Paulette and I recently returned from a dream vacation in Europe which we took in celebration of our fiftieth wedding anniversary. It was a great trip and we had a wonderful time. One day we were in our hotel room in Bruges, Belgium, relaxing after a busy day; I was reading and Paulette was looking for something on the desk. All of a sudden we heard Pastor Art’s voice saying, “Well, hello Jim and Paulette. How are you doing?” After a short pause, he said, “I can see you Paulette.” We were both dumbfounded, and I admit, I felt a little like I was in the Twilight Zone. It took a second, but the three of us finally figured out that while moving things around on the desk, Paulette touched the FaceTime app on her smart phone, which was connected to the hotel’s Wi-Fi, and the phone, using a mind of its own, FaceTimed (Is that a verb?) with Pastor Art. It was the ultimate pocket dial.

Can we pocket dial God? That is, can we pray without explicitly intending to do so? Certainly, we have all made statements like “Lord. Help me!” – a throwaway line that could be directed to any god out there. Usually, however, we are utter this, or similar statements, as a statement of frustration more than a heavenly appeal. Other times we express absurd wishes like “I wish I could play basketball as well as Michael Jordan.” Slightly more intentional (that is, more on purpose) are statements such as, “I wish this pain would go away.” God is all-knowing, and we should be thankful that He has provided and cared for us in ways beyond what we have ever envisioned in these pocket dialed prayers. God’s omniscience raises another question. If God knows all, is there any reason to ever pray?

Yes! The main purposes of prayer almost always require them to be explicit. The very act of praying is a statement of belief and a confession of our physical and moral weakness in the sight of God. It is also an important way to glorify God. In my mind neither of these is the main purpose. Sin is anything that separates us from God, and I believe that in contrast prayer is the communication line that draws us nearer to Him. It’s the way we develop a relationship with God. Prayer is sometimes viewed as a way to change things, but its main effect is to change us. All of us need the closer relationship with God that comes through prayer.

Jesus stressed the importance of prayer even teaching us how to pray with the sample prayer we call the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus himself prayed to the Father. You can read about Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26:36-45 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Jim