No Email, Registration or Password Required
Editorial by Jerry Lutz
These days it seems that everything you sign up for or try to access online requires an email address, registration or password. We’ve come to expect it, haven’t we? And not just any password will do, but it must be a “strong” one that is hack-proof and has a lot of random number and letter combinations with a bunch of odd symbols, just to be sure. And don’t use obvious, easily guessable ones like “password,” a classic by which many a hapless, online consumer has lost their life savings. Avoid the use of your birthdate, children’s birthdates, anniversaries or even the name of your dog, say the cyber security experts, if you want to protect your identity and all your worldly possessions. Better yet, let your device itself suggest a password that is virtually impenetrable. Great idea, right? Except those AI-generated jumble of letters, numbers and symbols are completely forgettable by us mere humans. I know, I know, if you let it, your device will store and remember that perfect, super safe password for you, no matter how complex it is, right? Sure, password managers are safe and convenient, but then, don’t you need some kind of password or other techno-process to get into your device to begin with? Welcome to the brave, new world of digital commerce and communication.
So, isn’t there anything anymore that doesn’t require an email address, registration or password, including the one I have yet to mention—the dreaded subscription? Yes, there is: prayer. Of course, prayer. No digital or analog anything is required of anyone to instantly access and personally interact with the Greatest Intelligence in the universe who loves us so much that He died for us and will soon come to take the redeemed home to live with Him forever!
The good news is, there is no secret code or password required to gain access to Him any time of day or night, anywhere we may be, living under any circumstance. There is no aggravating, pop-up pay wall to drive us into unwanted subscriptions, no URL code to scan for a website, no outages, no crashes; just 100 percent free, safe, secure, instant and confidential communication with Him about anything! Simply stated, “Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend” (Ellen White, Steps to Christ, p. 93). Not even the enemy of souls can hack our prayers, divert them or prevent them from getting through to Him to be thoroughly understood by Him, even better than we understand our own prayers. Before reading on, take a moment to read Romans 8:26–27. Isn’t that amazing?
And then there is this beautiful gem, also from the pen of inspiration: “Prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven’s storehouse, where are treasured the boundless resources of omnipotence” (Steps to Christ, p. 94).
So, let’s agree to spend more time in prayer, especially in these days leading up to the North American Division-wide “Pentecost 2025” prayer initiative and Chesapeake’s “Reach Baltimore” 2025 evangelism effort. Yes, registration in some form or another will be necessary for those special events, but it is never required for prayer. God invites us to unlock His boundless storehouse of blessing. Let’s do it together, shall we?
Jerry Lutz is president of the Chesapeake Conference.
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