"The Empty Chair"
Anonymous Author*
*SEARCHING for the Author:
If you wrote this, or know who did, please email me.
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 see the empty chair; figured you knew I was going to show up."
"Oh yeah, the chair," said the bed ridden 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 about
four years ago my best friend said to me, 'Johnny, prayer is just a simple matter
of having a conversation with God. Here is what I suggest."
"Sit down in a chair; place an empty
chair in front of you, and in faith see God on the chair. It's not spooky because he promised, "I'll 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, and when I left the house about two o' clock, he called me over to his bedside and 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 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. There is no cost but a lot of rewards. Just remember, the chair is never
really "empty". No matter where we are, what we do, how we act, what we say, who we are with - He is always with
us.
signed: Anonymous
