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The Empty Chair
The Empty Chair
A man's daughter had asked the local pastor to
come and pray with her father. When the pastor
arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his
head propped up on two pillows and an empty
chair beside his bed. The priest assumed that
the old fellow had been informed of his visit.
"I guess you were expecting me," he said.
"No, who are you?"
"I'm the new associate at your local church,"the
pastor replied. "When I saw 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 pastor shut the door.
"I've 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 always went right
over my head.."
"I abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old
man continued, "until one day about four years
ago my best friend said to me, 'Joe, prayer is
just a simple matter of having a conversation
with Jesus. Here's what I suggest. Sit down
on 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 and listen
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 pastor was deeply moved by the story and
encouraged the old guy to continue on the journey.
Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church.
Two nights later the daughter called to tell the
pastor that her daddy had died that afternoon.
"Did he seem to die in peace?" he asked.
"Yes, when I left the house around two o'clock,
he called me over to his bedside, told me one
of his corny jokes, 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, In fact, beyond
strange--kinda weird. Apparently, just before Daddy
died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair
beside the bed."
Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive.
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