"Lord, Let It Rain"

First he sold his calf crop,

Any open cows he had,

Then the heifers to replace,

‘Cause things got really bad.

You see there was no rain at all,

And that meant no more grass,

Without grass, no hay to bale,

As spring and summer passed.

And if he could find hay at all,

The cost for him to buy,

And haul it back and put it out,

Expense was far too high.

His wife with hot tears in her eyes,

Said we might have to sell,

Reduce the herd to just get by,

As cattle prices fell.

And so, he culled the oldest ones,

Headed for the old sale barn,

He found the trailers all lined up,

A couple miles, no yarn.

And finally backed up his rig,

And let those cattle out,

Down the alley, out of sight,

It broke his heart, no doubt.

‘Cause some of these he pulled at birth,

From their mothers, weak and cold,

And faithfully they’d had their calves,

And walked his land so bold.

He knew ‘em all, he knew ‘em well,

A livestock husband he,

He’d lived his life to give ‘em care,

It’s all he’d ever be.

It’s hard to see a grown man cry,

He stood beside his truck,

A heavy burden and a prayer,

He’d have some better luck.

The check they got was not enough,

To pay off many bills,

But better that he got ‘em gone,

From these dry, rolling hills.

And now they’re praying constant,

The Good Lord sends some rain,

‘Cause if the weather does not break,

They’ll have to sell again.

But next time it will be the end,

Of all these ranching years,

The generations worked this place,

And now their greatest fear,

Is will they be the last ones,

To live and ranch this way,

O Lord, give us just one more chance,

So we can make some hay.

With God there’s no impossible,

We’ve seen Him move before,

So, if You please, just send the rain,

And bless us all once more.

“Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield it crops…” (James 5:18, NLT)

Some do not believe that prayer makes any difference. You might sum up their attitude as “que Sera, Sera,” what will be, will be. In contemporary vernacular, “what it is is what it is…”. But whatever it is or will be can be changed when people pray. “But why don’t we always get what we pray for?” you ask. No one has all the answers for that. Perhaps God has a better plan, or maybe the timing’s off or maybe our motives are wrong or whatever. But faithfully praying for rain or for God to meet other needs is what the Bible teaches us to do. We then leave the results in God’s hands.

Lord, help us understand the life-changing possibilities available to us through prayer, in Jesus’ name.

Photography by Kirstie Lambert, used by permission. Thanks, Kirstie, and God bless you.