The 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, I wasn't; 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 coming to visit."

"Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man. 
"Would you mind closing the door?" Puzzled, the 
minister closed the door.

"I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter
said the old 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." 
The old man continued, "I abandoned any attempt at 
prayer until one day, about four years ago, 
my best friend said to me, 
'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 sitting in the chair. 
It's not weird or anything 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.'"

The father continued, "So I tried it. 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 to off to the funny-farm."

The minister was deeply moved by the story and 
encouraged the old man to continue on the journey. 
He anointed him with oil and prayed with him. 
Then he left.

Two nights later, the daughter called to tell the 
minister that her father had passed away that afternoon. 
"Did he die in peace?" he asked.

"Yes. When I was leaving for the store, 
he called me over to his bedside, 
told me that he loved me, 
and kissed me on the cheek. 
When I returned an hour later, he was dead." 
She continued, "But there was something strange 
about his death. Apparently, just before Dad died, 
he leaned over and rested his head on the chair 
next to his bed. What do you make of that?"

The minister, wiping a tear from his eye, said, 
"I wish we all could go like that."