Prayer’s Power by Martin Wiles

Series: Practical Advice for Life

A young girl phoned a local pastor. Her father was dying, and she wanted the minister to pray with him. When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up by two pillows. Beside the bed was an empty chair. “I suppose you were expecting me,” the pastor commented. But the man told him no and asked who he was. After identifying himself, the pastor listened as the man told the story of the empty chair.

He had never learned to pray even though he listened to his pastor encourage it on many occasions. He finally just gave up until four years prior when a friend told him, “Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus.” He suggested I place an empty chair in front of me and pretend Jesus was sitting there. And that’s what he had been doing ever since. 

Now he was bedridden, so he had placed the chair beside his bed. The pastor was moved by the story and prayed with him. Two days later, he received a call from the man’s daughter saying he had died. But the posture she found him in puzzled her. She found her father with his head laid on the chair. 

Prayer is potent. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. (James 5:16 NLT)

For the believer, prayer is a grand privilege that should be a common habit. Pray without ceasing is the biblical command and is accomplished when I remain in an attitude of prayer throughout the day. I’m conscious of God’s presence, and I offer “microwave prayers” regularly during the day. My prayers are powerful because of whom they are directed to. God is the omnipotent sovereign director of the universe and my life. When I pray, I’m ushered directly into his throne room. Knowing he has all my troubles in his hands fashions an attitude of comfort. Wherever I am, there should be an empty chair. 

Are you experiencing prayer’s power in your life?

Prayer: Prompt us, dear God, to come often and regularly before Your throne.

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Thanks to  Denise Loock for inviting me to participate in this World Blog Tour. Denise is a freelance writer, editor, and speaker. She’s the author of two devotional books, Open Your Hymnal and Open Your Hymnal Again, and the founder of Dig Deeper Devotions, a website dedicated to encouraging and enabling Christians to dig deeper into God’s Word. She's also the editor of The Journey Christian Newspaper, which has an online and print readership of 60,000+ and a book editor for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. She loves all things Tolkien and Lewis, the endless antics of her cats, and long walks around Lake Junaluska.