A man's daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray
with her father. When the minister arrived, he found the man lying
in bed with his head propped up on two pillows. An empty chair sat
beside his bed. The minister assumed that the old fellow had been
informed of his visit.
"I guess you were expecting me," he said.
"No, who are you?" said the father.
The minister told him his name and then remarked, "I see the empty
chair; I figured you knew I was going to show up."
"Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man. "Would you mind
closing the door?"
Puzzled, the minister shut the door. "I have never told anyone
this, not even my daughter," said the man. "But all of my life I
have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor
talk about prayer, but it went right over my head."
"I abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old man continued,
"until one day four years ago my best friend said to me, "Johnny,
prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with
Jesus.
Here is what I suggest." "Sit down in a chair; place an
empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair.
It's not spooky because he promised, 'I'll be with you always.'
Then just speak to him in the same way you're doing with me right
now."
"So, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple
of hours every day. I'm careful though. If my daughter saw me
talking to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown
or send me off to the funny farm."
The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the
old man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him,
anointed him with oil, and returned to the church. Two nights
later the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had
died that afternoon.
"Did he die in peace?" he asked.
"Yes, when I left the house about two o'clock, he called me over
to his bedside, told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek.
When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead.
But there was something strange about his death. Apparently, just
before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair
beside the bed. What do you make of that?"
The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said, "I wish we
could all go like that."
Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive.
I asked God for water, He gave me an ocean.
I asked God for a flower, He gave me a garden.
I asked God for a friend, He gave me YOU.
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