This is a saying that actually counteracts what God really wants from us - our hearts. He doesn’t ask us to do the work, He asks us to trust Him to do it. The Lord’s Prayer is a perfect example: “Lead is not into temptation and deliver us from evil.” We don’t do the leading or the delivering. We are to follow and surrender to be redeemed and delivered - over and over again.
The Christian life is supposed to be a life of humility and surrender that is filled with love, joy and peace. We can’t achieve that, we must abide in it by the grace of God.