You’ll know the sort of person I have in mind: someone with whom you’re always scared of saying the wrong thing, of being misunderstood, of having your words taken out of context such that you inadvertently cause offence. It can be an all-too-common experience. With God, there’s no possibility of that, though sadly many of us subconsciously think differently, assuming that we have to get our words right in prayer, pray about what’s expected of us, even approach God in the correct way. Nothing could be further from the truth, as the following, taken from my book The Animal Lover’s Daily Prayer Book, makes clear. God accepts and loves us as we are, and delights simply to welcome us whenever we approach him. In the words of the well-loved hymn by Charlotte Elliott, written back in 1835, beautifully puts it:
Just as I am – without one plea,
but that thy blood was shed for me,
and that thou bid’st me come to thee –
O lamb of God, I come.
With some, Lord, I walk on eggshells,
afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing.
Thank you that with you it’s different,
your love accepting me as I am.
Amen.