A disciple asked his teacher, ” Is there anything more important than prayer ?”
The teacher told the disciple to go to a nearby tree and cut off a branch. Then the disciple obeyed.
“Is the tree still alive ?” asked the teacher
“As alive as it was before”
“Then go over there and slice through its root”, said the teacher.
But the disciple disagree, “If i do that, the tree will die !”
The teacher smiled. “Prayers are the branches of a tree, whose roots are called Faith”, said the teacher, “Faith can exist without prayer, but prayer cannot exist without faith”.
(taken from Stories for Parents, Children & Granchildren – Paulo Coelho)