A dear

friend sent this to me. I would like to share it with

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.

"I'm the new minister at your church," he

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 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, `Joe, 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 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."

We live by

faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

The Rev.

Dr. Knox Herndon is the pastor of His House Community

Church (SBC), a substitute school teacher in the Fayette

County school system, and a former Army chaplain. The

church is currently meeting in the American Legion Log

Cabin across from the fountain on the Square in

Fayetteville. Prayer line 770-719-2365; e-mail [email protected]