Prayer, Plain and Simple

Prayer, Plain and Simple

21 Ways to Pray: God is a Dog Person AND a Cat Person

posted by Mark Herringshaw

Our family includes a dog, but no cat. We hold nothing particular against felines, except that four of the six humans in our house get puffy eyes whenever they’re around. JoJo, our feisty firebrand miniature poodle has another kind of allergy to cats. A cat isn’t an option, but all other things considered, we’d probably consider keeping one around, just for variety.

Supposedly dog people and cat people see the world very differently. Dogs and cats certainly do. You know the stereotypes: dogs are loyal; cats are independent. I don’t think God is either a cat or a dog person. He made both and values both bounding enthusiasm and calm, staid self assurance. There’s a bit of “dog” and a bit of “cat” in us all, in our relationship with God.

Having a pet of any kind can teach us a great deal about our relationship with God. In fact our connection with our creatures is a relative parallel to our connection with God. Relative to us, a domesticated animal is dependent and must trust us for shelter and protection and provision. In a way, we are “as God” to them, and the love and commitment we feel toward them mirrors ever so slightly how God feels about us.

Reflecting on our relationship with our pets is a great starting place for connecting with God. Holding our dog or our cat can even be a platform for prayer. Try it. Pull them up on your lap – if they’re small enough – or kneel beside them and scratch their ears. As you do ponder the connection, and as you talk with your friend and let them communicate with you, turn your focus up toward God and continue the dialog.

Prayer can be rich when it’s simple and spontaneous. In fact, we can pray anywhere, at any time. It doesn’t require lofty language in a sacred space. All we need to do is see our ordinary moments as the perfect occasions for communicating with God, then speak from our heart.

Try praying holding your dog or cat. God loves animals even more than we do. In fact, our relationship with them in many ways mirrors our relationship with God. As we are with the creatures under our care, so God is with us. Thank him for your pet, and that you can trust God as they trust you.  Here’s a simple model prayer for this theme:

“God, thank you for the such an amazing world and the gift of letting us share our lives with our pets. You made animals and love them dearly. Even heaven will have animals – the Bible tells us this. The way we treat our animals and care for them can be a great bridge for us to understand how you care for us. And the way the our animals respond to our love should be a great example to us – a picture of how we can respond to your love. Bless our animals and our friendship with them. Help us to honor them as you honor us. Help us to trust you as they trust us. We pray this in Jesus…”

Check out the other “21 Ways to Pray” in a special Beliefnet devotional I’ve written. And as always, feel free to add in your own perspectives.



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Larry Taylor

posted December 8, 2009 at 10:23 am


Dogs are like children. Cats are like men, and horses are like women. By carefully observing each of them, we can learn how we interface with each other. God gave us these three kinds to teach us about each other even if we are isolated. We should always see them as ourselves without prejudicees established by society. Then we can learn to live with each other. But notice, there is animosity among them for each other. When we see that, we should notice it in our selves. It can be overcome. The animosity is usually taught to them by us. We need to accept each other without taught bias.



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Your Name

posted December 11, 2009 at 6:41 pm


I remember i just saw the zoo once my whole life back home when i was little one,im not very familiar with their looks and behaviors,i see these animals on books and tv or computer.All things living and non living are created by one God.I don’t need to see all the animals in the zoo,i get scared too,when i do,i will just observe,look and listen
to them,if i get familiar with their behaviors,i will not be afraid or scared anymore.I just love to pet dogs and cats,or fish or birds,they’re cute.



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