The second thought I have had about this “approach to God” has to do with coming to God “as we are.”

Self-Awareness

Pray as you can and do not try to pray as you can’t. Dom Chapman

That parable that Jesus tells of a tax collector and a Pharisee is one that comes to mind when I think of the quote above (Lk 18.10-13). The Pharisee prays from a very righteous place, while the tax collector acknowledges his more realistic place before God. Jesus’ point is that we are to come to God in prayer - not as we desire or long or wearing a mask to find God’s approval - but coming to our Mighty God with an awareness that we are not worthy of a relationship, save the mercy found in Jesus. To approach God with self-awareness is to fight the temptation of employing pious language and acting more accepting of God’s will than reflects our personal reality.

When we only bring that “holy” part of ourselves before God, what are we sacrificing? When we fail to approach God in all our honesty, fully self-aware, it seems we fail to bring our whole selves, those parts which need to come bare and honest before God. We fail to bring our real need. We fail to trust God’s acceptance, mercy, power and love to deal with our imperfections and sin.

May we come to God and pray as we can - not using words or language that puffs us up or covers us up.

“Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.”