Hard Work Never Killed Anyone

I remember seeing that joke (title) in a Reader’s Digest ages ago. I think it’s pretty good. But then again, my comedic career ended before it began. Anyways…

A month ago, I wrote, Forget resolutions. Choose one word instead.

What did you do? How’s it coming along? Most people know (and research supports) that anywhere from 40% to 80% of people fail or give up on their New Year’s Resolutions by the end of January.

Despite the fact that we know the odds are against us, we still try. And once again, experience reinforces the idea that the only exercise we think we’re good at is an exercise in futility.

The fact is a flip of the calendar does not change our life drastically. Goals, dreams and emotions do not change our life.

This is similar to prayer. People often say, “I believe in the power of prayer.” But honestly, sometimes it feels and looks like there is a lot of prayer going on but not a whole lot of power. It’s like we often are just optimizing for intellectual or emotional stimulation when we pray. Or we optimize for social media virality and the appearance of progress. Are we aiming for change? Are we aiming for results? Or are we aiming for impressing people who we think can be impressed but whose opinions may not even really matter?

Wake Up

Eventually, we have to wake up from our dreams. Dave Ramsey once said, “Goals are dreams with work boots.” Deion Sanders and Jordan Peterson say you should dream with your eyes wide open. A more common way to say this is, “Don’t talk about it. Be about it.”

Another way to consider it is: prayer does not end when we say “Amen.” That is when it starts. All the talking and crying and pleading and whatever else is just you getting down on the starting blocks, anticipating the race to begin. Those are tense moments. Athletes’ bodies and minds are like coiled springs. “Amen” is the pistol being fired in the air, jolting you into motion. Getting out of the blocks is critical for a good race. But everyone knows, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.

Finishing takes work.

Prayer is work.

Prayer is literally the work required to get the answer to the “prayer” you are praying. That New year’s resolution or goal is not going to happen apart from the diligent, consistent effort you are required to invest. That work will be different depending on what the goal or prayer is.

There is a verse in the Bible that people love to quote. Honestly, I have a love/hate relationship with it. Mark 11:24, “[W]hatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Often, I’ve heard people quote this as they attempt to sound confident and competent. Other times they quote it trying to encourage other people to believe and hope for whatever it is they need. However, often we’re forced to reckon with the reality that we didn’t get what we thought we believed and received. And that’s why I have beef with this verse sometimes.

But instead of getting hung up on “Why?” the better question to ask is, how does the person who actually believes enough to sincerely make the petition conduct themselves afterwards? Do they just toss their words into the air and then move on, unchanged and disconnected?

In order for it to be a sincere prayer (or goal, for that matter), it must cause you a certain degree of discomfort or irritation. That pain is a blessing in disguise because it’s presence should motivate you to muster up enough will power to begin to take action. The pain produces a desire to change. A nicer way to say this is to say it gives birth to a goal or a dream. Even if that dream is born from nightmare, it can provide the necessary tinder for a decent enough fire to be lit under your own hide to compel you into action.

Then you have to come to grips with your own agency (or lack thereof). This is when many people quit, or cry out to God (or other people around them)… and then quit.

Don’t quit.

The person who believes is the person who puts work boots on after they say “Amen.” They open up their eyes and continue dreaming. Not daydreaming. They do not lose sight of what they’re after. They also do not become conceited. They do not believe they not only pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps, but they made the boots. They literally raised the cow, killed the cow, skinned the cow, tanned the leather and sewed the boot together, and then pulled themselves up by the bootstraps. No. They realize, they need God every step of the way. They need God’s guidance, wisdom, favor, timing, presence and many other things only he can provide along the way.

They realize the irritation, I mean goal, may be from God. They respond by providing the grit and determination and discipline to pursue it. God put it in their heart. The appropriate response is to consult God and then get to work on it. It is partnering with God in the hard work of doing something eternally meaningful. That is prayer. That is work. The difficulty of the task and the energy required to accomplish it is much of the reason why it is valuable.

Keep working. I hope your February is (even) better than your January.