Many years ago my washing machine was located in the bathroom. One day it started acting up. It would run for a while, then stop. I would have to go touch the knob to get it working again. It continued to do this throughout the cycle, and I had to keep running back and forth to the bathroom to re-start it again.

Finally one day I got tired of the back and forth and decided to just stay in the bathroom and wait it out. That was when my bathroom became my prayer room. It was the perfect place! I could close the door and shut the world out to spend uninterrupted time with my Father. I also enjoyed the morning sun shining through the window.

One morning as I sat to focus on the Lord, I started thinking about something my granddaughter had done the night before. Her father had come to our house to pick her up, and he was busy transferring her car seat from my car to his. She ran to the door, opened it, and called out, “Daddy, it’s me! I’m here! Daddy, I’m here! It’s me, Daddy!”

All of a sudden I had an overwhelming urge to call out to my Father, “Daddy, I’m here! It’s me, Daddy, I’m here!” I sat there chuckling to myself as I felt my heavenly Daddy wrap me in His loving arms and chuckle along with me. I thought about how much my Daddy loves me, al-ways pursuing an intimate relationship with me. He was as delighted to spend time with me as I was with him.

God is always drawing and pursuing us, desiring for us to receive His love and love Him in return. He chooses us, reveals Himself to us and shows us our need for Him. 1 John 4:9-10 says, “God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love – not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

The Bible tells us of a prophet who also called out to our heavenly Father, “I’m here!” We read about Isaiah’s calling as a messenger of the Lord in Isaiah Chapter Six. He had a vision of the Lord sitting on a throne being attended to by seraphim. As Isaiah watched these heavenly beings, the scene before him caused him to see his need for forgiveness. He cried out to the Lord and was forgiven.

When he heard the Lord asking whom He should send as a messenger to the people. In verse 8 He asks, “Who will go for us?” Isaiah quickly responded with, “Here I am, send me,” and God accepted his willingness to serve Him, and sent Isaiah out with the messages He had for the people.

When we finally surrender our lives to the Lord, receiving His forgiveness and love, and learn to love Him in return, we also have a desire to serve Him. We want to do all we can to be pleasing to our Father. As we cultivate an intimate love relationship with the Lord, He will make known the plans that He has for us and give us all we need to fulfill them. Receive the Savior and His love today. Cry out, “Daddy, I’m here!”

Hope Ministries is a Christian counseling center, and we are here to help. If you would like to speak confidentially with someone, give us a call at 845-482-5300.