Day 11

Smart phones. Seems a bit of a paradox to me. I think the "smarter" my technology gets, the duller I become. Obviously, that's a bit of an overstatement (I hope?). However, I do believe many improvements in our technology can produce debilitating consequences in a variety of areas of our life if we are not careful about how we utilize it. An easy example of this is the impact of my "super smart" iPhone on my family conversations. Very early on after I got my first iPhone, Brooke expressed a lot of frustration about me bring my phone with me at meal times. At home, in a restaurant or even in other people's homes, my phone was always with me. She didn't like that. I tried to explain to her that it was mobile phone, created to travel with you everywhere so you could always be accessible. However, she pointed out to me that it was actually having the opposite effect. I would spend so much time "using" my phone, sometimes in a productive way but more often just to entertain myself, that I was completely distracted from the opportunity to interact with those sitting at the table with me. My phone had become a roadblock to meaningful to interacting with my friends and family at meals and a hindrance to developing those relationships. I was too distracted to my communication device to do any real communication.


Now, I'm a natural introvert, so I'm particularly vulnerable to being distracted from communicating with others. I've tried very much to respond to that challenge from Brooke. I've gotten better, but many of you know I'm still easily distracted my phone...or anything else for that matter. Oddly enough, do you know what happened when Brooke got her first iPhone a few months later? I noticed she started bringing it to the dinner table and stopped trying to get me to communicate so much during meals. I don't share that to pick on Brooke. Rather I think it suggests that to varying degrees we are all vulnerable to curtailing communication when we allow too many distractions to enter the equation. 


As you might imagine, distractions have played a powerful role in my struggle develop and maintain a consistent, deep prayer life. I know it has been a tremendous factor in the highs and lows of my prayer journey for the last couple weeks. Ringing phones, emails, family concerns, knocks on the door, worries about writing a sermon...and yes occasionally some app on my iPhone. Many of them were good things, but they still served as distractions. Distractions can wreak havoc on my prayers. I expect many of you have experienced that truth of that statement in your own life. So, I'd like to pose another question to you all out there. What can we do to combat the enemy of distraction in our prayer life? Share a practical suggestion or specific way you've found to deal with distractions in your prayer life. How can we leave our iPhones elsewhere, so to speak, when we approach God's table of fellowship and prayer? 


Have a great Friday. Take some time to respond to today's question. Most importantly, make sure you take some time to communicate with the Father in prayer.