God's help
"God helps those who help themselves." On the face of it, this is absurd, as you will surely agree. But if you go down to the profounder depths, one cannot be helped unless one at least starts to help oneself. For example, if there is a person who is lying sick on the side of the road and motorists are speeding fast, no one will stop if he is lying like a dead man, for the fear of involvement. On the contrary, if he is struggling and making efforts to rise, surely people will stop and help him to get up. Therefore, even the help of God presupposes our willingness to help ourselves in an active way.
Taken from the book "The Spider's Web, Vol. I", Chapter "Association - Discipleship - Self-Mastery", pg. 224, by Revered Chariji