Sometimes Christian women feel that they have to leave behind some particular, ‘unattractive’ aspects of who they are, of what they are experiencing/have experienced in life, when they enter into prayer with their Lord.

They feel that they have to first make themselves ‘attractive’ to the Lord.

So …they put on their ‘spiritual make-up’ before they come to God in prayer.

Nothing could make the Lord grieve more.

Nothing could harm your beautiful spirit more.

Nothing could stunt your friendship and relationship with your Lord more.

Please don’t do that!

I want you to know that the Lord loves you JUST AS YOU ARE, with all your sins, clutter, baggage, weaknesses and limitations.

He honours your raw humanity.

Your human weaknesses never present a barrier to the Lord’s love for you.

And it’s very important to always remember that the Lord sees not just your drawbacks but your great GIFTS! Never forget this.

In fact, the Lord understands how your weaknesses and sins have come about far better than you!

After all, He knew you before you were in your mother’s womb (Jeremiah 1:5).

He longs to heal your limitations for you!

Your Christian journey is all about fully embracing BOTH your gifts AND your weaknesses.

It’s all about fully embracing BOTH the good times AND the traumatic times of your life.

It’s in your heart that both the fruit of the Holy Spirit and your spiritual baggage reside —side by side!

It’s in your human heart that the seeds both of good and of evil reside.

But the very good news is that it’s your HEART that God has chosen to make His home!

And the word ‘heart’ refers to the whole, entire person you are: your will, conscience, thoughts words, actions, decision-making. It includes every single aspect of your human nature. Nothing is left out!

The Lord resides right smack inside your heart, side by side with your goodness and your sins/limitations!

In other words, the Lord resides IN EVERY SINGLE ASPECT of who you are!

God is to be found inside your sins and weaknesses, not somewhere outside them!

God is to be found inside your pain, not somewhere outside it!

When you bring your sins and your painful, traumatic experiences to God, you allow Him to find you right smack in the midst of them. 

You give Him the green light to nurture, sustain and guide you through them and ultimately heal you of all the wounds they cause you.

So why bother to apply your spiritual make-up when getting together with God?

Since He’s never going to force Himself on you, it’s up to you to share with Him ALL that you are —the good things AND the not-so-good things!

When you try to hide your sins and limitations either from yourself or from the Lord, you put up a barrier to your healing!

Why?

Because God can’t heal what you don’t voluntarily give Him!

He will never override your will.

He respects your personhood far too much for that.

Always remember: The Lord wants be Saviour, Friend, Brother, Guide, and Teacher to all of you, not just to the ‘good’ parts!

Praying with and from Your Heart

Praying with and from your heart  is a guaranteed way to let the Lord do that for you.

You’ll discover that there are unparalleled, real rewards for doing so.

Why? How?

Because when you pray with your heart, you automatically and effortlessly bring your WHOLE person —every single aspect of your humanity —to God.

Therefore, when you pray in this simple way, every single part of you has the chance to soak in the Lord’s healing LOVE.

No part of your humanity is left out!

What Transparency Means

Transparency means simply that you try to be as open as possible with God.

You don’t keep anything back.

Of course, you will not be consciously aware of everything that resides in your heart.

Some of your childhood and other wounds might be too deeply buried for you to be able to see them by your own human efforts.

But the Lord sees and knows them.

In fact, He knew everything about you even before you knew them yourself (Jeremiah 1:5).

Remember: God’s salvation offers you not just spiritual healing (saving you from your sins) but emotional and physical healing as well.

When you open your full self to God, you give Him the green light to heal you in mind, body, spirit, and emotions.

When the Lord knows you are strong enough to acknowledge and accept your buried wounds, He will begin very gently, and with great LOVE, to show them to you.

And then you can voluntarily and confidently present them to Him for healing.

He always leaves the initiative with you.

And He never puts more on you than you can handle at any given time.

So …. try to discard the masks you are consciously aware of —spiritual, emotional, psychological —whenever you come before the Lord.

----

How Friendship with the Lord Grows

In any human relationship that you truly value, it’s vitally important to be honest and transparent with yourself and with the other person.

This is the only way that a solid, genuine, intimate and fruitful relationship can form and grow.

It’s the only way that you and the other person can experience:

• deep, mutual love
• 2-way trust
• 2-way respect
• genuine intimacy
• dependable and lasting friendship
• deep and lasting joy and peace

It’s exactly the same in your friendship with the Lord.

His undying desire is to offer you His ever-deepening, and always true and genuine, friendship —based on genuine trust, respect, and love.

And, equally, He longs for you to trust, respect and love Him!

He wants you not just to hear or read about —second-hand —His love for you.

He wants you to experience it firsthand, directly, for yourself— and to do so whenever you want or need to, for the rest of your life here on earth.

But in order for this to actually happen, you have to open up a space inside you where the Lord can reside and feel at home.

When you choose to pray with your heart, you do exactly this!

Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.

Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.

Ephesians 3:17 NLT

Opening up this space inside you is your role in shedding your masks.

It might take perhaps 2 – 3 weeks of praying in this way for a few minutes each day (5 – 10 – 15 – 20, your choice) to begin to recognize the benefits.

Or it could be much sooner.

Each person is different.

But once this happens, you will soon want to open your heart widely to the Lord.

You will soon WANT to dispense with your spiritual masks!

Why?

Because you’ll begin to feel the freedom and the healing that sharing your sins and weaknesses with the Lord brings you.

You’ll see that it’s impossible to personally experience the Lord’s presence, love and rest firsthand and directly and remain neutral!

Your Heart is Actually the ‘Whole’

of Who you Are

The Lord does not look at the things people look at.

People look at the outward appearance,

But the Lord looks at the heart.

1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

(My emphasis)

The Lord looks at your heart.

Instead, He sees the whole person hidden below the surface not only with her sins and limitations but with her vast, untapped gifts and goodness.

He doesn’t look at your superficial, outward appearance like we people so often do (1 Samuel 16:7).

It’s the whole person you are that tugs at the Lord’s heart strings and truly captures His fatherly concern!

It’s extremely important to remember at all times that the Lord ALWAYS sees Himself as your loving, devoted Abba, your Daddy. 

He’s not a policeman with a big stick waiting to catch you out.

That’s NOT who God is.

It’s Satan, the Lord’s and your ENEMY, who keeps trying to make you believe that garbage.

The Benefits of Being Transparent Before God

There are guaranteed benefits to be gained by offering your whole self —your heart —to the Lord.

The more fully you open your heart to the Lord’s Presence the more His vast, unending and COMPLETELY UNCONDITIONAL LOVE is able to gently and patiently penetrate every aspect of your humanity.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10 NIV

You don’t have to worry.

The Lord does this dismantling very lovingly, very gently, and with immense sensitivity over the days, weeks and months that you spend regular time in His Presence.

This process takes place inside you without your even being aware of it.

But a little time later, on looking back, you’ll start to recognize that you’re actually experiencing the benefits of this process.

As you begin to experience the deep healing and wellness that follows, you start to realize the utter futility of wearing masks.

Yes, your masks may have served to protect you from the wounds of very early childhood, and from traumatizing experiences in adulthood; but their time to do that is now coming to an end.

Try These Exercises

These exercises help you get in touch with your deepest, often unspoken, needs and desires.

This is important because your relationship with the Lord springs directly out of your deepest needs and desires.

Exercise 1

Write the Lord a letter explaining to Him your deepest needs and desires. Ask Him to help you discover/uncover these.

Exercise 2

1. What particular masks do you think you might have been hiding behind?

Try to be honest.

Ask the Lord for His help in shedding your masks.

Exercise 3

Grab my FREE Guide  which shows you how to practice praying with your heart, even if only for 5 -10 minutes each day. This is a guaranteed way to help you shed your masks! Your role is simply to give God a few minutes of your time each day. Then He begins your healing!

Exercise 4

Discover the ‘Breath’ Prayer. I think you’ll find it very helpful, as I do whenever I need God’s special healing. 

Scroll down for your Recap …

Recap