Check Your Messages

What did we do before cell phones? It is hard to remember. I remember when I got my first one. I was taking my oldest daughter out to lunch, from school, and got a call about a person who had just gone to the hospital. My daughter was concerned that we would never again be able to have our special time with just her and me and no interruptions. I tried to do this with each of the kids at least once a month. The phone was a threat to that special time. Her immediate reaction was, “I hate that thing already.”

Fast forward a few years and the same daughter has children, a great life, and her own cell phone. I check my messages on my cell phone in the morning. This morning there were two, both of them from this daughter. The first was an excited call about the youngest grandson and the emergency room. In her message she says she has tried my phone and mom’s phone and “I can’t find you.” The second message was that he was ok. We also got an email, complete with pictures.

How have we come to depend on something so unreliable? I check my land line messages and my email more often than my cell phone yet pride myself on being “accessible.” Or, perhaps it is more about me and my habits than it is the phone system. But isn’t that the way it is with our spiritual communication as well?

There is nothing wrong with the system of prayer. The message never fails to go through. There is always someone on the other end who can do something about your request. Prayer only fails when we fail to pray. They used to say the same thing about letters. You have to send some to get them. If you send messages to God, He will send messages back to you.

Effective prayer is a habit. Just like checking your messages. The difference is that the benefits, of prayer are eternal. When was the last time you messaged God? When was the last time you checked your messages from God. His messages come in many forms, just like ours. Wouldn’t now be a good time to check your messages from God?

Dr. Robin