Is your line local or international?

I have ‘A Joe King Book’ on A Minister, A Priest, and a Rabbi. It has 91 sermons delivered by Albert Tapper and Peter Press. On the 120^th page, there is this beautiful joke. “The chief rabbi of Israel was visiting in Rome and decided to stop in and see his good friend the pope. While there he noticed that the pope had a gold telephone. “What’s that?” the rabbi inquired. “It’s my direct line to God,” the pope replied. “Can I use it?” asked the rabbi. “Of course,” said the pope, “but it costs a lot of money - it costs three thousand dollars.” The rabbi thought for a moment and then decided that it was worth the expense to be able to talk directly to God. He made his phone call, conducted his business with God, and paid the pope before he left. Some years later the pope found himself in Jerusalem and went to visit the chief rabbi. When he entered the rabbi’s office he noticed a gold phone. “Is that what I think it is?” he asked. “Yes, it’s my direct line to God. After seeing yours, I had one installed.” “Can I use it?” asked the pope. “Of course,” said the rabbi. So the pope made his call and spoke with God for about an hour, after which he asked the rabbi, “How much do I owe you?” “A dollar eighty-seven,” replied the rabbi. “A dollar eighty-seven How come so cheap?” asked the pope. “Well, it’s only a local call.”

Ever wonder how many of us would line up to speak to God if there was a direct line to him? Ever wonder how much we would be willing to pay to make this call? I bet some of us would willingly pay a fortune, if we were sure that we would be linked directly to God. I can only imagine how many of us would like to listen to God speak to us directly. I know he would tell us exactly what would work for us and what wouldn’t. The question is would we listen to what God would tell us to do?

The truth is that we don’t need to pay a dime to get connected to God. Each and everyone of us has a direct line to God. In Matthew 7:7-8, we are told “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will fine; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” James on the other hand asks, “Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war with your members? You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask. You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” 4:1-3. Yes we have a local line to God and we can reach him at any time. All we need do is to listen to Jesus: “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you” Mt. 6:5-7.

Do not hesitate to use your airtime and call on your heavenly Father. He waits for you and wants you to call on him. You have all that it takes to get what you need from your Father, but you have to ask him, ask him nicely. Remember all your calls are local and you do not have to pay a dime for it. Your friend and brother has paid it all for you. The blood of Christ is the payment, which was made in full for all eternity. He tells us that he is the way, the truth and the life. We need to go to the Father through him. May all your prayers be answered. Do not forget, ‘no’ is also an answer to your prayers. Good luck!