The Prayer of a Dying Man

Today was a good day. No- today was a GREAT day!

I went to visit a dying man. His partner called me to ask for some pastoral care for him. It turns out he used to be a church-goer. He used to sing in a choir. He grew up knowing Bible stories and the rest. But he had wandered so far from God.

I asked him ‘so is God someone who you feel is out there in the distance, or is he someone who is very close to you?’

After a thoughtful pause he said ‘God feels quite far away'.

He said that he felt like he was a hypocrite, coming to God in his hour of need, when he had spent so long ignoring God. Then we talked about the prodigal son. He seemed to remember the story.

We talked about the son who wandered away from his father, and squandered his father’s inheritance money on wild living. But at his lowest point he returned home, begging for mercy, as he asked his Dad to take him back in.

But then we talked about what the father was like. He watched the road patiently, waiting for the son to return. And when he finally saw the son return, he ran! He ran as fast as his old legs would carry him, and embraced his son, wanting to throw him a party and restore him to the place of son. ‘That’s what our God is like!’ I said excitedly. ‘He loves it when people who have wandered away from him come home. He is only too ready to take us back!’ I explained that it would take a proud person to stay away from God. Only a truly humble person can admit their fault and turn to God.

That parable had his name written all over it.

I told him that the reason why God has spared his life in this way is to give him time to repent.

‘What do you think about that?’ I asked.

He looked at me puzzled. ‘When you talk about repenting, I don’t think that I have done anything wrong.’

And I believed him. He seemed like such a nice man.

I explained that sin is not about how good or bad you are. Its about rejecting God, and living a life of ignorance about Him. We talked about heaven and hell, and the reality of those places, and the rightness of God to send us to hell if we chose to want to have nothing to do with him. The punishment Jesus took on the cross deals with our rejection of Him.

‘It makes sense when you put it that way’, was the reply.

I then asked him if did he want to repent- to do some serious business with God- start treating God as God, and change his attitude to God, and trust in Jesus for forgiveness. He said he did.

So I prayed a prayer out loud, while he prayed it in his heart. And by the end of it, he had asked God for forgiveness, and trusted in the mercy of God at the cross.

It was the quickest conversion I’ve ever seen. But when your time is up, and you could go at any moment, you don't want to stuff around.

I don’t mention this to boast. Far from it. But it does put things in perspective, doesn't it? Some days I wonder what God is doing. I wonder if His Word just keeps falling on deaf ears all the time. But then I get a moment of clarity, like today, when I see Him at work so clearly. Preach the Word, in season and out of season.

And I get paid to do this?

Thanks for your prayers.