Wednesday of Holy Week

"It is very important that we are without pretense when we come before God's countenance.  All adornment, all excuses, must be cast aside.  We must not give ourselves out as anything other than we are.  Wares often pass in trade under false names in order to win easier sale; but it is still more common that the human heart houses cravings to which it gives false names in order to justify love for them.  Deceit is called cleverness; greed is called concern for spouse and children; hatred and anger are called zeal for truth and justice.  No sinful desire is found in the human heart that does not sail under a false flag and steal a name that done not belong to it.  It is a great step forward when we are able to give the name to all that lives withing us.  It is one of the blessing of prayer that it calls upon us for serious self-examination and brings into the light of God's countenance that which steals around in our souls, have unconscious, part truth, part falsehood.  Everything that lives within us should be aid bare i prayer."

"The World of Prayer"  Ditlev Gothard Monrad