Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! Psalm 4:1

I am old enough to remember a time without smartphones. I remember texting used to cost an additional fee if you exceeded the predetermined limit. I remember when commercials would tell of unlimited text and calling minutes as the main selling point for their services. Now I know there are many who remember a time without cellphones. There are some who had a fancy car phone or a phone in a bag. Some remember only landlines hooked up in their houses with a long cord. As technology has advanced our ability to get people’s attention has gotten easier and easier. All you have to do now is simply dial up their number and you can be connected across the globe. But that wasn’t always the case. For most of human history, the luxury of being able to talk to someone at any time from anywhere in the world is a recent phenomenon. But God has been ahead of the times, a trendsetter, an innovator, a God who is always near. How you might ask? Let’s see what the Bible says about our ability to call God up. 

The evolution of the phone has gone a long way. The old dial tone that phones make used to have an actual function, today it's mostly a nostalgic sound. Even the term “dial” refers to a telephone system in which the user sequentially imputed numbers by turning a disk with numbered holes. Today this has all gone away for a digital system in which often we simply press on a name on our phones without thinking about a phone number. But the method for calling up God has not changed. It's simpler than you may think. The Psalmists often reach God by simply calling Him. No, not dialing a phone or grabbing a special gadget, I mean literally using their voices or thoughts and directing them to God.

I called on your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit. Lamentations 3:55

If it's so simple and all you have to do is, do. Why does it seem so hard? Is there a trick to it? Actually, yes! There is a trick to it but I’ll let you in on a secret, it's not hard to learn. Here it is, you have to try. Alright, I know that’s not much of a trick, but it's true. In Lamentations, Solomon is calling out to God from the depths of the pit. A poetic way of saying he is depressed and does not know what to do, he feels as if he is at the lowest place of his life and yet he calls upon God. He dials God up. The trick is that Solomon reached out when he knew that he could not do it alone. Sometimes we feel as if God is distant because of the struggles of our lives, we feel as if even if we try God won’t hear us. Yet when we do call God is right there willing to rescue us. Solomon goes on to say in Lamentations 3:56,57 “You heard my plea: ‘Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.’ You came near when I called you, and you said, ‘Do not fear.’” God is waiting for your call! 

Thankfully we don’t have collect calls anymore, something I myself never had to experience. I’ve been told that long-distance calling was expensive and if you wanted to make a call over a great distance you had to be prepared to pay the price or keep it very very short. The distance between you and heaven may seem like a long way. Can you imagine the long-distance price for that? Actually, it's already been paid. When Jesus came down to heaven He gave up a lot. Matthew 1:23 identifies Jesus as Immanuel which means God with us. And at the end of the book of Matthew when Jesus is preparing to go back to Heaven he tells us that there is always an open line. “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20 The way in which Jesus is with us is through the Holy Spirit. Right before He ascended Luke records in the book of Acts the promise of the Holy Spirit, Acts1:8. This promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost Acts 2 and is still being fulfilled today. This power gives us a direct connection to Jesus. 

So what are you waiting for? Give God a call today. Raise your voice and let it be heard, lift your heart to God and speak to Him. If you don’t know what to say that’s okay. I’d suggest getting on that call and reading a book with Him, I know he is pretty fond of the 66 found in the Bible maybe give that a try? If you don’t know which one to start with try reading the Psalms and the Gospels. As you read you may find things you want to ask Him about and He is right there waiting to hear about those questions. He is always ready to “pick up” the call. We don’t need a special contraption we just need a special God and our God is always with you listening for when you call.