“Dear God,” I began, curled up in my big green prayer chair. From there, my praying went a bit astray.
Many times, I pray for something I want desperately. And, in my opinion, the thing I’m wanting is unequivocally positive. Healing from an illness. Enough money to pay for a necessary home repair. A job opportunity.
Often, the prayer isn’t even for me, but for a friend, loved one (including my dogs!) or church member. Surely, such worthy, unselfish prayers should be answered. Then, I pray for this thing, and there are roadblocks. It’s just out of my reach.
At times like this, I feel like the dog in this video.
The dog clearly wants the tasty bread his human has deliberately put out of his reach. He’s probably experienced the taste of the bread before and knows that it is good. He can smell it, and it smells inviting. To him, there is no reason why he shouldn’t have this bread.
The trouble is, we can’t always understand why our Father has placed things away from our grasp. He has a very good reason, even though his plan for us may be unclear. Whatever it is that we want so much may not be good for us at that time or place.
When I pray and don’t seem to get what I’m praying for, I take a deep breath, thank God for his blessings, and then simply trust. Something better, often totally unexpected, may be right around the corner.
The dog in the video got his crust of bread. But maybe, instead, his human went out to get a big juicy steak just for him to enjoy!
