Pug Petitions

I actually laid hands on our pug for prayer two nights ago. Our eight year old pug has a myriad of issues, the most recent apparently being nocturnal insomnia (**disclaimer-not an actual vet approved diagnosis). This issue leads to click-clacking doggie paws on wood floors all through the night, whining at our bedroom door, and consequently – my own resulting sleep deprivation.



Now that we are into about week four of this, I am wearing down. A temporary solution has been for me to sleep on the couch. Proximity to a human seems to calm him down to a degree. But as this removes me from my marriage bed, it is not a good long-term solution.


So at 2:something in the morning, I found myself laying hands on my pug and audibly praying to God about the situation.


It seemed a little ridiculous and strange to me, but I don’t think it should. It has been a nagging, trying issue for weeks and is occupying a decent amount of life real-estate for me. Maybe I should have prayed 3 weeks ago—maybe that should be the normal response. Paul E. Miller, in A Praying Life, talks about the overwhelming volume of things we don’t talk to God about because we have the invisible norms of what God wants to (and doesn’t want to) hear about. Our pug’s sleeping patterns defaults to the ‘don’t bother Him with it’ category. And it shouldn’t. It is an issue that is causing me anger, frustration, fatigue, and some general craziness. Looking at this list, I’m pretty convinced I need the power of God warmly welcomed in the situation.


Thanks, Paul Miller, for your good words.


Thanks, Jesus, even more for your words through Peter: “…casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (ESV)


By the way, last night was more of the same with the pug situation.


While I am praying that the situation will go away, maybe the whole design was to get me to pray…