The Empty Chair. Living by Faith Not by Sight.

A young lady asked her pastor to come and pray with her father. When the Pastor arrived, he found her dad lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows with an empty chair sitting beside his bed. The Pastor assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit. “I guess you were expecting me today,” he said.

“No. I was not expecting you,” said the man. “Who are you?”.

“I’m the new Pastor 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?”

Looking puzzled, the Pastor closed the door.

You know, “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, he said, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus.’

He said, ‘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 Pastor 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 pastor that her daddy had died that afternoon.

“Did he die in peace?” the Pastor 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 cheek. 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 Pastor wiped a tear from his eye and said, “I wish we all could go like that.”

We live by faith, not by sight.

– – – 2 Corinthians 5:7 – – –

What’s Prayer All About?

“Don’t forget to pray today, because God didn’t forget to wake you up this morning.” “When life is a challenge, pray. When life is awesome, pray.”

Say; “Dear Lord, I know you have me in the palm of Your hand, and you guard my every step. You provide the air in my lungs, and according to Your Word, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. And though I know all of that, do I really have to get out of bed today and be nice to all of the unbelievers and mean spirited people I will meet today? Okay, okay, but I’ll need your help. Thanks for making me better than I am.”

Prayer

“Mornings are better when you talk with God first.”

“Pray….. Not because you need something. But Pray….because you have so much to be thankful for!”

“The sweetest time of the day is when you pray. Why? Because you’re talking with the one who loves you the most.”