Simply Honest Prayer

This concept has been impressed in my mind for a good while now, the idea of praying both honestly and simply, as a child might. In my own life, I've experienced the fruits of praying both honestly and superficially. For an unspecific example, the Lord would tell me something I didn't want to hear, or show me an issue I
didn't want to deal with. I would then, in my prayer, attempt to skirt around it. And the result of that was a wall, it seemed, put between us. I think I cannot stress it enough: we must pray honestly, confessing our faults, no
matter how much it hurts. If there is something which the Holy Spirit has convicted you of, believe me, it must,
and will be, dealt with sooner or later. We can hide nothing from God, and it is folly to entertain or believe
otherwise (Heb 4:12-13)! We must also pray simply, at least for no other reason than this:

"And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do,

for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."
- Matthew 6:7-8

This is not to say that beautiful words have no place in prayer, but a command to pray in a way that realizes

the omniscience of a living God, and that our prayers are not heard because we can make people cry with 'em,

or some nonsense like that. No, they are heard because that veil was torn, because the blood of Jesus cleanses

all who believe from sin, making them the children of God! May we all constantly realize that we are laid bare

before Him, all "the thoughts and intentions of the heart".