“It’s a mobile phone, you know,” my husband said as I took my seat in the living room next to him and heard my phone buzzing on the kitchen counter.  How many times has Darrell voiced those words to me?!!………maybe like…..weekly or….possibly like ALL THE TIME!!!
A mobile phone.  A device designed to allow us to remain connected to those who wish to communicate with us and us to them…..connected mobility……no need to remain stationary.
Communication—-Connection—-Conversation. 
MOBILE.  Hand-Held & Hands-Free.   A way to learn the thoughts of the one who is calling or texting us & a way to receive a message from someone through a media app.
PHONE.  Calling.  Connecting.  Conversing.   A way to talk with another, to communicate, to learn the thoughts, the requests, and the concerns of the one who is calling or texting us & a way to receive a message from someone through a media app.
I remember the first mobile phone I owned. The year was 2005; Darrell was soon to deploy to Iraq.  These were uncharted waters for us, for our marriage, because he had never deployed before this time and we had never been so many days separated before this first deployment.  I think it is quite ironic that he deployed on our wedding anniversary (our 19th).
We did not know what to expect.  We did not know what the base in Iraq may provide Darrell or even if we would be able to talk with one another during the months (during the year) he would be deployed and away from home…..so before he left, we went shopping for our first “cellular” phone.  
To be honest, we were so “green” back then about the concept of mobile devices.  Only those individuals who truly needed a cellular device carried a mobile phone back in 2005.  Mobile phones were expensive, and so they just weren’t that popular.  In fact, just a few years earlier (in 1997), my father-in-law loaned me his “bag phone” when I repeatedly drove home late from teaching and coaching, so I would have a way to call home if I had car trouble.  Yet, even though his “bag phone” was mobile, still it was not the same because that “car phone” required a certain attachment to a vehicle, a way to plug into the car, but a “cellular phone” was something quite different.   A cellular phone was totally……mobile & accessible, as a way to stay connected, as a way to talk whenever Darrell would be able to call home.  That first box of cellular phones contained matching phones….one blue phone for Darrell and one blue phone for me.  That year, I carried my blue phone with me everywhere I went so I would not miss his call, and 2005-2006 was a long year.  We talked so little that year.
Each day, Darrell carried his blue cell phone in the pocket of his fatigues and I carried my matching blue cell phone inside my pocket.  We were ready; we were connected; we were prepared for those precious minutes when he might be able to call.  Before we left the store, we purchased our “talk minutes.”   Our phones served no other purpose than to be available for our conversation when Darrell had proximity and availability to call—unfortunately those calls did not occur too often during his deployment, so I did what anyone would have done—–I wrote pages of newsy notes, of things to tell him when he called, of notes about our daughter, of questions I had,……..but nothing about his duties as a sailor or about what he was experiencing or about details that would reveal where he was stationed in Iraq.—-We knew before he left America what conversation topics we must avoid.  Therefore, the topics we chose to avoid during our conversations were:  the struggles Darrell faced while deployed  &  the struggles I faced while he was deployed.
That year, I carried my cellular device and my written notes with me everywhere I went because I never knew WHEN Darrell would call.  During those days and months, we were also distanced by an 8-hour time difference, but we knew we wanted to talk, just to hear the sound of the other’s voice, so the TIME OF DAY when he called really did not matter.  
During that first deployment (2005), while Darrell was deployed, we did not intend to sell our home and construct a new home, but God knew I needed a distraction for my mind, a way to “build” something while Darrell was away, while our normal was not so normal. The building of the new house provided us with another conversation topic for those short talks were given.  Along with my newsy notes, my things to tell him, my notes about our daughter, I also created a list of my questions I needed to ask him about the construction of our new home.

God tells us that PRAYER is our way to stay connected to God, to seek Him, to communicate, to ask God our requests, and to “voice” our praise as we enjoy this intimate conversation with our LORD.  As a believer, a Christian, we are privileged to have a direct relationship with our Father.
Our conversation is a dialogue and not a monologue.

• God knows His children.
• God knows what we need even before we voice our requests.
• God knows we need to stay “connected” and “mobile” as we take Him with us everywhere we go.
• God knows us…….&
• God knew at the beginning of time that we would need a Savior, so He sent His only Son to become our living sacrifice. 
• God knew us.
• God knew we were conceived in iniquity, in need of a way to come to Him, so He gave us Jesus.
• Jesus loves us so.
• Jesus wants none to perish, to die, to remain separated from Him, so Jesus came to die…..for us…..to provide a way to God.
• Jesus knew when He came that He came to do His Father’s will.
• Jesus knew He came to die and He knew God would resurrect Him to new life. 
• Jesus knew before he came……& Jesus knew before He ascended back to heaven that we would need a way to communicate with Him, so He sent us His Holy Spirit.

God’s Holy Spirit is our Helper, our Comforter, our Connection, our way to commune with God throughout every day.
We live in the real world.  We know our lives are never all sunshine and roses.  We know we will have struggles, turmoil, concerns, and seasons of difficulty until the day we go home to be with God, so we are given a direct communication line to our heavenly Father—–Prayer.  This direct line of communication begins with salvation through Jesus Christ, & as we go throughout life, we carry God’s Holy Spirit within us.
How do we know? That’s such an easy question to answer. The Bible—God’s Holy Scripture—reassures us with this truth.

Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you”  (John 14: 16-17).

God is a good, good God.

He knew we needed His love…God’s.
He knew we needed Him. & He knew we needed a Savior….Jesus.
He knew we needed a way to communicate with Him….His Holy Spirit.

Today, we can “call” (out) to God.  We have much to say, (a list of many things), reasons to praise Him, requests to ask Him, and a responsibility to call upon Him today as we pray to intercede for others. 
I have my list of Praises, of Requests, of Concerns.

However (unlike during Darrell’s deployment conversations), there is a difference that should be voiced. We do not need to wait……God is available every moment of every day……accessible to us because we are His, because Jesus is our Savior, and because God’s Holy Spirit lives within us.

“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (1 John 5: 13-15).

God loves us—HUMANITY.
God knows us so well.
He wants us to know Him…..Intimately.

So today, let us ask ourselves these questions:

• Are we praising God? Are we ready? Are we connected? Are we prepared for those precious times when we talk with God?
• What about others who we know?
• Are they prepared? Are they connected to God? Are they His children?
• Are we seeking God’s will as we pray? Are we making our requests known?
• Are we requesting opportunities to witness to others about God? Are we praising God when He does?

Today, may we each recognize the sound of God’s voice…..may we listen today for God’s call……..and may we be ready for our intimate conversation with God that is 100% available to us….all the time.