The Chair A man’s daughter had asked her pastor to come and pray with her terminally ill father. 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. "I guess you were expecting me," he said. "No, who are you?" "I’m the new pastor at your 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 the Sunday service 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 sitting in 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, pastor, I tried it and I’ve liked it so much that I’ve done it a couple of hours every day since then. 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 his office. 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, pastor. In fact, beyond strange—kinda weird." "What was that?" the pastor asked. Well," the girl said, "apparently just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair he always kept beside his bed, and that’s the way I found him—his head resting on the chair and looking as if he was smiling."
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