Prayers - The Hardest Part is the Waiting

Some days it is so hard to wait patiently while God works out the plans he has for resolving my worries and solving my problems.
There are so many days when I forget I’ve turned it over to him. I just plunge ahead, trying to work it out myself. That old saying, “God helps those who help themselves” hammers at me. I feel as though I should be doing something, must be doing something, anything, or else he’ll think I am not trying.
When I look back at some of the times when I did that, I see that I not only didn’t help myself, but I often put myself back a few steps. So what can I do? Nothing seems like a silly answer, a lazy “let God do it” answer.
Waiting patiently is a learned habit, for me. I’m still working on it. I’ve figured out that one way I can help myself is to ask God outright for guidance. “What should I do, my Lord, to help you to help me?” Or, “I’m listening, Lord, for some directions.” I must ask him for direction early in the day, when I wake up. Otherwise, at the end of the day, I find I’ve forgotten to work “with” him and instead, I worked against him.
In the meantime, life must go on. So I must take care of all of the normal daily tasks in front of me. And instead of pushing ahead, perhaps in the wrong direction, I’ll just keep listening. And waiting.