Connect
The cell phone. The smart phone. How in the world did we survive without these? I bet millennials cannot imagine a world where mobile devises were not a common commodity or did not even exist! I found some interesting statistics in Huffington Post on cell phone usage.
A 2015 research by British Psychologists revealed that “young adults used their phones an average of five hours a day — that’s roughly one-third of their total waking hours.” Twice what the users estimated themselves. “The fact that we use our phones twice as many times as we think we do indicates that a lot of smartphone use seems to be habitual, automatic behaviors that we have no awareness of,” (Dr. Sally Andrews, a psychologist at Nottingham Trent University)
The participants in the research checked their phones an average of 85 times a day each, roughly double what they themselves estimated. “The average person checks his cell phone 110 times a day” (Daily Infographic).
If you own a cell phone, you do not need these stats to tell you you use your phone continuously or too much. I know I use mine more than often and though I do not feel sick if I leave it at home and go out, it still bothers me somewhat not to have it on me at any particular time. It has become a necessary evil. Sure we need it to connect with friends and colleagues, for social and business networking and of course to check in with the children. Thanks to the smart phone we hardly bother with person to person/face to face connecting these days. Gone are the days we made friends and even met future spouses on trains and buses; these days you get on, find a seat, pull out your smart phone and bow your head!
“Pray continually,” says 1 Thess. 5:17. Imagine if we treated prayer like we treat our phones, if praying becomes habitual and automatic! As Christians, prayer is essential. It is our spiritual phone connection to God. It is sobering to know we check our phones 110 times on average daily and spend a third of our waking hours on the phone.
Be honest with yourself: sometimes you are up to no good on the phone. If we spend only half of the time we spend on the phone daily in prayer, how rich our lives will be. Pray without ceasing means pray every time, everywhere, anyhow. Pray in your head, pray in tongues, pray out loud, whatever you do, just pray! I am a big believer of designating a time and place to meet with God daily but I also believe in constantly being in prayer throughout the day. As soon as I get into my car and start moving I start praying.
Prayer strengthens your connection to and bond with God, it is liberating and we are commanded to “pray continually”. As it is with every relationship, the more you communicate with God, the closer you grow to Him. Do you want to know God more? Do you want more of Him in you? Then pray.
“Given how much time we spend on our smartphones, it is plausible to expect that they will affect our attitudes, thoughts and behaviors,” Caglar Yildirim, a Ph.D. The same can be said of prayer: praying continually will lead to a change in your attitude, thought and behavior.
So connect with God often.
Blessings!
Love, Lady Monica