If you own a pet, it’s a good idea to pray for them, just like you would pray for the safety and wellness of your own child.
Prayer can prevent trouble, deal with it more effectively when it does occur, and help that pet stay healthy and well.
In my own prayers for pets, I like to start with the truth about God’s pets, since all of creation belongs to God first and foremost anyway.
God’s pets are God’s own ideas. They are spiritual creatures that possess eternal life and health. They are indestructible, incorporeal, and heavenly. They are not fallible mortal creatures that are susceptible to hurt or harm, lack or loss. They are eternal beings forever safe and preserved in divine Mind. They are sustained and supported by spiritual Life long before we know anything about them, and long after.
What we see with the human eye is a present human interpretation of what exists as reality in divine Mind. So, the opportunity in owning pets, is to not get mesmerized by any current material view, which may be either good or bad, but keep focused on the spiritual idea, which brings improvement to the human scene when appropriate.
One time, our dog developed a huge growth on her jaw. The outward picture was ugly and frightening. I prayed vociferously to get that physical picture out of mind and replace it with the spiritual truth about our dog. In my prayers, I rejected disease or any threat to her life, and knew that she was a spiritual idea in the Mind of God that was eternally preserved in her natural and God-given state of perfection. The error dissolved from my thought entirely, and all I could see with my thought was the perfect dog. The tumor vanished shortly thereafter.
So, prayer does help. It can make all the difference in preserving the health and happiness of your pets.
God’s pets are God’s ideas, and they are perfect in Mind at all times. See them that way, and that spiritual view will bring blessing to them and to you.
“God is the Life, or intelligence, which forms and preserves the individuality and identity of animals as well as of men” Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health, p. 550.
Thank you Evan! This is a topic that is very timely for me.
I have two cats. About 3 months ago one of them developed an abscess on her throat. I prayed about it and it seemed to get better (I tried not to focus on the material picture), but then reoccurrences of the same problem appeared. I continued to pray and got to the point I felt I had a clear understanding of the truth about the situation so I stopped praying specifically about it. But this cat just didn’t seem to be her normal self. Then about a month ago I noticed her back legs weren’t working correctly to the point she would fall over on her side at times when she tried to walk. My wife who is not a Christian Scientist was quite alarmed and even asked me to pray about it. On top of all that, my cat’s left sinus was infected which impacted her breathing.
Well! A cat with back legs starting to go limp is definitely a wake up call to start doing specific prayerful work! I was actually devastated by this material picture because I love this cat dearly. So one evening I sat quietly and just reached out to God to give me some direction for my prayers. The idea came very clearly to me that in Christian Science we don’t pray to change sick/diseased matter into well matter. God is Spirit, so everything God knows is spiritual. Therefore, my job in praying was to see the truth about every false belief that was being presented. To material sense the picture was 1) severe abscess on throat, 2) paralysis of the legs, 3) infected sinus. But I realized what I really need to correct were the false beliefs of 1) dysfunction, 2) impaired movement, 3) contamination. So I didn’t pray for a “perfect throat” or “working legs” or a “clear sinus”. I prayed to understand that God’s idea has 1) perfect function, 2) energetic and unimpaired movement, and 3) a purity that nothing can infect or cause to be become discordant. I totally put the material picture and false beliefs out of my thinking and just reveled in the perfection, purity, and harmony of God and His idea.
At first after praying with these ideas the temptation to “look to see if my cat was getting better” was very great. So I also had to do specific prayerful work to know the ideas I was praying with ARE true…right now…always! And to know that what appeared to be problems with my cat were just “illusions”. I held to the fact that at no time was my cat ever less than perfectly harmonious. So I didn’t need to look to see if that was true…I just needed to know that was/is/will always be true.
I’m happy to say that my cat is back to her old self. From a material sense point of view “there was steady improvement right after I started praying in this way and the healings were complete after about a week”. From a spiritual sense point of view “the true idea about my cat became clearer and clearer until after about a week the false beliefs were no longer obscuring the true idea of her in my thinking”.
Greetings..your comment is prevalent to situation for my dear fancy pet rat plus my husband is the hospital for identity mental issues now i feel enmeshed in the so-called problems but knowing in Divine Mind there is no problems.
This is so helpful thank you!
Thanks so much Evan for the lovely demonstration you shared of the healing of your pet dog. The testimony was so inspiring, so powerful indeed. Great.
You are so right. Its very important to keep the right picture of our pets in thought, as the perfect ideas of God, dwelling in the Divine Mind and entirely preserved and protected by God.
My sister has a pet parrot, whose name is Tonu. Once he had put the gas lighter in his mouth and it got locked in his beak and would not come out. We prayed and asked our CS friends to pray with us.
The lighter was released from his beak and Tonu was back to normal soon. Prayers for pet are always so helpful and our pets are very receptive to the prayers. They are so cute and innocent, fearless, loving and pure…So healing comes very fast to the cute pets.
Thanks Evan for sharing your experiences about pets. It is very helpful and thank you Brian and Nergish for sharing examples of demonstrations involving pets.
When our children were very young we had a cat who had been hit by a car on the road and appeared injured and incapable of walking. We brought the cat into our home and placed her in a comfortable position. The children and I talked about God’s creation and how they are made perfectly and maintained by God as perfect. At that time we had record albums of Christian Science hymns and we played an album of Mrs. Eddy’s hymns and we all sang along. That uplifted thought and childlike trust brought healing for our cat and much gratitude to our family. Later that day the cat walked and played perfectly.
We are indeed thankful for Christian Science.
Thank you Evan and everyone for your wonder thoughts and prayers you have shared! This is so timely, as I am praying about my pet’s wholeness and am now working out from a higher premise. Perfect God and Perfect Pet. Sincerely, Barbara
These are much needed insights for the whole field. Look at this! If all of these healings were submitted to CSPS, what a wonderful children’s collection!
I pulled a pet robin out of the jaws of my dog, and it appeared he’d broken her leg and put a hole in her wing. I put her in a cloth nest in a safe room and prayed fervently. I opened the Bible to the passage that man was given dominion over all the fowls of the air. It occurred to me that man was the image of Love, and it meant Love had dominion, complete dominion. When I brought her food the next morning, she hopped towards me, and that evening she was flying. I released her to the wild, a dear bird loved by all neighbors.
Thank you Evan, for opening up this important topic. My pets have always seemed like children to me. So innocent and loving and accepting of our care for them. It really is important to pray for them as we would ourselves and our children.
Thank you Brian, for sharing this special testimony. It is a wonderful reminder to me, to be actively praying for my cat, to see him free from what the world believes about age and what
comes with it. To free my thought of such images at all times. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this reminder! I am very grateful for your sharing!
One of my beloved dogs passed on Monday. She was about 12 years old. All my dogs are seniors as is my cat. This dog had never been sick or ill. But at the last visit to the vet I was told this heart murmur had gotten worse. I pray everyday with my pets around me and I put in my own words what is true about them and what is true about myself. I noticed around 6 am that she could not get comfortable. I was reading and told my dear one and all my dogs that anything unlike God had nothing to do with us. I felt such peace and my little dog sat somewhat comfortably in my arms. My husband and I adore this dog and he suggested I take her to the vet. I did and they told me she could be maintained on medication but not healed. I sat and read the Bible lesson. As I waited in the waiting room, my girl stopped breathing. I stopped the CPR they were doing. I had prayed she would just slip away. We had talked about it many times that she should just go when the time came.I am so grateful that that is what happened. I understand there is no death and my girl has just gone on. I miss her and I will have to work through that. The other animals are fine. they seem to understand.
Another inspiring spiritual view and its healing proof from SpiritView, thank you, Evan, and all! Please know my daily gratitude for these inspired and practical sharings, Evan, and for all your prayer and work for Church, embracing all. Special thanks today for Brian’s sharing – so spiritually clear and helpful. Thanks all!
Thank You Evan for this topic and my heartfelt love goes out to you Nadine. I will print this blog out and keep it with me because as much as I LOVE Christian Science I must admit when I have a problem with one of my beloved pets fear most definitely creeps into my thought. I have one dog who is such a love but is food obsessed and gets into a lot of trouble if I am not diligent. One night he got into something he shouldn’t have and we were up all night, he couldn’t get comfortable and needed to continually go outside. Finally, I laid with him on the floor, turned on the computer to the previous Sunday service from the Mother Church and we both fell into a comfortable sleep, the next morning we woke up and all was well!! Prayer does work if fear is removed!! Thank You again for the most inspiring blog for me!!
Wonderful article!!
Thank you for all the inspiring accounts and ideas.
Wow! Thank you Evan and Everyone for such wonderful inspiration about our precious pet family members and their unconditional love that makes them so endearing to us… and these qualities are a part of us forever. I, too, have had many experiences over the years where prayer has brought a good outcome to what was seeming the difficulty. At one point I had an experience with one of my goldfish who was swimming back and forth unusually in the aquarium, with great panic. All I could do was pray and the divine thought came to scoop him up in a clear plastic cup, so I could try to see what the problem might be. I was able to see that he had a small pebble lodged in his mouth. With God’s help, I was able to pinch his little cheeks ever so gently and he ejected the pebble, swam off as happy as could be and was fine. I am so grateful for all of the lessons of Truth that help our furred, feathered, finned family as much as it does our universal human family. We are all created in Love and perfection.
As always, perfect Timing, thank you Evan. My Jetty Boy is one Divine idea ~
Thank you all!!!!! So warming and helpful!!!
Thank you so much for sharing these truths!
Perfect stories and sharing. Brian I especially thank you for the sharing the specific way you treated the cat. Your clarity was very helpful. A pet sitter once called me because my dog Barkley was so agitated by my absence. I called my practitioner. She told me to put him in God’s pocket. That so comforted me. I knew he would be safe,secure, loved beyond measure. When I called back the sitter told me he was just fine and was content. I have since put friend and family in God’s pocket. What a lovely place to be.
I absolutely love this Evan! Thank you.
Heavenly Mother
Thy thoughts
bless and guide me
this day,
Thy desire for goodness
is my desire in prayer,
with great joy, obedience
I express thy Will,
You are allowing me
to witness the power
of thy Love…….
for the good of
all life…..
My love for thee,
as yours for me,
is boundless….
I carry it into the
dark places,
and see all evil vanish
as mist before
the Sun…
Thanks to everyone for all the inspiration! Our pets have always been part of our family. One of our cats came to us as a kitten just before my youngest son was born. He was so loved by us, my youngest’s “older brother.” We had moved to Hawaii, and one night we heard a terrible cat fight going on out on our lanai. The next morning we found that our cat had a long, open gash on one leg. Before the two older children went to school we talked about who Tiggy really was: he was an idea of God— loving, loyal, courageous, humorous—all qualities that could not be hurt. I told them when they thought of the cat that day to think of him as God made him with every good quality. I sat down with my youngest boy and the cat and we talked about God and how He made everything good, and that Tiggy expressed only good. We all went about our day as usual. That evening my older son had a friend spend the night. Suddenly the cat jumped up on the bed and pounced on their feet! I then looked at his leg and it was perfectly healed. It was a great experience for the kids and me—oh, and of course, for Tigger!
I have seen healings with fish, birds, cats, dogs, cows, sheep, horses. I have prayed many times with Mary Baker Eddy’s words from page 70 of her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:
“The divine Mind maintains all identities, from a blade of grass to a star, as distinct and eternal. “
Thanks Evan, how we love our dear dogs. They never “believe” in the errors we think 🙂 so they are always an inspiration and a comfort. I am grateful for your post today.
Thank you everyone for your sharing of such beautiful healings of our beloved pets. What a lovely idea to compile a book of the healings of our pets for children.
When I was about seven and my brother five, our mom and we returned home to find the house filled with natural gas. Our dear canary lay feet up in her cage with no sign of life. I vehemently insisted my mom call our practioner. My mom was reluctant as the bird appeared gone. I kept insisting. She relented and called. The practioner requested we put the cage outside and go for a walk while we aired the house.
On the walk we talked of God’s love and care for even the sparrow and our canary, and how He maintained each idea in His perfection. We sang Mrs. Eddy’s hymns as we walked. When we returned home, our canary was hopping about and singing joyfully in her cage.
This has always been a landmark healing for me; nothing is so black that the light of God cannot make the darkness go dissipate into its native nothingness.
As usual, a wonderful explanation of the way prayer works. Thanks for sharing this lovely experience.
This is a wonderful article, Evan. Thank you.
I will always remember Evan’s Christian Science Sentinel Audio Chat, Caring for God’s Creatures. Evan told about a healing of his cat that I have never forgotten.
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/1iuretv1z6s?s=e
Each evening when I close our chickens up in their pen for the night, I tell them how much God loves them, and that they are His perfect ideas, harmless, useful and indestructible. I also talk to our dogs about their inherent goodness, and many times pray to know that all the wild creatures are protected and provided for. God loves His creatures and cares for them.
My dwarf bunny suddenly died tonight.i was woken by his restlessness in his pen and i saw he was lying strangely and he made a sound amd stopped breathing in my arms . I managed to say googbye atleast and though my heart is so sore tonight, I realize that God woke me so I could give him a last cuddle and say goodbye.
How amazing that God gives us these little friends whom He shows through their presence how much He loves us and them . a cuddle takes a days stress away.
I honour you Lord for the amazing friend I had out of your hand. Please hug him every day for me until I come home.
about a year ago He answered my prayers one after the other when our one syberian cat was so sick. The bets gave him 30% chance of survival. I refused to see death as an option and God showed me that premature death of our animals is not His plan. I kept praying for two weeks continually and every day God answered one of the signs I asked for.
God showed King Hezekiahs story to me and said ro me I will heal you and your household if you serve me.
our beloved pepi recovered and the leg that was broken that he actually went in to the veterinary for , grew back on on its own too and he healed totally from his secondary infection. even the vets calls him a miracle.
thank you Lord that you are so faithful. I love you Lord