FILLING THE EMPTY CHAIR

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

                                                Matthew 11:28

An old story. But one worth remembering . . .

Without no where else to turn, the daughter of a very sick man called the local pastor to come and pray with her ailing father. When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in his death bed, his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed. The pastor assumed the elderly man had been told of his visit. "I guess you were expecting me," he said.

"No, who are you?"

"I'm the pastor of the church just down the street," he replied. "When I saw the empty chair, I assumed you knew I was coming."

"Oh, the chair, yes, well," said the bedridden man. "Would you mind closing the door?"

Puzzled, the pastor quietly 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 never made sense to me. So I never bothered."

"I just plain forgot about prayer," the old man continued, "until one day about four years ago when my best friend said to me, 'Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. It’s really easy to do. Here’s all you have to do. Sit down on a chair and place an empty chair in front of you. Then just imagine seeing Jesus seeing sitting there.’ I gave my friend a look because this was sounding a little strange, but he just said, ‘It's not weird. Remember, He promised, 'I'll be with you always.' So, He really is sitting there with you. So, just take a few minutes and 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 now 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 send me off some where."

The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to keep praying no matter what. Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church.

Just two nights later the daughter called to tell the pastor that her father had died that afternoon. “Thank you for coming to see him. I know he enjoyed his time with you. He seemed very encouraged when you left.”

"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, but he had passed. But there was something strange, In fact, beyond strange. I really don’t understand it. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside the bed."

Today’s Prayer

Lord, thank you for giving me peace, rest and comfort all the days of my life. Remind me today that I can rest my head, my heart and my life upon you anytime because you are with me all the time. Allow me to accept your love, your kindness and your friendship even when I forget that you are right beside me in the light and the dark, the beginning and the end, now and forever. Amen.