My father always used to say, 'Heaven helps those who help themselves.'
Literal
Father [topic-は] always heaven [topic-は] self [object-を] help [those who-者を] helps [quotative-と] was-saying [polite-ました].
The quoted proverb uses classical Japanese: 助くる (attributive form of 助く, classical for 助ける) and 助く (terminal form). 自ら (みずから) means 'oneself.' This is a Japanese rendering of the English proverb, preserved in classical grammar to sound maxim-like.