Hasn’t God already answered prayers, sent us relief?

Virtually every Methodist has heard the modern parable of the man who, when the flood came, went to his roof and refused help from those passing by. He said God would send relief.
When he drowned and went to heaven, the man asked why God hadn’t saved him. He was told that God had sent all the help that he had refused.
We have congregations that desperately desire some degree of relief from decline (in membership, finances, youth, etc.). Being faithful Christians, we pray for God’s grace and mercies to give us relief.
I strongly believe that God is responding to our prayers. For virtually every congregation feeling the pain of decline, the solution is “reformation.” The problem is that most congregations have little or no experience in reformation.
Could it be that our declining memberships, financial struggles and other problems are symptoms of greater issues? If we think about how we endeavor to turn our congregations into spiritual families that enthusiastically engage in making disciples of Jesus Christ, we would quickly understand that we must be missing something.
For many congregations, future financial obligations will be far beyond our capabilities to perform, unless we make some meaningful “lifestyle changes.” Faithfulness, in my opinion, is not religiously doing what we have always done but prayerfully doing what needs to be done.
Like the man on the roof, we pray for God’s help. The concept of praying and doing nothing more is a misunderstanding of the Scriptures. Prayer should give us the foundation, the power, the authority and the desire to act to go beyond our current condition.
“Prayer and action, therefore, can never be seen as contradictory or mutually exclusive,” Henri J.M. Nouwen writes. “Prayer without action grows in powerless pietism, and action without prayer degenerates into questionable manipulation. If prayer leads us into a deeper unity with the compassionate Christ, it will always give rise to concrete acts of service.”
God has answered our prayers by blessing our churches with loving, spiritual, creative and gifted people. Many of our churches just haven’t found the “glue” that puts all of what we have together in ways that honor God and move us beyond where we are.
But God has blessed us with opportunities to use his most precious blessings. I believe God answers our prayers through opportunities offered by our conference and districts. Opportunities (answers to our prayers) are too many to be listed here, but include Lay Speaker Training; United Methodist Men, United Methodist Women and United Methodist Youth Fellowship activities and training; Holy Boldness Urban Ministries Academy; district training events, such as My Job Workshops; and Partners in Ministry.
However, judging by the attendance at such events, it seems that too many of us are sitting on the roof waiting for “God’s answer.”
I would hate to meet my maker and ask, “Lord, why didn’t you save my church?” and have Him respond, “My child, didn’t you get the flyers, newsletters, United Methodist Witness issues, announcements and invitations I sent you?”