The question I ask myself daily is whether my smartphone has been my servant or a silent taskmaster. The truth is that our devices can serve us greatly in our walk with God, even in helping us rewire our brains in positive ways.

If we can't even spend a short amount of time each day with God in solitude, our spiritual formation will be seriously stunted.

Neural science, which is the study of the brain, tells us that we have up to one billion brain cells with thousands of branches that communicate with each other much like a complex highway system. The more we attend to something, or the more we engage in certain behaviors, the more those particular cells communicate and the pathways between them deepen. This is how our values, our beliefs, and our motivations are actually formed.

We don't have to be victims of the spiritual fall-out of the digital age. It does take some serious intentionality to combat the cultural compulsion for connection that surrounds us, but it's worth it.

Most people find it extremely difficult - if not impossible - to focus in prayer.

The reality is that living digitally rewires our brains for perpetual motion, shallow surface thinking, and compulsive/addictive behaviors. Because our world is only going to become more tech-driven with each passing day, unless we find ways to counterbalance these detrimental effects, we'll remain spiritual babes, drinking milk for the rest of our lives instead of the solid food God has for us.

The 24/7 internet connection means we're never really free and we always feel behind. The Internet also continually entices us to explore its options through hyperlinks and ads so we can spend a lot of time on things for which we have little to show, adding to our unrest.