Wanting a Sandwich Without Works Is Hunger

"What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?...You  believe that there is one God.... But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith, without works, is dead?"
--James 2: 14, 19-20

I wanted a sandwich for lunch today. I prayed for it and, because I feel like I have a close relationship with God, I had faith he would deliver me my sandwich. But no matter how much faith I have, God is no Jimmy John's.

I had to rise from my chair, find my keys and wallet, and drive to the store. I told the man at the counter what I wanted, and he gave it to me. I had faith that he would and he did. But I had to take action to get that sandwich.

Yes, someone would have delivered it, but that would have taken a phone call. Again, faith, without the work, doesn't put lunch in my belly.

Are you praying for sobriety? Keep praying as you walk past the liquor store. Without action -- without attending A.A. meetings, without a relationship with a higher power, without helping others, without changing routines that led to drinking -- avoiding the liquor shelves is unlikely

"Now we need more action, without which we find that 'Faith without works is dead.'"
-- A.A. Big Book, page 76