tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33549841.post5368823524854515339..comments2023-03-31T05:46:40.000-04:00Comments on Jennwith2ns: BeggingJennwith2nshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07798541847458334716noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33549841.post-513447866452507132010-08-30T21:53:14.570-04:002010-08-30T21:53:14.570-04:00Interesting points, Jeff. I don't think it'...Interesting points, Jeff. I don't think it's weird that your brain went that way; I think most of the time I assume that's why God doesn't give me what I ask (when He doesn't)--either it's really bad for me and I don't know it, or He's sick of my whining about it.<br /><br />You're right that giving in to annoying behaviours reinforces them, and I honestly don't think that God is beyond getting annoyed. I suggest that, "Who gave man his mouth?" after Moses kept making excuses for not going to free the Israelites from Egypt was one manifestation of His ability to get annoyed. (I'd include His response to the Israelites' making of the golden calf, too, except that I suspect that went beyond annoyance.)<br /><br />The "insight" or whatever it was that led to this post was kind of one of those "aha" moments, or at least a "huh" moment, and I think it came in part from the semiconscious realisation that Oscar's begging DOESN'T annoy me. Sometimes I don't give in to it because what he wants is bad for him, or because I have this idea that I shouldn't give in to it all the time, but it isn't because I want to try to stop the behaviour. I think it's cute. I find him delightful.<br /><br />I guess part of that is because he's my dog and I love him; I am less tolerant, say, of the Milk Guy's chihuahua's begging (although I like her, too) and I wouldn't anticipate that you, for example, would find Oscar's pleading eyes as endearing as I do. But I think that's something I often forget--just because *I* would find it irritating to have a person asking me over and over and over again for the same thing doesn't actually mean that God does. I only expect it of Him because I have a pretty low threshold for irritating demanding people, and a pretty insufficient understanding of how crazy God is about me. <br /><br />I can't really think of any Bible verse where we're told to stop asking for stuff. Even when the topic of praying within God's will comes up, no one ever says to stop praying about things. But there are a whole lot of verses, including the "keep on asking and it will be given to you" and the parable about the woman who keeps bugging the judge until she gets a favourable judgment, that make it sound like God actually WANTS us to pester Him a bit. <br /><br />Generally speaking, I myself would rather surprise someone with something before they even ask, and as soon as they ask for it, I feel less inclined to give it. But this week I noticed that I don't feel that way about Oscar. I love when he asks me for stuff. I love that he depends on me and that he's interacting with me . . . even if it's just so he can have a taste of cheese. And I guess when I noticed it, it was different enough from how I usually feel about things, and similar enough to what Jesus says about asking God, that it seemed to take the whole prayer-request thing in a new direction than I normally think about it.Jennwith2nshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07798541847458334716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33549841.post-170717140250243502010-08-29T00:41:07.119-04:002010-08-29T00:41:07.119-04:00Wierdly, (or perhaps not) my brain went in precise...Wierdly, (or perhaps not) my brain went in precisely the opposite direction.<br />Ignoring is a well-known and often reccomended tactic in behavior management when the kid (or animal, I guess) is engaged in annoying, but non-dangerous behavior.<br />The caveat that gets less focused on about ignoring is that the annoying behavior can be expected to increase in frequency for some time before the behavior extinguishes. Authority figures (such as teachers or pet owners) unwittingly reinforce annoyances by caving in and recognizing the behavior when they are to prepared to wait out these increases in frequency.<br />I guess the theological direction my own brain went in, around all this is that perhaps we sometimes pray for things that God knows would be quite destructive. Because we've grown up in a world where the squeaky wheel often gets oiled because squeaky wheels are annoying, we have this idea when our prayers go unanswered that we just need to ask for it again, and again, and again.<br />Perhaps sometimes our prayers go unanswered because God is above and beyond annoyance, so he never reinforces our destructive tendencies.<br />I think that I'm not disagreeing, just find it funny that my own brain went in the opposite direction.Jeffhttp://jeffsdeepthoughts.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com