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A man's daughter
had asked the local pastor to come and pray with herfather. 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 and
got the chair ready.
"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 man 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 the chair beside his bed."
Author Unknown
God promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us, but He also promises, the
closer we come to the Lord,
the closer He will come to us.
I encourage you to never think it foolish to speak to God out loud and share with
Him all that is on your heart and mind. God loves to spend time with His children as
the Bible declares in Hebrews 2:6-7
"…What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou
visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with
glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands." (Hebrews 13:5)
(James 4:8)
It is true that we are busier than ever in this day and age, but we must not forget
to thank and spend time with the One who keeps our heart pumping and our lungs filled with
oxygen.
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
"As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. Evening, and morning,
and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my
soul in peace from the battle that was against me:
for there were many with me."
Psalm 55:16-18
"In my distress I called upon the LORD,
and cried to my God: and He did hear my voice out of His temple, and my cry did enter into
His ears."
2 Samuel 22:7
"Let them now that fear the LORD say, that His mercy endureth for ever.
I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place. The
LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?"
Psalm 118:4-6
"How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great
is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand:
when I awake, I am still with thee."
Psalm 139:17-18
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