We are blessed to have a 9 week old puppy in the house. Her name is Marzipan and we call her Marcy for short. Part of this blessing is entailed in trips outside in the middle of the night as part of house training.

The really difficult part is to get Marcy to understand that just because she is awake does not mean that 2:00 AM is play time. It takes some time to get her to calm down once she is returned to the crate.

As I was sitting next to the crate working on calming Marcy down, I was impatient to get back to bed. There are many other times when I have been impatient. Waiting for the light to turn green, waiting to see a prospect, waiting in line at the store are all opportunities for impatience to strike.

What if, instead, I looked at these waiting times as opportunities to pray? I certainly cannot make the claim that I spend too much time in prayer. I suppose that there are few who would. Rather than wasting time being impatient, prayer is a better response.

This is one application of Paul’s command in 1 Thessalonians 5:7, to pray without ceasing. I can and should pray at any time, any place and in any circumstance. So when I find myself being impatient, I hope to choose prayer over impatience.

My daughter’s puppy taught me that.