In October of 1962, the world came perhaps the closest it ever has in all of modern history to all-out nuclear war. During what became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a tense, 13-day political and military standoff over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores. What made matters worse at this crucial time of international conflict was a near failure in communication. The preliminary message sent by Soviet leaders outlining their request of the USA took over 12 hours to receive, interpret, and form a response to. By the time America was even ready to respond, the USSR sent an additional letter demanding a reply. Thankfully as issues were solved and agreements made, both sides expressed a desire to commission a direct line of communication for future use. The lack of communication in 1962 lead to the formation of the famous “hotline” every President has had access to since Kennedy which directly links to Moscow.
When we grow cold in our prayer life and neglect drawing near to God through the avenue of prayer, we ourselves only stand to grow further and further apart from our God. Just as a lack of communication greatly increased problems between two nations, a lack of communication in our prayer life can result in an all-out falling out of faith. One passage that shows the cruciality of this connection to God can be found in Ephesians 3:14-19, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” The bowing of our knees in prayer leads to not only an inner strengthening but also the comprehension of the love of Christ that ultimately leads to the fullness of God.
A lack of communication simply is something worth investing in, no matter the cost. In order for Washington D.C. and Moscow to have a direct line of commination in the 1960s, a transatlantic cable had to be laid across the seafloor linking Maine to Scotland. Over 1,700 miles of cable were laid over two years to make this possible, but few objected to this project due to the obvious need and benefits. The cost and sacrifice were great, but undisputedly worth it. The same can be said for the cable that was laid connecting us to God. When Christ breathed His last and yielded His Spirit in Matthew 27, the first result was the tearing of the temple curtain. Matthew 27:50-51, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.” Christ was willing to pay the cost to connect us to God. He was willing to make the sacrifice that removed all barriers between His Father and His disciples. As Christ’s death tore the temple curtain, the line of communication was laid for us to have access to God through prayer.
The only question is, are we using it? God is standing on the other end of the line ready to hear all heartaches, praise reports, requests of need, and life updates that we have. Perhaps the best part of this connection is that we don’t have to worry about our message getting lost in translation or interpretation ether. Romans 8:26, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Let us not let a lack of communication today create problems for us spiritually tomorrow!