Thank you, dear God, for this good life and forgive us if we do not love it enough. Thank you for the rain. And for the chance to wake up in three hours and go fishing: I thank you for that now, because I won’t feel so thankful then.

Keillor frames a prayer of gratitude that is both reverent and wryly self-aware. The speaker thanks God for ordinary gifts—life, rain, and the prospect of fishing—while admitting a common human failure: we often undervalue what is good until it is threatened or gone. The final line turns gratitude into a comic confession: anticipation feels grateful, but the early-morning reality will likely bring groaning rather than praise. The humor doesn’t cancel devotion; it humanizes it, suggesting that honest gratitude includes our inconsistencies and reluctance. The quote captures Keillor’s characteristic blend of Midwestern plainness, spiritual language, and affectionate irony about everyday life.