1. God Helps Those Who Help Themselves
Deuteronomy 8:17
1 Peter 5:5

3. There is a Kernel of Truth to this Proverb
Benjamin Franklin first wrote this in Poor Richard’s Almanac in 1735
It probably comes from one of Aesop’s Fables that said “A wagoneer was once driving a heavy load along a very muddy way. He came to a part of the road where the wheels sank half-way into the mire, and the more the horses pulled, the deeper sank the wheels. So the wagoneer threw down his whip, knelt down, and prayed to Hercules: “Oh, Hercules, help me in my hour of distress.” But Hercules appeared to him and said, “Man, don’t sprawl there. Get up and put your shoulder to the wheel. The gods help them that help themselves.”

4. Here’s the Half-Truth
Laziness is part of our sinful nature and is not ok
2 Thess 3:10-12 Paul says “10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” 11 We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat.”
Prov 6:6-7 “You lazy fool, look at the ant. Let it teach you a thing or two. Nobody has to tell it what to do. All summer it stores up food. So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing? How long before you get out of bed?” (The Message)

5. The Lie: Self Help is the Best Help
Top Selling Self-Help books on Amazon.com
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Modern Romance: An Investigation
Save your Brain
The Adult Coloring Book
The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips to Improve your Skills

6. The Lie These may be slightly less helpful:
How to be Pope: What to do and where to go when your inside the Vatican
How to get Millions of Idiots to Buy your Book
The Practical Pyromaniac: Build Fire Tornadoes, One Candle Engines and more Incendiary Devices
How to lose 5 lbs in 6 years
How to Survive the Apocalypse for less than $1000

7. Self Reliance makes us Arrogant
We are all born self-centered
The Bible says it’s God who gives us the ability to accomplish anything
Deut 8:17 “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth.”
1 Peter 5:5 “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

8. Self Assurance makes us Forget our Dependence on God
We like to think we can handle what life throws at us on our own
God is not looking for Self-Reliant people
Jer 17:5 ““This is what the Lord says, ‘Cursed is the strong one who depends on mere humans. Who thinks he can make it on muscle alone and sets God aside as dead weight.”
This lie actually makes us believe that God needs our help at times rather than us always needing His

9. This led to the Hagar Solution
Gen 16:1-2 “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said.
Gen 16:11-12 “The angel of the Lord also said to her:
“You are now pregnant     and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael,[a]     for the Lord has heard of your misery. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;     his hand will be against everyone     and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility     toward[b] all his brothers.”

10. The Truth: God Helps the Powerless
God helps those who:
Admit they are powerless to help themselves
In The Grace Awakening, Charles Swindoll writes “I consider the most dangerous heresy on earth the emphasis on what we do for God instead of what God does for us. Some are so convinced of the opposite, they would argue nose to nose. They are often the ones who claim that their favorite verse of Scripture is ‘God helps those who help themselves.’ The fact is, God helps the helpless, the undeserving, those who don’t measure up, those who fail to achieve His standard. Nevertheless, the heresy continues louder now than ever in history. Most people see themselves as ‘masters’ of their own fate, ‘captains’ of their own souls. And why not? It supports humanity’s all-time favorite subject: self.”

11. Without God we are sunk!
Psalm 94:17-19 “Unless the Lord had given me help,     I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death. 18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,”     your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. 19 When anxiety was great within me,     your consolation brought me joy.”

12. Man of Sorrows, What a Name
3 Guilty, helpless, lost were we; blameless Lamb of God was he, sacrificed to set us free: Hallelujah, what a Savior!
4 He was lifted up to die; "It is finished" was his cry; now in heaven exalted high: Hallelujah, what a Savior!
5 When he comes, our glorious King, all his ransomed home to bring, then anew this song we'll sing: Hallelujah, what a Savior!

13. Trust Him Alone for Help
He is the only true source of Help
Psalm 121 “I lift up my eyes to the mountains—     where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord,     the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—     he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel     will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you—     the Lord is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day,     nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—     he will watch over your life; 8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going     both now and forevermore.

14. Trust Him Alone for Help
David knew the hills were full of danger
What keeps you up at night? What is lurking in the hills near your house?

15. Conclusion
We can learn a lesson from the Titanic