Fake Man in Prayer

It's a true story. I was just a wild teenage kid, full of mischief.

Almost every morning I awoke to the monotone voice of my father downstairs kneeling at the living room couch praying for his family. Daddy worked hard. Much of the time during the depression years he held down two full-time jobs... 16 hours a day! But Daddy arose early enough in the morning to take time to kneel in prayer. My oldest brother and sister were already out of the nest. My two remaining sisters and I slept upstairs. Sometimes we would come down for breakfast before Daddy left for work and we would find him covered with his bathrobe kneeling in prayer.

One day Daddy had already left, but I got an idea. I took some pillows and made the form of Daddy kneeling at the couch and put his bathrobe over it and his slippers showing behind it... something like the picture above. I snickered inside as I saw my sisters come down and tip-toe around not wanting to disturb Daddy at prayer. When they finally discovered the "fake man in prayer"... they chased me all around the house and I laughed and laughed.

Years later I realized that I could never have pulled off that trick if I had not had a Daddy that upheld us in daily prayer. What a heritage!

A friend of mine just visited their grandson in jail. He had a very abusive father. He hardly had a chance in life. Where would I be today if my parents hadn't given me that precious gift of a true Christian heritage?

Ralph