My grandson, Carter, loves to tell Knock. Knock jokes.
“Knock. Knock,” he says with a smirk on his face.
“Who’s there?” I answer just playing along.
“Interrupting cow,” he replies. The tension is mounting.
“Interrupting….” (I never get to the interrupting cow who part because he interrupts me mid-word).
“MOOOOOOOO,” he squeals.
We giggle and do it over and over and over.
This is what I’m wearing on my wrist right now.
A simple rubber band on my wrist to remind me to ‘bother’ God.
Whenever I tell a Knock.Knock joke I have to start at the end and work my way backwards to know how to get my partner on the right side of the dialogue. So do I start the Knock. Knock? Or do I have my ‘victim’ start the Knock. Knock?
Prayer is the same for me. I start at the end with what I want and work my way backwards to see how I can get God to do what I want.
If I do ‘this,’ then maybe He will do ‘that.’ How’s that been working for me, you may wonder? Well, not that great.
I’ve been asking God for two decades to remove some specific challenges for two people I love with all my heart. Well, truth be told, I bargained with God for two decades to remove some specific challenges for two people I love with all my heart.
Instead of bolding knocking upon His door (which He invites us to do), I tentatively just happened to mention that these two people were worth His attention and healing.
And when I didn’t see answers or movement, I slowly but surely began to stop knocking. It’s like I was asking Him to go first. For Him to Knock to see if I was ready to listen.
I’m wearing this bracelet on my wrist for the third day now after receiving it in church last Sunday. It is to prompt me to be bold. To knock. To bother God with my requests.
This bracelet represents two asks I have of God right now. Two requests that I’d grown weary of asking because He didn’t seem to respond. So, I am being brash and knocking a little more loudly.
As our pastor said, this may not be about the answer. It may be about the process. It may be about being willing to acknowledge that I am dependent and that He has the ability to move in ways I can’t imagine.
Honestly, I’m afraid to hope that the outcome will change. Yet, I sit here at my kitchen table with my left wrist wearing the Knock.Knock wristband gazing out at the garden that has slowly, but surely come to life over the past ten years. I didn’t know how it would turn out, yet I planted seeds and cuttings and tiny perennials. I transplanted, watered, weeded, and nurtured those precious plants.
The prayers in my heart matter more than my garden. So it is time to Knock. Knock today. And to Knock. Knock tomorrow. Who knows?
While I don’t know the outcome, I do know the One who will hear me when I bang on heaven’s door.
Linda Bryant Online 