THE POWER OF PRAYER Author Unknown

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, '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'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 Dad 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."

From 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 -- "So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. That is why we live by believing and not by seeing. We live by faith, not by sight."

A DIFFERENT KIND OF PRAYER Author Unknown

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and was rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job)! is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not just to those who are close to us but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judgment and quick to forgiveness and patience and empathy and love.

AMEN.

A PRAYER AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI by Diana Macalintal

Lord, at times such as this,
when we realize that the ground beneath our feet
is not as solid as we had imagined,
we plead for your mercy.

As the things we have built crumble about us,
we know too well how small we truly are
on this ever-changing, ever-moving,
fragile planet we call home.
Yet you have promised never to forget us.

Do not forget us now.

Today, so many people are afraid.
They wait in fear of the next tremor.
They hear the cries of the injured amid the rubble.
They roam the streets in shock at what they see.
And they fill the dusty air with wails of grief
and the names of missing dead.

Comfort them, Lord, in this disaster.
Be their rock when the earth refuses to stand still,
and shelter them under your wings when homes no longer exist.

Embrace in your arms those who died so suddenly this day.
Console the hearts of those who mourn,
and ease the pain of bodies on the brink of death.

Pierce, too, our hearts with compassion,
we who watch from afar,
as the poorest on this side of the earth
find only misery upon misery.
Move us to act swiftly this day,
to give generously every day,
to work for justice always,
and to pray unceasingly for those without hope.

And once the shaking has ceased,
the images of destruction have stopped filling the news,
and our thoughts return to life’s daily rumblings,
let us not forget that we are all your children
and they, our brothers and sisters.
We are all the work of your hands.

For though the mountains leave their place
and the hills be tossed to the ground,
your love shall never leave us,
and your promise of peace will never be shaken.

Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
Blessed be the name of the Lord,
now and forever. Amen.

Copyright © 2010, Diana Macalintal. Permission is given to reprint for
non-commercial use.

AMBITION By Melanie Schurr

Our world is often very success oriented. We are told we must be ambitious and fight for wealth, status, and recognition.

Desiring a pleasant life and the development of one's skills to their maximum potential is all well and fine, but how much importance do we place on our spiritual ambitions? Does a new house take precedence than one's salvation? Are you more willing to buy a book or take a course in personal improvement or financial success than gaining an understanding of your Creator?

It is true that some individuals have no spiritual ambition at all, seeking only to satisfy their flesh and ignoring the needs of the spirit and threatening their very salvation.

In the Bible we are told there is a way that seems right to man, but in the end, they are the ways of death. Flesh seeks to please the needs of the flesh, while the spirit hungers for food for the soul. Desiring to care for our earthly bodies and welfare is indeed noble, but don't deprive your soul of its salvation in the process. By putting God First, all other things fall nicely into place.

KEEPING ON TARGET By Francis J. Kong

"Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again." This is what the Bible says.

Have you heard the phrase, "You cannot keep a good man down."

Now let's look at the practicality of this.

In his book, `Peak Performers,' Dr. Charles Garfield describes how the astronauts keep their spacecraft on course.

"On their flights between earth and the moon, it was said, the Apollo ships were off course much of the time. In each instance, the spacecraft would wander off its path and the crew would correct—wander of and correct, again and again. And do you know what? It didn't matter. What mattered were the results.

They got to the moon. They got home. They did it by having the discipline and knowledge to get themselves back on course. They followed not a perfect path, but a critical path."

Whether we're shooting for the moon, seeking to achieve a better personal or family life, or seeking to obey and serve God, whatever our goals, the principle is the same. There are always unpredictable and unexpected events that call for change and adjustment. Although the astronauts had to be precise in their calculations, they still allowed for mistakes and corrections. The person who doesn't allow for such adjustments will probably not reach his or her goals. As Charles Garfield explained, the "critical path" is the way to reach any target.

For the Christian our goal is to obey and serve God and to go on to maturity. We will stumble at times, make mistakes, fail, and hit many a bump in the road. When we fall, however, the important thing is the critical path—to get up, correct our course and go on. And as one author reminds us, "The bumps are what we climb on!"

This is why Grace is so important.

I like the bumper sticker that says: "Christians are not perfect, only forgiven!"

When Jesus Christ said to Thomas the doubter as he is more popularly known, Jesus said "I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life and no one goes to the Father except through Me."

Jesus was providing for us the critical path.

He knows that the journey to His Eternal Presence is not a smooth ride.

There will be bumps along the way.

Grace makes us see our own plank in our eyes rather than the splint in someone's eyes. Legalism and hypocritical self-righteousness sees the mistakes of others and blur the mirror so they cannot see themselves. There are many professing Christians who are so legalistic, cruel and condemning they cannot see their own sins.

And this is so far from the model that Christ Himself displayed.

Do not question any person's state of spirituality.

Never say, be gracious.

Exhibit a Christ-like character.

If for no other reason than this:
There will be three things which will surprise us when we get to heaven; one, to find many there that we did not expect to find there; another, to find some not there whom we had expected; a third, and perhaps the greatest wonder, will be to find ourselves there. Not because we have taken the perfect path but because we have taken the critical path.