Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrew 4:16
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. James 1:6
Before we brought our pup home, we got bells to hang on the doors so that he could let us know when he had to go out. It’s much easier for a little one to tell you when they have to go to the bathroom rather than you trying to interpret their cry or their potty dance, so I figured it would be much easier than me trying to interpret the bark, the potty dance (hey, dogs have them too), or the stare. The stare is a whole new level of communication. Our old dog had his stare down to a science. That’s a whole other story though!
One of the first things you want to teach your pup is to do his business outside. Each time before we went outside, we helped him ring the bell by using his nose. The important thing, as the owner of a pup, is to get them out as soon as they ring that bell. They are actually training you to jump and put some pep in your step every time you hear it. They learn to trust that when they ring, you are listening! They don’t have to wonder if you are going to show up because you are there before they can blink. They might be motivated by getting treats and praise when they do their business outside, but you get pretty motivated after cleaning up a couple of messes!
Our pup grew and matured and became very reliable on the bell ringing. However, he was still young so we needed to make sure we still answered right away each time. He was also learning that when he rang, whether he had to go or not, he got to go outside. We got him fixed while he was still in this stage, and that is when he realized how committed we were to answering his demands. We were told that he needed to stay calm and keep his exercise limited. Unfortunately, he was used to his two walks a day. When he missed his first walk, he looked confused but otherwise it didn’t seem to be a big deal. The next walk he missed, he started getting a bit perturbed. He would ring the bell, we would take him to his area to do his business, and he would stand there and look at us. We would take him back in the house and the cycle would start all over again. We had to still answer his call, but if he didn’t go when taken out, we knew he was playing us, so he would have to go to his crate for about 15 minutes. We were basically telling him that he couldn’t do that. If he got out of his crate, rang the bell again, and didn’t go AGAIN, back in the crate he would go. This is a lesson we had to repeat a few times since then because he just wants to be outside, but he has learned he has to wait on us.
Now he is several months old and an expert on the bells. He rings it in different ways and he expects us to interpret. No matter what way he rings, we listen. There are times he will go to the bell and do a pass-by with a little jingle. That means I don’t really have to go out, but I’d like to go play…just whenever you’re ready. There are times when he goes and gives it a little tap, it almost seems timid. That means he kind of has to go, but we can take our time. There are times when he boldly goes up to the bells and rings them with confidence. They are heard throughout the whole house when he does this and they make us jump to our feet and run! If we aren’t there within two seconds. He’ll give another ring just to encourage us on!
I got to thinking how much this is like our prayer life. Each time we go to God in prayer, we need to be confident He is listening for our voice just as we are tuned in to hear that bell. He never ignores us when we come to Him. Next, I realized the different ways we approach Him, just like the different ways the pup approaches that bell. I can say that I’ve done that pass-by because I’d like to just have His attention, but I really can’t think of how to approach Him about something. There are times I’ve just made the little tinkling sound because I’m unsure. The uncertainty could be from doubt that God will answer my prayers to thinking I could really handle something myself. By the way, that never has worked out quite like I had hoped. It is the times that I boldly go to God, fully committing to my conversation with Him that has Him running to listen, answer, and take control. When I boldly and confidently approach Him saying, “Here I am God, it is I God!”, I know I’m getting His full attention and He will answer me.
Go boldly to God in prayer today! Even if you may not get your way, you can be confident He is listening and you have His full attention! When you don’t get your way, realize God sees a bigger picture than you do. It could be that He is saving you from something you can’t see or He has something even better in store for you. So don’t pester when you already have an answer, even if you don’t like that answer. You don’t want Him to have to crate you!
