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Prayer should be an essential part of every person's life. We should not
only come to the Lord just to ask Him to meet certain needs, but we need
to take time to fellowship with the Father, so that we can be more in tune
with what His will is for our life. We need to keep in mind that the more
time we spend with the Lord in prayer, the more useful we will be in doing
His Work and following His lead. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
This is a good story that shows how prayer when looked at in the right way
is a communication line with the Lord where we speak to Him and He speaks
to us. I hope this simple story will minister to your heart and see that
prayer is simply talking to your Heavenly Father as you would to a friend
sitting across from you. (Proverbs 18:24)
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
pastor assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit and got
the chair ready.
"I guess you were expecting me," he said.
"No, who are you?"
"I'm the new associate pastor 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 man 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 the chair
beside his bed."
Author Unknown
God promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us, but He also
promises, the closer we come to the Lord, the closer He will come to us.
I encourage you to never think it foolish to speak to God out loud and
share with Him all that is on your heart and mind. God loves to spend
time with His children as the Bible declares in Hebrews 2:6-7 "…What is
man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest
him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him
with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands."
(Hebrews 13:5) (James 4:8)
It is true that we are busier than ever in this day and age, but we must
not forget to thank and spend time with the One who keeps our heart
pumping and our lungs filled with oxygen.
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
Psalm 55:16-18 "As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save
me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He
shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle
that was against me: for there were many with me."
2 Samuel 22:7 "In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God:
and He did hear my voice out of His temple, and my cry did enter into His
ears."
Psalm 118:4-6 "Let them now that fear the LORD say, that His mercy
endureth for ever. I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered
me, and set me in a large place. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear:
what can man do unto me?"
Psalm 139:17-18 "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how
great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number
than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee."
All scriptures can be found in the King James Version.
In Christ Service,
Dwayne Savaya
Gods Work Ministry
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