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, "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 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."