The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.  Psalm 145:18

          When asked what has been the greatest invention in his time, my husband will most likely say the wireless phone.  Since he is not one to stay in one place for long (unless it’s in a deer stand), having a wireless phone means that he no longer has to stretch the old phone cord (Yes, millennials, that is a real thing) to the max or get himself tangled up in it.  It means that time in the car is no longer wasted time – it’s time to check on as many people as possible before he reaches his destination.  It means that he doesn’t have to have access to a computer to find out what’s going on in the sports world. He has the ESPN app that he can touch and find out game scores, player stats, and even watch the game if he chooses. It also means that he has Siri to guide him to any destination so that he doesn’t have to be distracted by looking at a paper map. (Yes, another real thing).  Connection to millions of things and places and people are at his fingertips!  That all sounds pretty amazing, but what happens when the internet service is spotty or is out altogether?  What happens when you are in an area that doesn’t have a cell tower?  As wonderful as the cell phone is, there are some glitches.  In order for the phone to do all it is designed to do, there must be a wireless connection.

And when there isn’t, then life can get pretty frustrating, and if you are lost, then it is frightening.

          Long before the invention of the cell phone, there was a wireless connection already in place: PRAYER.  Prayer is the greatest wireless connection.  As children of God, we have access to Him 24/7.  He is always there whenever we need Him and even when we think we don’t.  The only time when there is a dropped call is when we drop it on our end.  The only time when access to Him is hindered is when we have unconfessed sin in our lives that hinders Him from hearing us.  But that can be resolved anytime we sincerely ask for forgiveness and turn from that sin.  (I John 1:9) In God’s goodness, He made a way for us to always feel connected to Him and to feel safe.  And He gave us His promise that He not only hears us, He will always answer us.  What a wonderful, priceless gift!  We aren’t required to pay a monthly fee to have access to God.  He loves us so much that He gave us His Holy Spirit to speak to Him on our behalf.  In fact, when we are struggling to even put into words exactly what we need or how we are feeling, the Holy Spirit interprets for us.  

          You may have noticed that Siri tries to do that as well.  But that very often doesn’t end well as Siri interprets words as something entirely different than what we have actually said. (Especially if you have a country accent like Bobby’s☺)  But the Holy Spirit interprets correctly each and every time. We may worry that what we have sent someone in a text doesn’t correctly convey what we are trying to say, but that never has to be a concern when we talk to God.  He knows our heart and our intentions.  In fact, He knows us even better than we know ourselves.  

          So the next time you are on your cell phone (probably in the next few seconds), stop and thank God for the free gift of the first and the best wireless connection:  PRAYER.