Daddy's Empty Chair - a story of Prayer

[katzg]

Daddy's Empty Chair
Author: Unknown


Daddy's Empty 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.

The minister told him his name and then remarked,
"I saw the empty chair and 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 four years ago, my best friend said to me,
"Johnny, 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
will be with you always'.

"Then just speak to him 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 man 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 how much 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 minister wiped a tear from his eye and said,
"I wish we could all go like that."

Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive.

I asked God for water,
He gave me! an ocean.

I asked God for a flower,
He gave me a garden.

I asked God for a friend,
He gave me all of YOU...

If God brings you to it, He will bring you through
it.

Happy moments, praise God.

Difficult moments, seek God.

Quiet moments, worship God.

Painful moments, trust God.

Every moment, thank God.

[mummyhill]

That was beautiful

[katzg]

i thought so

[Xavielli]

~Amen [sob][sob]

[heiferjamese]

I have actually got tears in my eyes.....

I think I may have to give that a go as I also struggle to talk to god out loud, and it seems unreal if I only do it in my head etc....

[BrookeandTaylorsmummy]

That is beautiful, thank you for sharing it with us x

[Medulla]

That is really lovely, thank you it's made my night

[katzg]

its fab isn't it

[nearlythree]

[MoreTeaAnyone]

AMEN ! What a wonderful story. Made me cry. God is a friend, if only everyone could see Him in that way.

[longwaytogo]

That is wonderful would give it a try if I could get 5 mins in a room on my own without anyone else listening. (sigh) Why do we struggle with prayer so much

[MerlinsBeard]

made me cry. have many issues with this esp at mo

[Tommy]

that's really lovely

[iris66]

that is so, so lovely - I am sat here with a huge lump in my throat. My dad died suddenly whilst recuperating from an op a couple of months ago. He had found his faith again and made peace, with all that is, only days before he died.
I need to go find a tissue.....