Shoelaces

One thing that annoys me is when a student comes up and shoves his/her foot in my lap. Being an observant adult, I can see that the shoelaces are untied, and I can infer that the student wants me to tie his/her shoe. But really, can't they talk? And if they can't, shouldn't they learn? So I teach my students to say, "Will you tie my shoe please?" Demands don't work: "Tie my shoe!" It needs to be a request. I appreciate the request. But it's about time for them to learn how to tie their own shoes. So I expect to see them begin to work on it themselves. Granted, some of the middle steps of tying shoes are a little tricky. But they can do the first step without too much trouble. So I teach them to do what they can before they ask for help.

I know that I am fallen and make mistakes and that the Lord is higher and more just and merciful and I cannot compare myself to Him in any real way. But I think there's a principle here.
I've been learning about fasting lately. I used to think that I just had to go without food and water for 24 hours. Then I realized that I needed to be praying and reading the scriptures along with that. Now I'm learning that the Lord expects us to do as much as we can. For example, if I'm fasting for charity, I should be praying for charity, studying everything I can find about it, and doing everything I can to be charitable while in my fasting and non-fasting state. If I'm fasting to lose weight, I should be praying for help, studying the word of God about how to be a steward of my body and exercise self-control, and I should probably throw away all the junk food in the house and make an exercise and eating plan that will help me get what I want.

The Lord expects us to do all we can and He will help us with the rest. He also expects requests. Being an omnipotent Being, He knows what we need before we ask. But it's still polite. And it's good for us to learn how to ask - and how to work.