I Just Called to Say I Love You (Friday Devotional)

“I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you, and praise your name forever and ever.”

- Psalm 145:1-2

While at the park with my son earlier this week, I witnessed something that got me thinking. A little boy, 3 years old or so, was sitting atop the playground slide, preparing to go down, when he stopped suddenly, like he’d had an idea. “Dad!” he cried out, turning his head toward the park bench where his father was talking with another adult. “Dad!”

I’m not sure whether his father initially didn’t hear him or just wanted to finish his conversation, but he didn’t give his son any immediate acknowledgement. So the boy shouted out even louder, “Dad! Dad!” This time the man gave his son the universal wait-a-second sign, the upraised index finger with no eye contact. Impatiently, the son yelled again, “Dad!”

Finally, the man turned to his son and, with both weariness and affection, simply asked, “What is it?” His son smiled and happily shouted back, “I love you,” went down the slide, and ran back to the playground entrance. Apparently that was all he’d needed to say.

That brief moment on the playground got me thinking about how we talk to our heavenly Father. One the primary purposes of prayer is to ask God for things, whether spiritual aid, physical protection, or material blessings. Another is to thank him for the many blessings He bestows upon us. But do you ever check in just to save you love Him?

I ask because a prayer life built entirely on asking, receiving, and thanking is transactional, not relational; it’s the way you talk to a contractor, not your father. It’s worth noting that the model prayer Jesus gave his disciples included appeals for daily bread, forgiveness, and deliverance from temptation and sin—but it began by praising God’s name. Before getting to his prayer requests, Jesus thought it necessary first to offer words of worship.

Let me encourage you to take a page out of the Book of Psalms, which contains dozens of poems and prayers written with no agenda except to praise God. Continue to ask things of God, because He gives generously to those who place their trust in Him—but every once in a while, come to him with the faith of a child, needing nothing except for Him to hear you say, “I love you.”