Rabbi Abraham of Ashkelon was known in his city for the regularity of his prayers. He never missed the appointed hours; his Shacharit, Minchah, and Maariv were as steady as the sun. One day the prophet Elijah appeared to him and handed him a sela, a silver coin. "This is a reward," Elijah said, "for the faithfulness of your prayers."
The coin had a quiet magic. Rabbi Abraham's business began to prosper. What he spent returned; what he invested grew. Over the months he became wealthy. And slowly, without noticing at first, he began to pray less. He had more responsibilities, more meetings, more appointments — and the fixed hours slipped.
Elijah reappeared. He did not rebuke the rabbi with speeches. He simply held out his hand. "I reclaim the coin," he said. Rabbi Abraham surrendered the silver, and within weeks his prosperity collapsed. He was poorer than when he had started, because now he knew what he had lost.
He pleaded with the prophet to restore the coin. Elijah agreed, on one condition: Rabbi Abraham must pray regularly and never again let wealth erode the discipline of his hours. The coin was returned. This time Abraham kept both the prosperity and the prayers.
Gaster's Exempla of the Rabbis (1924, No. 319, from Codex Gaster 185) tells this as a parable of how brachah — divine blessing — is tied to the habits that earned it. Wealth that comes from prayer must be protected by prayer, or the source itself dries up.