Is it appropriate to pray for pets who are sick?
Categories: prayer, Christian living | April 28th, 2008 | by Ken Horn | one commentsGod cares about every portion of your life … the big things and the small. Lots of Christians admit to praying for a parking place at the mall. The needs of a living creature are certainly more important than that.
It has been clearly demonstrated that pets can have significant health benefits for people. That’s one of the reasons therapy dogs and therapy cats are in use today for institutionalized or shut-in patients. Recent studies indicate that people with pets live longer, healthier lives. They can be a very good thing for some people.
And the Bible is clear that God values even animal life, which are a part of His creation.
There seems to be a glimpse of this in Jonah 4:11 (NIV): “But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”
It is more pronounced in the New Testament. In Luke 12, Jesus addresses the eternal value of a soul, as well as the value of small things. Verses 6 and 7 say, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Children can learn compassion and kindness by watching how adults treat animals.
Yes, it is appropriate to pray for sick or injured pets, as well as for other small areas of our lives … but Christians should pray far more about things of eternal value. We just need to keep things in perspective.
Ken Horn
Some other scriptures about animals:
Exodus 20:8-10 Even work animals deserve a rest.
Deuteronomy 22:10 Don’t mismatch work animals. It would cause undue suffering for mismatched animals to be yoked together. (There’s a human application to this as well.)
Proverbs 12:10 People are expected to be kind to animals.
