A boy was watching a holy man praying on the banks of a river. When he had completed his prayer, the boy went over and asked him, "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 replied, "When you long to pray as much as you wanted to breathe, only then will I be able to teach you to pray."
(God's Little Devotional Book for Couples, p 45)
