Praying Grace for Womenعينة

## With Him is Where You Belong At our house, we called it “the welcome.” When our three daughters were small, my arrival at the back door at the end of my day was greeted with a raucous celebration. Delighted squeals of “Daddy’s home! Daddy’s home!” filled the air, accompanied by the approaching sound of a stampede of little feet. This blessed highlight of my day was a gift from my wise wife, who never did me the disservice of using my impending arrival as a threat: “ Wait until your father gets home !” On the contrary, throughout the day she pointed to my eventual arrival as a promise to be eagerly anticipated, not a thing to be dreaded. If we have ears to hear, the Holy Spirit of God is always doing something similar. He urges us to run to Jesus. He whispers that we are beloved and welcome. That His presence is the place we most belong . Back in the Garden, after the fall of mankind, the very first sign that something terrible had been unleashed upon the world and within the hearts of God’s beloved people was their impulse to hide when they heard the approach of His footsteps. We should take note that when sin and shame entered the very first hearts, God did not hide from them. On the contrary, He came looking for them! Jesus says, “Behold, I’m standing at the door, knocking. If your heart is open to hear my voice and you open the door within, I will come in to you and feast with you, and you will feast with me” (Revelation 3:20 TPT). Why, then, are we so often reluctant to open that door? Why would we ever feel dread or shame at the sound of that knock? Or decline the opportunity to feast with Him because we feel unworthy? Such responses are utterly inappropriate for any woman who has said “yes” to God’s free gift of adoption and relationship through Jesus. These all insult the Spirit of Grace. If you are a daughter of God, your approach to Jesus can and should be the joyous, unselfconscious run-and-leap of a small child into the loving arms of a beloved father. And when He arrives at your threshold, the most natural thing to do is throw open the door. Prayer of Declaration: Jesus, with You is where I belong. You welcome me with open arms, and I do the same with You. I feast in Your presence—dining sumptuously on Your extravagant love, abundant grace, infinite wisdom, and boundless strength. My door is always open to You.