A Boy was watching a holy man praying on the banks of the river. When he completed his prayer, the boy went over and asked, "Will you teach me to pray?"

The man studied the boy's face carefully.  Then he gripped the boy's head in his hands and plunged it forcefully into the water!  The boy struggled frantically, trying to free himself to breathe.  When the man finally released his hold, the little boy gasped for breath, then asked, "What did you do that for?"

The holy man said, "I just gave you your first lesson."  The boy asked, "What do you mean?" The holy man said, "When you long to pray as much as you wanted to breathe, only then will I be able to teach you to pray."  

We would be wise to pray about even the small matters of our lives and not conserve our prayers only for times of crisis or when we face major challenges.  Indeed, if we are in the habit of praying about the small problems we encounter, major problems may never arise!

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