Throughout the Old Testament, the only references to providing are based on the Lord providing. There is the story of Abraham and Isaac, when Isaac asked where was the animal for the offering and Abraham answers, "the Lord will provide." In Proverbs, (or Psalms, I forget, to be honest) there's a verse that asks who will provide food for the ravens if the Lord does not provide.
As we move into the New Testament, we get our first hint of self providence, but it is a negative command not to provide for yourself, but to rely on the Lord. Granted, the command is given to those sent forth from the presence of the Savior to preach the Gospel, and they were under special living conditions, different from the rest of the Saints. Finally, however, we come to Paul's comment to Timothy,
"If any man provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel."
And that's about it, Biblically speaking. So, we have one comment, probably made in a context of which we are sadly ignorant, that we possibly may apply in contradiction of thematic references throughout the Old Testament.
On the other hand, there are thematic elements throughout the scriptures that while not directly instructing us to provide for ourselves and our families, certainly seem to weigh in in support of the idea. God said that by the sweat of his brow Adam would eat his bread. In the preamble to the 4th commandment, God says, "Six days shalt thou Labor," in the same grammatical structure as his other commandments. I often wonder if that shouldn't be the 11th commandment, but content myself with understanding it as a critical element required to honor the sabbath day and keep it holy.
The evidence seems to suggest that we rely on God to provide but labor to provide anyway. The puritan saying that God helps those who help themselves and the quote that great men make their own luck are anecdotal cultural evidence that even people who give God the credit for providing, generally do so after laboring to provide, and that those who fail to labor are not typically graced with divine providence.
