In one of the books by American author, Garrison Keillor, about Lake Wobegon, he describes a rather awkward teenager growing up in a small town. The lad gives a speech at his high school graduation, and afterwards somebody comes up to him and says, “Nice speech!” But he can’t receive a compliment.

“Oh no,” he says, “I was just rambling. I didn’t know what I was talking about. I was just glad when it was all over.” He couldn’t receive a compliment because inside he was a monster starving for a compliment. He didn’t want somebody to say, “Nice speech.” What he really wanted was for someone to fall at his feet in worship.

That’s the problem with some of us. We are so consumed—either with our own pain or with our own perfectionism—that we’re unable to hear the Word of God. So, when God tells us that He loves us, we just brush it off.

When the apostle Paul prays for young believers, do you know what he asks God for? He asks that God would give them the power to grasp the “breadth and length and height and depth” of the love of Christ (Eph. 3:18). That is a great way to pray. Ask God to give you the capacity to contain a greater sense of His love for you.

“We are so consumed—either with our own pain or with our own perfectionism—that we’re unable to hear the Word of God.” To what degree is this true of you?