From the Home Place

January 28, 2026

It’s 18 degrees at 4 a.m., looking at 42 for a high. The wind will be right at 10 mph out of the WNW.

Sometimes we have to be specific about what we ask for. Today I get to climb aboard a friends ‘ol steed and move cattle! Last Monday, I made mention to a group of ranchers that I sure would enjoy getting to help with cattle work, and this young rancher quickly asked if I wanted to help move his cows on Wednesday. I accepted!

Then after I arrived back home and took a breath of air, I realized that it isn’t going to be overly warm today. But I asked for a chance to help with cattle and here it is.

I remember a time in my young ministry when a dear lady in our church had suffered a severe stroke. It was really a serious deal. One of her best friends said that she was going to pray for the stroke victim to get to come home soon. God answered her prayer. The stroke victim laid in a coma in a local facility for the next two years before the Lord called her home. It would have most likely been better if we would of prayed for God’s purpose to have been completed for our ill friend.

In Matthew 6:9 we find the “model prayer” that Jesus gave His disciples and us. Please note that Jesus instructed His disciples to pray to “Our Father who is in heaven.” It appears that Jesus was very specific that we are not to pray to “our Father,” but to “Our Father who is in heaven.”

Why? Because Satan is known as the “father of lies,” John 8:44. Could it be that when we start our prayers with the word “father,” that Satan could possibly rob those prayers for himself? Perhaps that is why Jesus tells us to pray specifically to “Our Father who is in heaven?”

Also note, in the rest of the model prayer of Matthew 6, Jesus never uses the words “like” or “just” or “kind of.” Jesus is very specific in the words He used to teach us how to pray. Perhaps we too should be specific?

One last point, when we pray, it would probably be wise to yield our desires to the statement found in verse 10, “Your will be done.” When I pray during my quiet moments with our Father who is in heaven, I yield my requests to His purpose with a phrase something like this, “and Heavenly Father, if you have a plan that is different from the ones I have mentioned, let’s go with your plan.” Why? Because God’s ways are always higher than my ways and His plans are always much better than mine.

Yep, it’s going to be a tad chilly sitting on a horse all day. Perhaps I should have requested one with a heater, but I’m still really excited to get to spend some time looking at the north end of a south bound cow, from the back of a horse! Remember, be specific when you ask God for things, especially when asking “our Father who is in heaven” for things that will affect the lives of those around you.

Praying specifically with you, Neal