have happened if the disciples said, "We had seven loaves of bread but got hungry and ate them."? Wonder what would have happened if the thief had not turned to Jesus? And I wonder if there would be a place in Heaven if Jesus said, "You go first."? And last, I wonder how bright heaven would be if only one candle was lit and its flame never touched another wick?

Darrell

[charisbarak]

Pickledilly, you have said it all!

I don't really resist calling on God our Helper, but because I have not put God in my thoughts & allowed Him to control me. I rely on my self-sufficiency & then cry out to God if I am unable to do it! Just like a child!


Yes, my shepherd needs a sheep--one who will submit & willingly follow Him & His leading for me!

[sunilbernard]

Q3. Why do we sometimes resist calling on God to be our Helper? Why do we try to do it ourself first? What is required of us if God is to be a Helper and Shepherd to us?



Its not sometimes. We always resist. Our first response to trouble is to seek guidance from friends and people in top positions. When everything fails, then we helplessly say, 'God! you are my helper' We never learn from our mistakes. But all is not lost. Leaning not to our understanding needs contant fellowship with our God, our help and defender. We have to kill our pride, preoccupation, perception of life from our point of view and surrender our everything to God. Let Him handle our affairs. Our willingness to submit, removing our biased thinking, paradigm shift are some of the things that are required of us if we are to be indeed shepherded by the Good Shepherd.

[linda bass]

Why do we resist calling on God to be our Helper?
Basically human pride. We feel we can manage things on our own without God's help.

Why do we try to do it ourselves first.?
It's human nature to try to work things out on our own. Only when all else fails, do we finally turn to God for help. Alot of times we consider Him something of a last resort, to be called upon when all else fails.
When really, the Lord should be the first one we come to in need of help.
Then too, I think we don't always ask God for His help because He may tell as something we don't want to hear, or require us to give up something-a sin, a habit, etc-we don't want to let go of.

What is required of us if God is to be a Helper and Shepherd to us?
We must be willing to submit to Him and not let our pride get in the way.

[Lion of Grace]

I think sometimes the problem isn't in calling on God for help, but to submit to what He shows you needs to be done! Usually I resist because I'm afraid of moving forward into what He wants of me, or the solution to a problem means looking into my heart and seeing what I have done to compound the problem. I can fall to pride in this also when I deny my part in problems or have taken ownership of things He wants to move me out of. It's really a lack of trust I think. If we really believed God was ALWAYS going to do everything abundantly for our good...we should be running to do what He asks! When I finally do lay it all down, I always see how patient and kind He was to me and how much better HIS plan was or so much more abundant in blessing! Or I may experience a freedom He wanted me to have.
Getting over the initial fear is always the hardest part for me because then I can let my Shepherd gently lead me into good things and I've learned that on His part....He is always faithful!
Why I can't seem to just flow with that....I don't know. He has been faithful to me enough times I should be able to trust Him enough to submit right away. I'm just thankful He knows the inner most parts of me and understands and has unfailing love for me....otherwise it would be hopeless! I just can't do anything in and of myself! Worth mentioning anyway.

[care2hope2]

I did some study of the words used in this question Helper, shepherd . and after dwelling on the
references I was able to come up with. I feel We ( I ) resist calling on God to be a Helper to us
because of pride first... or Embarassment...disobedience ... shame... rebellion to name a few of the
most prominent feelings that we have.

God sees all and knows all. But like a child that is 2 or3 years old- peek a boo game they really feel
since they hide their eyes and cannot see mom that mom or dad do not see them. It is (I feel) like
that when we are here on earth whether it is we did wrong and sinned and want to hide from God
we feel we don't see God he doesn't see us.

And also if there is something we want to happen or something we wish to accomplish in our own
right we are to proud to ask God. God as Helper... (Help ) I find can in the bible stand for mighty,
power. arm and sholder strength. and God is strong and powerfull etc... we limit his power in our lives
because we are to proud to ask or disobedient and do not ask ... rebelling against him and ignore
Him as a source of help.

If God is to be a Helper to us we must prostrate, submit, subject ourselves God, His ordinances,
His will, His word ..... what we know He wishes us to do Humble ourselves and read what his
word says on said subjest .... bring ourselves low before him and ask what shall I Do Lord
and be quiet and listen to the word, people around us . signs he may send to give us His answer
He should confirm it in several ways.

I have when I am in a place to hear God . Had ideas given me by frineds that line up with the
word, Had a phrase or saying jump out at me from a radio program teacher, or a movie, or
a verse of scripture. or be convicted by a message preached in church... etc....

And I usually if convicted will put into action some in some way what is hitting or convicting my
heart if I am not in a proud or rebellious mood.

One time the pastor in a sermon said " If you are going to people and saying " I don't like HIm"
and " I am angry with him." you have not forgiven the person you are angry with............
I had had a disagreement with and held alot against the pastor at that time and was thinking of
leaving. But open mouth stuff in foot. After dealing with my rebellious feeling's I wrote Pastor an
email. I also was worried one of the women I had told in the ladies group may have mentioned to
him my feelings etc... and I should not have been roasting pastor with this lady.... I emailed the
pastor and asked it the sermon was aimed at me or if it was generic to all in the church.
and Confessed talking and the anger etc.... Well It turned out it was Generic to the sermon and
not aimed at someone but the effect of the whole deal was I repented and he frogave and all was
done. God let repentence happen in his power and in my foolishness.

If we humble ourself even if we think we are foolish and let God work-God causes good to come of
all things even when we sin...............Praise God For his wisdome and controll.

[Embraced by the Father]

As Americans we are taught to be independent and self-sufficient. We are encouraged to get an education so that we can "make something of your life." This kind of thinking is so contrary to what God wants from us. He was us to be completely dependent upon Him. We need to trust Him only and not follow after our own understanding.
We are required to "follow" the Shepherd. It is a picture of a Shepherd walking in front of his flock and the sheep are following Him. It required us to have faith in God. "Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding."

[Elder9]

Mankind has come to believe that he's self sustained, self made, able to pull himself up by his own boot straps as it were. Self deception is cruel, humanity has come to believe its own press reports. And especially when it comes to asking God for anything, it requires a belief in a God that most humans resist or denies His exsistance, through ignorance.

Man's struggle to become independent of God has created more problems for him than it has solved. And to add to that man winds up in a situation where only "God" can answer or fix the problem and because of human pride, mankind would rather die or do without, than admit they're wrong.

God requires obedience and submission to Him in order to become the sheep of His pasture and for Him to be our Shepherd. When we stop struggling and allow God to become "First" and to acknowledge Him in all our ways, then His Shepherding us would become easy.

[Linda Stanley]

SOMETIMES WE RESIST CALLING ON GOD TO BE OUR HELPER BECAUSE WE ARE HUMAN.THIS FLESH WILL FAIL.SOMETIMES WE ARE SO SELF CENTERED AND THINKING WE CAN DO IT ALL ON OUR OWN. IF WE DONT REMEMBER TO TRUST AND PUT ALL OUR LIFE IN GODS HANDS WE FAIL,WE GET HURT AND ALSO CAN HURT OTHERS.WHAT IS REQUIRED OF US IS THAT WE MUST FOLLOW AND HAVE FAITH IN GOD,NOT OF OURSELVES,FOR WE CAN DO NOTHING WITHOUT GOD.