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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

THE PRAYER CHAIR





    THE PRAYER CHAIR



    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.

    "I'm the new minister at your church," he 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 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
    about four years ago my best friend said to me. 'Joe, 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 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 minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy 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 check. 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 all could go
    like that."
    2 Corinthians 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight)










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