If we were required to be worthy of entering the Lord’s presence before our prayers were heard, Heaven would never hear a peep out of me.

When the young Martin Luther knelt to pray, a sense of shame often overwhelmed him. He was unworthy to approach the Lord and knew it. Some scriptures in particular, instead of assisting him, only added to his misery.

“Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart….” (Psalm 24:4a)

That let Luther out–as it does me, and I suspect you, too. Who among us is innocent, who has not “lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully”? (Psalm 24:4b)

Philip Yancey says as a young monk Luther would spend hours trying to identify every stray thought and sin in order to confess it. “No matter how thorough his confession, as he knelt to pray he felt himself rejected by a righteous God.”

The breakthrough came, Yancey says in “Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?” when Luther saw that in Jesus Christ God was pouring out grace and forgiveness to the foulest of sinners, the least worthy.

Thereafter, Luther recognized feelings of unworthiness and shame for what they were, agents of the devil which he rejected and handed to the Lord in gratitude.

It is indeed true that we are all unworthy. Without even understanding all its apocalyptic ramifications, the poorest of believers will read in Revelation 5 and say, “Yes, yes.”

“I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” John says, “I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll or to look at it.” And then, shortly, he hears the angelic chorus intoning, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain….”

I am unworthy; Christ is all-worthy.

It’s one thing to know that and another to live it, to believe it in our heart of hearts, and to feel it.

Many a time even the best of Christians drops to his/her knees to call on Heaven and hesitates out of the overwhelming sense of “who do I think I am, doing this?” and “what right do I have?” and again, “why doesn’t the Lord spew me out of His mouth?”

That’s the time to do a little confessing. This confessing will be of two types. First, if there is known sin in our lives, we should repent of it. But not to the point Martin Luther was, going back over his life with a fine-toothed comb trying to find and identify every unworthy thought or word. We’d not have time for anything else.

Confess anything the Holy Spirit brings to your mind. And then, secondly and more importantly, confess all that the Lord Jesus Christ is to you. “Lord, you are my righteousness. My salvation. My rock. My strength. My hope for the future, my peace for the past, my provision for the present.”

Keep telling the Lord, because in so doing, you’re also telling your spirit.

There’s something about confessing Christ out loud with actual words and not just inner thoughts that does a body good, as my grandma used to put it.

You may find it helpful to quote a verse or two of Scripture in your prayer as you try to get past the feelings of unworthiness. “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin” (I John 1:7). “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God!” (I John 3:1).

Or, here’s one of my favorites, one I’ve rarely seen anyone else use. “If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things.” (I John 3:20) John goes on to say, “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.” (vs. 21)

In his commentary on these verses, John MacArthur says, “God knows those who are truly His (II Timothy 2:19) and wants to assure His own of their salvation. Although Christians may have insecurities and doubts about salvation, God does not condemn them (Romans 8:10).” He adds, “Love banishes self-condemnation.”

Our confidence before God as we kneel to pray is not that we are good enough to be there or guiltless enough to merit an entrance into His presence. It’s all about what Christ has done on Calvary and His adequate provision for all our needs.

It was rare for Jesus to quote the prayer of someone else and commend it, but He did just that in Luke 18. At some point in the past, He is remembering a tax collector who entered the Temple to pray and, overcome by his sense of shame, stood far back and muttered, “God, be merciful to me the sinner.”

Jesus said, “That man went to his house justified that day.” (Luke 18:14)

At a prison, I stood talking to several inmates who had indicated a desire to give their lives to Christ and be saved. One said, “I can’t be saved. I’ve done too many bad things.” I said, “Friend, far from that disqualifying you, the fact that you admit it has just qualified you to be saved.”

It didn’t make him worthy; it made him available.

Let us give thanks that worthiness is not the price of admission.

Forty years ago, at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Greenville, Mississippi, Rudon Laney and his sister Dot Thrash sang a song I’d never heard before and haven’t heard since. Titled “Unworthy,” the song made the case that we are all unworthy for the least of the Lord’s blessings, then built to a chorus which proclaimed, “But He made me worthy.”

That’s the point. So, when you start to pray and feel unworthy, just give thanks to the Saviour who handled all that business for you.

“Nothing in my hand I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling.”