Monday, March 5, 2007

The Empty Chair

Got this prayer from my friends. I guess, a prayer is a true conversation with God.
Tell me what a prayer means to you ?
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; I 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 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'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 think I had 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 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..

11 comments:

mystic rose said...

wonderful story, payal!
yeah..all it takes is a simple heart, doesnt it? :)

Dr Roshan Radhakrishnan said...

sigh.. that was sweet.

Payal said...

You are correct Mystic. All it takes is a simple heart :)

hi Roshan :)

Rosh said...

Hey Payal.

Amazing Story!!!
I am a firm believer in the power of prayer.
And BTW, even I don't know how to pray. My Mom tells me that I should go to church and pray but, in my heart, I always believe that our prayers will be answered no matter where we pray from.

God Bless Us All!

Cheers,
TLT

Sandesh said...

tell me why shud one pray??

I'm no aethist not a believer of God! But, i dont know why one shud pray??

Okay let him pray from himself! Why shud one ask to pray for others?? I feel its illogical!

Unknown said...

cute story :)
Actions,deeds r more important than prayers..but ofcourse prayers do influence ..i guess..

"Jab dava na kam kare,Tab DUA kam karti hai"
courtsey:A 1001++ bollywood movies.

Payal said...

lol lonley i feel like laughing. :)
good.
A prayer a meditation can relax you.
Sandesh there are times when people think about ownslfs.
Is that a question that you can nt pray for others ? or the prayers will nt be answered ?

Is prayer means only takings ? wishes ? wants ?
A prayer can be thanks too :)

here you go Vsh :)
lol jab dava .....
Its right.. You need innner power power to fight with something.
And thts what you get when you pray. or ppl pray for you :)

Rai said...

It's a beautiful story, Payal. It's true that not all of us can pray. And the ways of praying also differ from person to person.

But a prayer from an honest heart is always answered.

BTW, Thanks for visiting my blog. Hope to see you often :-)

Sandesh said...

why should one express?? His wishes, his gratitude, is needs??? Cant he just enjoy what he got?? Why should he pray fo something he doesnt have when he knows that wishing fo something is the base of all miseries???

DINTOONS said...

beautiful story...and wonderfully true...
god is indeed a living presence... much more than what we see thru our senses...

krystyna said...

Hi Payal!
Thank you for sharing this wonderful story.
Blessings to you!