You’d think I’d learn. It’s happened more times than I care to remember. 

I’ll be in the middle of some sort of crisis, trying with everything in me to figure out what I’m going to do and somewhere midway through, I’ll realize “OH…I should probably pray!” And then, inevitably, God shows up. 

Imagine if prayer were my go-to rather than my last resort — in everything. How different would life be? 

I learned this lesson yet again last evening during a simple, but heartbreaking dilemma. 

We learned yesterday that our dog Aspen has a type of cancer that likely started a very short time ago and has spread like wildfire. She’s nearing the end of her life, and we are devastated.

We have two beautiful German Shepherds — Aspen is our female and though she’s five, very much still has that puppy spunk about her. Rocky, our male rescue, is the murderer of fun, bossy as all getout, but the biggest teddy bear you’ll ever meet. He didn’t begin his life in a very loving situation, but makes up for it every day since he became a part of our family. He tries to keep Aspen in line. She adores him, but ignores his grumpiness. The two are inseparable. 

But I digress. 

We were gathered around Aspen, showering her with all the love we can, and her breathing became very labored. The doctor warned that this may be a sign she’s in distress, and when this happens, we’ll know it’s probably time to say goodbye. So, we all melted into tears and began trying to decide if we needed to accelerate our plan. My husband picked up the phone to make the call, and I happened to remember that while I’ve been praying for Aspen all day, we hadn’t asked the Lord about this. So, I prayed silently, asking for a sign if now is not the time. 

Seconds later, our not-so-little stinker who’d stumbled to her bed, struggling to breathe just minutes earlier, jumped up, tail wagging, and ran to get her ball.

WHOA. 

Well, there was our answer. I told John about my prayer, he hung up the phone, and we just sat there. Stunned. 

Isn’t God good?

We’re tempted to think He doesn’t care about the little things, but He’s told us He most certainly does. He’s even told us to worry about nothing — to give it to Him instead. 

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Philippians 4:6

So, why don’t we take God at His word and do that? 

We’re human, but this is certainly a worthy goal.

I’ve learned that I have to be intentional every day so that prayer becomes not only an ongoing conversation with my Creator, but the immediate response to every situation and not a last resort. 

*Crossposted on Substack*