A few months back, I finally broke down and entered the 21st century — I bought a “smartphone.”

Both of my sons were duly impressed. They even have taught dear old Dad how to send and receive text messages. I fought it for the longest time. And I still refuse to have a 20-minute texting conversation that can be accomplished in a two-minute phone conversation. But I am willing to text a brief message now and then.

I want you to think with me about the different methods of communicating that many of us have seen and experienced. Certainly, we talk on the phone, but consider the changes to it. As a boy, my family shared what was known as a “party line” with another family. I also used pay phones rather frequently when I needed to get in touch with my folks. I also wrote and received letters. I never used either the telegraph or the telegram, but I was familiar with them.

Then in recent years, we have used (or heard about) the fax, email, IM and text messaging, not to mention tweeting and other forms of social media. The simple fact is that there are more ways to stay in touch today than ever before.

And yet…

Do you know that one of the major causes of breakups in family relationships is the failure to communicate? This also is the major reason for many church conflicts.

So many problems we encounter in this world can be boiled down to one major issue: the failure to communicate.

And I would say the major reason that many people do not have a proper relationship with God also is a failure to communicate. The problem is not on God’s end; he has given us his word, the Bible, to speak to us. He also provides the Holy Spirit to guide us along the way. But we have a problem: We don’t pray as we should, and we don’t read the Bible as we should. And because of this, we can’t hear the Lord when he speaks to us.

I once heard a song with a haunting line in the chorus: “He is not silent. We are not listening.” I don’t know about you, but I want to hear what God has to say to me. Nothing else is as important as this. I have made the commitment to read the Bible and to pray every day. As I do, I am confident that the Lord will speak to me —and he will speak to you, too.

My mother taught me this song a long time ago as a little boy: “Read your Bible, pray every day, and you’ll grow, grow, grow.” I want to grow closer to the Lord. There is no doubt that he is speaking.

The question is simple: Are you listening?