Mara's generosity doesn't come without work. It's worth it, believe me, but she's definitely of the "earn it" school.
When I got my current job in early 2012, my wife and I discussed her phone job. She hated it, and they had just restructured it in such a way that her pay was going to drop significantly. My job paid just enough to cover the bills with a little creative effort, and I saw no point in her giving herself a nervous breakdown, so we agreed she would quit, recover, and look for a better job. I began petitioning Mara to help her find a job she would like, and Amber began a series of temp jobs in the hope of finding something longterm. Along the way, we complimented the work with Mara with various other money/financial stability magic, allowing Amber to take only temp jobs she was actually interested in, nothing she dreaded.
In the fall, she started a temp job at a large, local company. It was supposed to be a one month contract, but she fell in love with the company, her coworkers, and the kind of work they do. She asked about the chance of becoming permanent and was told there wasn't the money to hire anyone else permanently.
She worked her ass off anyway, earning accolades from everyone in the office, and we both made regular offerings to Mara. Her contract was extended one month, then through the holidays, and then again. And finally, a whole new position was created for the work she'd made herself indispensable doing, and she is now a permanent employee.
I could leave the magic out, and that would just sound like a good bootstrapping story, but jobs falling out of the sky isn't exactly common in this economy. Amber and I both believe that her work made it possible for Mara to move things, but it was Mara who sealed the deal.
I don't know if I subscribe to the belief that our worship makes our gods more powerful. The gods obviously exist without us. I suspect it may draw them closer and make it easier for them to act, but it's hard to know for sure. I know that what I give Mara, I am given in return. I also know she asks more of me than any other deity, and she's also the most obscure. Correlation is not causation, though; I'm not sure I can draw conclusions from that.
glowing, change-grey sky sense of opportunity reach out, grab your hem
a little light breaks through the hum fades for now