Digging Deeper – Truth Telling

Avatar photo Chris Boggess on October 13, 2026

 

“Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector.  The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’

 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’  I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Luke 18:10-14 (NLT)


TRUTH TELLING

Prayer is our line of communication with God. But it differs from every other type of communication we use. So much of our communication is filled with hidden motives and subtleties. We want people to see the best in us, and if we can help make that happen, we will. We post things on social media to show how wonderful we are. We use AI to make our creations look better, and we accuse anyone who makes something that we think is better than our creation of using AI because belittling someone else makes us look better.

The extreme of this is “catfishing.” It is when someone creates a false persona to lure people, or even a specific person, into doing what the “catfisher” wants them to do. Sometimes they want money, sometimes attention, or sometimes just to cause chaos in someone else’s life.

You can’t catfish God.

Psalm 139 says it like this:

O Lord, you have examined my heart
    and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
    You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
    and when I rest at home.
    You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
    even before I say it, Lord.

So when you come to Him in prayer, you don’t need to put up a front or waste time on humble brags or manipulative statements. A false persona will not stand up to the presence of God. You must come humbly before the God of the universe and realize that the best thing about you is that you can come into God’s presence and commune with Him. God wants our true, honest selves.

Chris Boggess is the Care + Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.

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