The Best Prayer (inspirational story)

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Once upon a time, there were five young men who lived in five different

villages. The first one was very unhappy about his poverty and the consequent

lack of good food and dress. The second one was distressed about his house which

leaked during the rainy season. The third one was dissatisfied with the village

girls he had to choose from for his marriage. The fourth one was sorry that his

village did not have sturdy, elevated roads and the rainy season would virtually

cut the place off from the rest of the country. He wanted to earn a lot of money

to build roads for his village. The fifth one was interested in gaining more

knowledge about life, and was supposed to be a great man with excellent

qualities of the head and heart.

 

Each of the five felt that their aims and ambitions could not be realised if

they remained in their villages. With the blessings of their parents, they left

for the capital city. By an amazing coincidence they all met on the main highway

to the city and decided to travel together and be mutually helpful.

 

It was past midnight when they reached the city. As they were exploring the

streets in search of a place to sleep for the night, they came across a scene

where one man was being over-powered by four others. The man was eventually

bested, but he valiantly declared: "I won't allow you fellows to rob that house,

as long as I am alive." The leader of the four ruffians shouted: "Hey! Why do

you bother about what we do? We will loot or kill to get our bread and butter!

If you try to prevent us, you are sure to be killed yourself!" The five young

men pounced on the four robbers, and after a brief struggle managed to secure

them all with a rope . The rescued man was very grateful for their succor, and

after enquiring about their circumstances, arranged a place for them to sleep.

He also invited them for breakfast the next day at his house, at 'No. 1 on the

Main Road.'

 

The next morning, after a good night`s rest, the five young men promptly went in

search of their new friend's house, and found that it was the palace of the

king. The noble king occasionally went around the city in disguise – and that is

how he had been when encountered by the five young men.

 

The king gave them a hearty welcome, and told his ministers how he was about to

be killed when he was saved by the young men's valour. Everyone was shocked and

happy at the same time, and unanimously desired that the young men be suitably

rewarded. So the king said, "Young men! Just ask for whatever you desire the

most and I will see that you get it."

 

The first one asked for land and money so that he and his parents could eat and

dress better. The second one asked for money enough to build a good house for

his family. The third one asked for a beautiful girl to marry. The fourth one

asked for a good road to be constructed for his village. As each request was

made the king gave suitable orders to satisfy their needs, finally turning to

the fifth man. He said: "Your Majesty, I am so happy just to see you – whom I

wanted to serve in some capacity or other for so long. I request you to come to

my village every year and stay there for at least a week and accept my humble

hospitality!"

 

The king and his ministers were surprised at such a request. Yet the king

ordered that henceforth he would be visiting that village every year and stay

for a week at the young man's house. The ministers immediately left for the

young man's village to inspect the conveniences and comforts available there.

And lo! there was no good road in the village! The house of the young man was

pretty ordinary, he was not married, and also without sufficient means to make

the king's stay comfortable.

 

So they decided to build a good road to the village, and a big enough house for

the king to stay in comfortably. They also chose a girl from an aristocratic

family to be his wife, ensuring that the king's tastes would be properly taken

care of during his stay. And, it was decided to make the young man a

zamindar(landlord) so he would have enough income to maintain the big house and

his aristocratic wife, and take care of the king's needs during his annual

visits.

 

The moral of the story is obvious. If you pray for God Himself and seek to serve

Him, you will get everything you may ever need and much more. But if you pray

for this and that, well, you will get this and that only! The choice is yours.

 

- Author Anonymous

 

Source: http://www.sailightandlove.org/arteng_prayer.htm