God cares deeply about the heart attitudes you bring to him in prayer. He delights in hearing his children pray, so come to him with a heart of repentance and intercession for others!
Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada and have you ever heard of a prayer dog?
Well, let me explain what I mean by that. My friend, Marlys, who heads up a Christian disability group, she recently visited an internationally renowned prayer center. Well, as they were all sitting in the prayer room, many disabled leaders, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere, a staff member from the prayer center motioned to Marlys and asked her to step outside. “Ma’am,” he said, “we’re a little concerned about the two blind members in your group. The two blind people went into the prayer room with their guide dogs, and we don’t think that’s proper. I’m concerned that having a dog in the room would grieve the Holy Spirit. So, ma’am, how do you think the Lord feels about this?”
Well, Marlys could hardly believe her ears. She did not know whether to laugh, really, or whether she should get angry, but what she told the staff person was, “You know, I think God is saying, ‘Hallelujah! I’m glad they’re here!’” But still, the man persisted. He thought someone should remove the dogs and let the blind individuals remain in the room to pray. After about ten minutes of going back and forth, the staff member finally relented. The blind people were able to keep their guide dogs who were just seated obediently at their owner’s feet anyway.
I mean, come on, a dog, grieving the Holy Spirit because he’s in a prayer room with his blind owner? I mean, guide dogs go everywhere—into supermarkets, shopping malls, theaters—and they should go even into rooms where people pray. Frankly, the whole affair reminded me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 23, where He said, “You [people, you] give a tenth of your spices— [you give] mint, [and] dill and cumin, but you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, [and] mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides!” Isn’t that an interesting choice of words, “You blind guides, you strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” Wow. I wonder if Jesus envisioned those two seeing eye dogs in that international prayer center, ’cause God does not care that a little dog hair might get on the carpet in a church’s prayer room, but He sure does care about the heart attitudes we bring before His throne of grace; He cares about how seriously we take our prayers and whether or not we offer them in humility and a spirit of worship. He cares about honesty before Him and repentance and confession. A dog in His presence, what is the big deal? Matthew 23 extols a higher law, which underscores compassion, prudence, and a more exalted perspective!
Friend, we so often lose our focus and put such emphasis on the externals, the rules, the practices, rather than on God's delight in hearing His children pray, as well as a passion for lost and hopeless people. And that, by the way, was the focus of the prayers of those blind people; they were interceding on behalf of people they knew who were without Christ. So, which means more to the Lord: religious decorum without dogs or the plight of eternal souls with dogs? Well, I think you know the answer. However, you may not know that this is National Assistance Dog Week and I thank the Lord for these wonderful canine companions who make such a big difference in the lives of me and my friends. Oh, and please know that we at Joni and Friends care about your struggles too. Contact us today on my radio page at joniradio.org. We want to hear from you! And we want to join our Savior in heaven in interceding for your special needs. Again, just write us your prayer requests at joniradio.org, and then, please keep us posted on how you’re doing and what’s going on.
© Joni and Friends