Prayers Work
written by: Gregory Matthews
“Looks like it’s gonna be a mighty slim Christmas,”
The cowboy told his three kids,
“I guess we’re gonna have to live on love,
Just like the old folks did.
Me and your Mama are just flat broke,
Even the feed money’s been spent,
With hay prices up and the beef price down
Those few cattle ain’t worth a red cent,
I had to put a clutch in that banged up old Ford,
Then the starter went out,
On top of all that our old well went dry
Because of this dadgum drought.
I need that old truck to haul us some water,”
Then he stopped mid sentence and said,
“You kids don’t need to hear all of this
Go say your prayers then get your butts to bed.”
The children went and gave Daddy a kiss,
And gave Mama big kisses too,
Then they scrambled upstairs
And started their prayers
And all of their words drifted through
The rafters, the stars and on up to Heaven,
Beyond the final frontier,
And the words that they said
While they knelt by their beds
Settled on Heavenly ears,
“Dear Jesus, we know that it’s almost Christmas,
But we don’t need anything,
We was just hopin’
You’ll watch over Daddy
And maybe have Santa Claus bring
Somethin’ to take his mind off his worries,
Maybe a change of luck.”
“Maybe some hay,” said one,
“Maybe some water,” said another,
The third said, “Maybe a starter for his truck!”
Well, the next day just happened to be Christmas eve
And the cowhand was out in his shed,
When a neighbor came by to just shoot the breeze.
Saw his old Ford and said,
“Ya’ know i got that old wrecked F250
Just sittin’ there goin’ to waste.
You can have it if you want it,
Just come and get it,
The wife wants it off of the place.
The starter’s brand new,
The tranny seems strong,
There’s plenty of usable parts,
Heck, jump in, I’ll pull it over for ya’
Let’s do it before it gets dark!”
The cowboy said,”I sure wanna thank ya'”
The neighbor said, “Shoot, that’s okay,
The wife’ll be glad I finally got rid of it
And it’ll be outta my way.”
Later that evening the telephone rang,
It was an old hand he’d helped now and then,
He said, “You remeber the time I was flat of my back
And you came and got my hay in?
Well I ain’t forgot it and I hit a good lick,
Organic hay’s bringin’top price!
My money’s tied up but I can pay in alfalfa.”
And the cowboy mumbled, “That’s mighty nice.”
Well, they all went to bed and woke up Christmas day
And it had snowed at least two feet,
And there was the old man
Pulling a trailer of hay,
With a tractor, with a cab, with some heat!
He said, “Keep that old tractor as long as you want,
You’ll need it to get these cows fed,
And some crazy old coot dressed in a red suit
Dropped some toys off in back of my shed.
I ain’t got no kids, but I knew that you did,”
Then he gave the cowboy a wink,
“So I figured if the young’uns
Didn’t get too much for Christmas
They might find a use for ’em, Ya think?”
The cowboy choked up and Mama was bawlin’
And the kids were wonderin’ why
And the old man said, “Are you kids that daft,
Sometimes it’s Joy that makes ya’ cry.”
He said, “That snow’s awful wet,
In a week or two I’ll bet,
Your well will be pumpin’ again.
Well, I better get goin’
It’s supposed to keep snowin’
Then his wife picked him up and they went.
Oh, what a Christmas that Christmas was,
Chicken never tasted so good,
They sang Christmas Carols,
Pinned the tail on the reindeer
And ate more pumpkin pie than they should.
That Christmas night, they all knelt to pray,
They thanked Jesus and Santa Claus too,
For answering the prayers of three little Angels
And making their wishes come true.
- Prayers Work - December 14, 2025
- Seasons - November 11, 2025
- Merry Christmas - December 20, 2024
