~ DADDY'S EMPTY CHAIR ~



     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 saw the
     empty chair and 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 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 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 will 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, 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...

wow *chills up my spine* thats how everyone should go, with their head resting in Jesus's lap, what an awesome story jess!

Wow... That's really... Wow. Now that's touching.