Phone Line

Our phones are not working.
There is a problem with the copper cables buried in the street.
Apparently, they have been failing in many places in our area.

Anyone that calls our house this past week would have gotten a busy signal.
Yet, no one was on the phone.
All of our cordless phones say IN USE…but there they sit…in their cradle…useless.

We will not have any phone lines until the end of this week.
My husband has decided to change our service to something a bit more 21st century.
Ironically, repairing or replacing still takes the same amount of time.

It has been refreshingly quiet.
With caller ID, we often see UNAVAILABLE…which usually means a sale call.
Or a political organization calls…usually around dinner time.
We do not screen our regular calls, but I must admit those calls do go unanswered.

I am so grateful for my cell phone.
Without it, there would be no access to anyone at all during this time.
That ability to connect, especially with my children, is vitally important.

Being phone-less has made me think how important communication really is.
Phones can be used for good or bad.
They can be the means to encourage a friend…or they can be the instrument of gossip.

Phones have changed so much over the years.
Growing up, we had one phone in our house…which was a black dial phone.
If you were in a hurry, you dreaded dialing a zero in the phone number.
It took so long for the dial to complete the rotation from the zero to the starting position.

As I approached my teen years, push button phones were all the rage.
Phones were offered in white, black or beige…but then expanded to colors.
Wall phones tethered you to the wall and the cord twisted you up in knots.
You always seemed to need something that was just beyond the cord’s reach.
You had to put the phone down to retrieve it.
Hand held phones looked more like bricks when they were first introduced.

If you didn’t know a phone number, you called the operator who assisted you.
Phone books were delivered every August.
They were invaluable tools…which also made a wonderful booster seat for young children.

Today, with Face Time, we can look at who we are talking to.
Our phones are computers and cameras all in one.
We can “talk” to our phones and give them voice activated commands.
But sometimes, our command gets lost in translation.

Phones can break…they can get dropped in water…they can get stolen.
They are not completely reliable…all the time.

We have access to our Heavenly Father every minute of every day.
There is never a disruption of service.
There is no problem with underground cables.
There is no need for an operator to assist you.

Our line of communication to our Father is called PRAYER.

When you think of the wonder of prayer, it boggles the mind.
The children of God can pray all at once…throughout the world…in different languages.
OUR PRAYER IS HEARD!

You will never receive a busy signal.
There is no such thing as call waiting.
No special equipment is needed.

Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. (Jeremiah 33:3)

We all know people who never let us get a word in edgewise.
The conversation always centers around them.
They never get around to asking anything about you.

Are we that kind of person to God?
Are we the one who is always doing the talking?
Do we ever stop to listen to Him?
Who has the more important thing to say?

God has much to say about Himself and His Son in His Word.
Often, we fail to hear Him speaking.
The connection is fine on His end.
It may need a bit of repair on our end of the line.
We tend to make prayer very one sided.
The conversation of prayer goes both ways.

Our Heavenly Father never hangs up on us.
He allows us to talk on and on.
After we lament…after we get it all out…He is still there…listening.

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. (Psalm 103:8)

I am so grateful that the God I serve is always available…always the tender listener.
God is loving and He is also just.
He can discipline me when I need it…but isn’t that what a loving Father does?

Somehow knowing He is always there gives me strength.
I like to run things by Him.
Days that I don’t talk to Him…never seem to go as well.
Not because prayer is some magic formula.
It is not!

Prayer puts me in a right relationship with My heavenly Father.
He is God and I am not.
Knowing that I am praying to a sovereign God…puts me in my place.
I can never think more of myself than I really am…when I am looking at Him.

He is the only One that can hear me.
He hears my words.
He hears my heart.

I can come to Him at any time.
He is always there.
Connecting with His children is vitally important to Him.

Call Him.
He will answer.

Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:12,13)