He Finally Understood How To Pray!

   



Greeting this Saturday night, I pray your day has been a great one and that this evening is affording you rest and relaxation! Many of you will be going out and about this night and I pray that you will be safe and make wise choices if you are getting behind the wheel!
      Today has been a good day, the subsiding storm is causing changes in the barometric pressure thus causing me more pain in my hips! I am so very excited to get in and have both of my hips replaced so that I can get back to doing the things I love to do! I have such an appreciation for those of you who are in constant pain, I do no see how you keep it all together. May God bless each of you with ease from pain and healing in your bodies. In prayer tonight I prayed for all of the ones that I pray for each morning and each night, I asked God to bless each of you with what is needed to make your lives easier, to give you comfort where there is none, to give you calm where there is anxiety and fear, to give you peace where there is stress and drama. I asked God to bless all of these people who have suffered at the hands of people who take advantage of them physically, emotionally and spiritually, to let them know that by coming forward they are protecting others from the same abuse, by coming forward they are able to release all that they are holding and begin anew in living their lives. I pray that justice be done to those who have cause such duress and pain to so many. I asked God to bless those in North Carolina who are beginning to dig out after the tornados, to continue to bless the rebuild in the areas that suffered devastation this summer. I asked God to bless the areas that were charred by the fires, that the spring will bring forth new growth and renewed faith. I prayed for the safety of our soldiers on foreign as well as home soil, asking God to shield them from harm and bring each and every one of them home safely. I asked God to hear all of our prayers and come back into our country, there are many more of us wanting Him than not and I think it is time we take a stand and open the door for Him with a big welcome sign hanging for him to see. I asked God to bless my child who is with child that he will calm her moods and allow her to enjoy this pregnancy, to embrace it as such a wonderful special blessing, to calm the naseau and allow her calm and comfort. I thanked God for all of the wonderful blessings both good and bad in my life, I know that everything happens for a reason and that we are all works in progress, I asked him to forgive me of wrongdoings and misdeeds and to continue to lead and guide me, I closed my prayer by sealing it and lifting it to our Savior, Jesus Christ for special delivery to Father God and ended with a heartfelt and humble. Amen.

The Empty Chair

author unknown

A man's daughter had asked the local pastor to come and pray with her father. When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed. The priest assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit. "I guess you were expecting me," he said.

"No, who are you?"

"I'm the new associate at your local church," the pastor 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 pastor 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 always 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's what I suggest. Sit down on 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 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 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 pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the pastor that her daddy had died that afternoon.

"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 dead. But there was something strange, In fact, beyond strange--kinda weird. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside the bed."