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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."
Written By
Max Lucado
[The Applause of Heaven]
copyright [W Publishing, 1990]Max Lucado
used by permission
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