Imam Sadiq (a.s) narrated that when life got difficult for one of the companions of the Prophet, his wife told him to go and ask God's Prophet (a.s) to help them. The man went to see the Prophet. When the Prophet saw him, he said
“Whoever asks us to help him, we will grant him (something), but whoever seeks independence, God will make him independent.” The man thought that the Prophet was referring to him, and went to his wife and told her what had happened. His wife said: “God's Prophet is a human, too. You should have told him about our situation.” The man went see the Prophet, but again as soon as the Prophet saw him he repeated what he had said before. This was repeated three times until he decided to go and borrow a pick, go to the top of the mountains and use it to collect some wood. He sold the wood in exchange for some flour that he took home to eat. He continued working, and saved up some money and bought his own pick. Then he bought two camels and two slaves. He continued to work until he became rich. Then he went to the Prophet and told him what he had come for and what he had heard the Prophet say. The Prophet again said: “I told you whoever asks us for something, we will grant it to him, but whoever seeks independence God will make him independent.”