Once there was a certain boy who was fed up with his life. To him, his house seemed small and pokey. His toys were all rubbish and his clothes were all seriously untrendy. His parents were always nagging him and his sister was a major embarrassment. Both his school and his mates were desparately sad.

If only his family were rich. Then things would be different. He would live in a mansion with his own private theme park in the garden. He would go to a really posh school where all his mates would be the children of film stars. He would have a wardrobe stuffed full of really trendy clothes. His parents wouldn't nag him any more because he would have a servant who would tidy up after him. And his sister would go to school in America.

So the boy prayed to Jesus that his parents would win the National Lottery. He prayed every Saturday night for four years, but his family's numbers never came up.

During those four years, the boy worked hard at school. In some of his classes, he learnt of other people just like him in his own country or abroad, who didn't have houses. Most of the time, they were cold and humgry. These people were alone in the world because their families had either died or rejected them.

When he read about these people, the boy realized his life wasn't so bad after all.

One Saturday night, Jesus appeared to the boy in a dream. The boy said to him, "I thought you were supposed to love me?"

Jesus answered, "I do."

"Then", asked the boy, "how come you never answered my prayer". Jesus replied, "I did."