No -- not the kind that show up in the political ads, but the kinds that get into your house, your closet, your kitchen.

In hot weather, my cats, Dirt and Squirt, have been spending most of the time outside. So a rat from the yard decided to move inside.

I set traps in the kitchen and caught the beast on the first night. Unfortunately, he dragged the trap to the back inside the loser cabinet to die. I dreaded crawling back in there to retrieve it. I put it off till after breakfast.

Then -- when I set my breakfast milk down on the cabinet with a thud -- the dead rat began to jump around in the trap.

That told me the dead rat wasn't dead -- and I found that very disturbing.

Confession time: Grown man though I be, I am squeamish about dying rats before breakfast.

No, let's be honest, at the risk of not sounding like a grown man at all:  I am squeamish about all wounded animals at any time.

Call it compassion, call it a phobia, call it what you will.

I once drove a woman in our church home after worship, and when she opened the door she discovered a bird, flying through her living room, bumping into the walls. She screamed -- and hollered at me to do something -- but I was already across the street!

But I digress. Back to the rat.

I couldn't deal with it -- especially on an empty stomach.

What to do!!? What to do!!?

Then -- at last -- I remembered my resources! My Cats!

I opened the door and called in Dirt and Squirt.

Dirt went straight to the cabinet, looked in -- and pounced -- and ran out of the house with the rat and the trap.

I thanked him. I gave him my best tuna (the kind meant for humans). And I sat down to eat my breakfast with my life in order: one bowl of cereal -- two cats -- no rats.

It may be a stretch to go from cats and rats to prayer -- but why didn't I think of my resources to start with?

That's us, isn't it? -- just slow on the uptake. We forget our resources. We stew about our troubles, anguish over them -- and then, after useless worry -- we remember to pray.

The Lord is waiting to help. And He doesn't have to be our last resort. In times of trouble, our first thought should be God. God is waiting. Open the door. Pray. And watch God work!