Jake, the rancher went one day, To fix a distant
fence. The wind was cold and gusty; The clouds
rolled gray and dense.


As he pounded the last staples in And gathered
his tools to go, The temperature had fallen; The
wind and snow began to blow.

When he finally reached his pickup, He felt a
heavy heart; From the sound of that ignition, He
knew it wouldn't start!

So Jake did what most of us would do, Had we been
there. He humbly bowed his balding head And sent
aloft a prayer.

As he turned the key for one last time, He softly
cursed his luck. They found him three days later,
Frozen stiff in that old truck.

Now Jake had been around in life And done his
share of roaming. But when he saw Heaven, he was
shocked -- It looked just like Wyoming!

Of all the saints in Heaven, His favorite was St.
Peter. (Now, this line ain't really needed, But
it helps with rhyme and meter)

So they set and talked a minute or two, Or maybe
it was three. Nobody was keeping score -- In
Heaven time is free.

"I've always heard," Jake said to Pete, "That God
will answer prayer, But one time when I asked for
help, Well, HE just plain wasn't there."

"Does God answer prayers of some, and ignore the
prayers of others? That don't seem exactly square
-- I know all men are brothers."

"Or does he randomly reply, Without good rhyme or
reason? Maybe, it's the time of day, The weather
or the season."

"Now I ain't trying to act smart, It's just the
way I feel. And I was wondering, could you tell
me -- What the heck's the deal?!"

Peter listened patiently, And when old Jake was
done, There were smiles of recognition, And he
said, "So, you're the one!!"

"That day! Your truck; It wouldn't start, And you
sent your prayer a flying, You gave us all a real
bad time, With hundreds of us all trying."

"A thousand angels rushed, To check the status of
your file, But you know, Jake, We hadn't heard
from you, in quite a long while."

"And though all prayers are answered, And God
ain't got no quota, He didn't recognize your
voice, And started a truck in Minnesota!"

BETTER KEEP IN TOUCH