PRAYING TO BE GOOD

When Robert Louis Stevenson was a boy he once remarked to his mother, "Momma, you can’t be good without praying."

"How do you know, Robert?" she asked.

"Because I’ve tried!" he answered.

This brings to mind a story about another little fellow--one who had been sent to his room because he had been bad. A short time later he came out and said to his mother, "I’ve been thinking about what I did and I said a prayer."

"That’s fine,” she said, "if you ask God to make you good, He will help you."

"Oh, I didn’t ask Him to help me be good," replied the boy. "I asked Him to help you put up with me."

Our Daily Bread, June 15.