Jesus' disciples asked him, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). Many of us still feel like beginners, unsure what prayer is for or how to do it.
These six stories about prayer, retold in our own words, include a tender deathbed scene, two well-loved jokes, a challenge from Tony Campolo, a line from the film Shadowlands and an archbishop's priorities. Each ends with a takeaway for sermons or small groups.
Stories in this collection:
- The Empty Chair
- "It Changes Me": C. S. Lewis in Shadowlands
- "I Sent You a Boat"
- "I Won't Pray Until You Give": Tony Campolo
- The Warehouse of Unclaimed Blessings
- "Let Us Talk About Prayer": Desmond Tutu's Priorities
The Empty Chair
A widely shared story; its author is unknown.
A woman asked the local pastor to come and pray with her elderly father, who was bedridden.
When the pastor arrived, he found the old man lying in bed, his head propped up on two pillows, with an empty chair placed beside the bed. The pastor assumed the man had been told he was coming. I guess you were expecting me, he said.
No, the old man replied. Who are you?
The pastor explained that he was the new assistant minister at the local church. When I saw the empty chair, he said, I thought you knew I was going to turn up.
Oh, yes, the chair, said the old man. Would you mind closing the door?
Puzzled, the pastor shut the door.
I've never told anyone this, not even my daughter, the man said. But all my life I've never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the minister talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head. So I gave up trying.
Then, about four years ago, he went on, his best friend had told him that prayer is simply a matter of having a conversation with Jesus. His friend suggested he sit down, put an empty chair in front of him, and in faith picture Jesus sitting in it. There's nothing strange about it, the friend had said, because Jesus promised to be with us always. Then just talk to him, and listen, the same way you would with anyone else.
So I tried it, the old man said, and I liked it so much that I do it for a couple of hours every day. I'm careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd think I'd lost my mind.
The pastor was deeply moved. He encouraged the old man to keep going, prayed with him and went back to the church.
Two nights later the daughter phoned to tell the pastor that her father had died that afternoon.
Did he seem to die in peace? the pastor asked.
Yes, she said. When I left the house around two o'clock, he called me over, told me one of his corny jokes and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the shops an hour later, I found he had died. But there was something strange. Just before he died, he must have leaned over, because his head wasn't on the pillow. It was resting on the chair beside his bed.
Takeaway: Prayer is not a technique for experts. At its heart it is simply talking with Jesus, who promised, "I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20).
Source: Traditional story; author unknown.
"It Changes Me": C. S. Lewis in Shadowlands
C. S. Lewis is best known as the author of the Narnia books for children, but he also wrote novels for adults and many widely read books about the Christian faith.
The 1993 film Shadowlands, directed by Richard Attenborough, tells part of his story. It focuses on his late-blooming relationship with the American writer Joy Davidman (also known by her married name, Joy Gresham), whom he meets while he is a scholar at Oxford.
After Joy is diagnosed with cancer, the couple marry. The film invites us into their love, their pain and grief, and their struggles with faith and with God. Eventually, Joy dies.
At one point, when Joy's illness has gone into remission, a clergyman friend tells Lewis that he knows how hard Lewis has been praying, and that now God is answering his prayers.
Lewis replies that this is not why he prays. He prays, he says, because he cannot help himself. He prays because he is helpless, because the need flows out of him all the time, waking and sleeping. Prayer, he says, "doesn't change God. It changes me."
The line comes from the film's screenplay by William Nicholson, though it is often quoted as if Lewis had written it himself. Either way, it captures something many Christians have found to be true. Prayer is not mainly a way of getting God to do what we want. It is the place where we are changed.
Takeaway: Prayer is not a way of controlling God. It is the place where God reshapes us as we bring him our needs.
Source: Shadowlands (1993), directed by Richard Attenborough, screenplay by William Nicholson.
"I Sent You a Boat"
A popular joke; its author is unknown.
A very devout man was once caught in a flood. As the water rose, he climbed onto the roof of his house and trusted God to rescue him.
A neighbour came by in a canoe. The water will soon be over your house, he called. Jump in and we'll paddle to safety.
No thanks, replied the man. I've prayed to God, and I'm sure he will save me.
A little later the police came by in a boat. The water will soon be over your house, they shouted. Get in and we'll take you to safety.
No thanks, the man replied again. I've prayed to God, and I'm sure he will save me.
A while later, a rescue helicopter hovered overhead and let down a rope ladder. The water will soon be over your house, the crew called. Climb up and we'll fly you to safety.
No thanks, said the man. I've prayed to God, and I'm sure he will save me.
All this time the floodwaters kept rising, until they rose over the roof, and the man drowned.
When he arrived in heaven, he demanded to see God. Ushered into God's presence, he said, Lord, why am I here? I prayed for you to save me. I trusted you to rescue me from that flood.
Yes, you did, my child, the Lord replied. And I sent you a canoe, a boat and a helicopter. But you wouldn't get in.
The joke makes a serious point. God often answers our prayers through ordinary means and ordinary people. Sometimes the answer is already floating past us.
Takeaway: God often answers prayer through ordinary people and practical help. Faith keeps its eyes open for the boat.
Source: Traditional joke; author unknown.
"I Won't Pray Until You Give": Tony Campolo
How often do we ask God for things we could easily provide ourselves?
Tony Campolo was once a guest speaker at a missions rally. He was asked to lead the gathering in prayer for a missionary doctor the group supported. The aim of the prayer was that God would provide five thousand dollars urgently needed for the medical centre the doctor ran.
Campolo refused. He knew that his audience was made up of people who were comfortably off. So he told them he would not ask God for money they already had in their pockets. He would pray only after everyone in the room had given whatever money they were carrying that day.
The audience was stunned. But when Campolo began emptying his own pockets onto the table, they realised he was serious. After some hesitation, people began to follow his example.
By the time the giving was over, they had collected more than eight thousand dollars, far more than was needed. The prayer of request became a prayer of thanksgiving.
Sometimes, Campolo suggested, God answers our prayers by asking us to be the answer.
Takeaway: Sometimes we ask God to do what he has already equipped us to do. Prayer and obedience belong together.
Source: Tony Campolo, Let Me Tell You a Story (Word, 2000).
The Warehouse of Unclaimed Blessings
A parable told by Bruce Wilkinson in The Prayer of Jabez; we retell it in our own words.
Have you heard the story of Mr Jones, who died and went to heaven?
When he arrived, St Peter met him at the gates and took him on a tour. Mr Jones was awestruck. The streets were paved with gold, beautiful mansions gleamed in the sunshine, and choirs of angels sang the loveliest songs he had ever heard.
Partway through the tour, his eye was caught by a strange-looking building: an enormous warehouse with no windows and only one door. What an odd building to find in heaven, he thought.
You don't really want to see what's in there, said St Peter.
But I do, I do! said Mr Jones. He hurried across the lawn, pushed open the door and found row upon row of shelves, stretching from floor to ceiling. Stacked on them were thousands of white boxes, each with a name on it.
Is there one with my name on it? Mr Jones asked, and he rushed to the J aisle. He found his box and opened it. His mouth fell open and his heart began to race. What are all these wonderful things? he asked. Are they the good things waiting for me now I'm in heaven?
No, replied St Peter. They are all the blessings God wanted to give you while you were alive on earth, but which you never received.
A sad look came over Mr Jones's face. He looked at the box, then at St Peter, then back at the box. Why? he asked. Why did I miss out on all these blessings?
Well, said St Peter, that's a long story. But in Wilkinson's telling, the heart of the answer is simple: Mr Jones had never asked. As James wrote, "You do not have because you do not ask God" (James 4:2).
Takeaway: James wrote, "You do not have because you do not ask God" (James 4:2). God delights to give good gifts to those who ask.
Source: Adapted from Bruce Wilkinson, The Prayer of Jabez (Multnomah, 2000).
"Let Us Talk About Prayer": Desmond Tutu's Priorities
In 2001 the British writer and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth interviewed Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.
It was a moving experience for Brandreth. Tutu was being treated for prostate cancer at the time, and there seemed a real possibility that it might be one of the last interviews he would ever give.
What would Tutu want to talk about? Brandreth might have expected him to speak about the extraordinary transformation of South Africa's politics, in which Tutu himself had played such a leading part, or about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission he had chaired.
But Tutu had other ideas. If this was going to be his last interview, he said, he was glad they would not be talking about politics. Instead he wanted to talk "about prayer and adoration, about faith, hope and forgiveness".
For Tutu, these were not side issues. They were the heart of life, the source of everything else he had done. In fact Tutu recovered and lived for another twenty years, dying in December 2021.
Takeaway: Near the end of life, what matters most becomes clear. For Tutu, prayer was not a side issue; it was the centre of everything.
Source: Reported in The Age (Melbourne), May 2001.
Final thoughts
An empty chair, a line from a film, a man on a roof, a pocketful of cash, a warehouse in heaven and an archbishop's last wish. Each invites us to pray more simply, more honestly and more often.
For further reading, Sopranu has a summary of C. S. Lewis's A Grief Observed, written after the death of Joy Davidman, and of his Mere Christianity.
What would change if you talked with Jesus as naturally as with a friend?
More stories you may like:
These stories are retold in our own words for teaching and reflection. Sources are credited under each story.