[Monday-Friday we send inane humor, but on the weekend, we s=
hare a little more from the heart. This is a repeat from February 200=
1, twenty-five years ago. Hope you enjoy it.]
A man’s daughter had asked th=
e local minister to come and pray with her father. When the minister arrive=
d, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows. A=
n empty chair sat beside his bed.
&n=
bsp;
The minister assumed that the old fellow =
had been informed of his impending visit. "I guess you were expecting =
me," he said.
"No, who are you? said the father.
"I’m the ne=
w minister at your church," he replied. "When I saw the empty cha=
ir, I figured you knew I was going to show up."
"Oh yeah, the cha=
ir," said the bedridden man. "Would you mind closing the door?&qu=
ot; Puzzled, the minister shut the door. "I have never told anyo=
ne this, not even my daughter," said the man. "But all of m=
y life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the p=
reacher talk about prayer, but it went right over my head."=
"I ab=
andoned 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 is what I s=
uggest. Sit down in a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, an=
d, in faith, see Jesus on the chair. It’s not spooky because He promi=
sed, ‘I’ll be with you always.’ Then just speak to him and list=
en 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 eith=
er have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm."
The min=
ister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy to continue =
his journey. Then he prayed with him and returned to the church building. T=
wo 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 he loved me and kissed me on the cheek. Then I got back from the s=
tore an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange=
about his death. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and re=
sted 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 all could =
go that way."
~~=
Dr Bob Griffin
[email protected] www.grif.net
Pr=
ay also for us, that God may open to us a door for the Word,
to declare=
the mystery of Christ.