Repentance.

In Christianity, 'repentance' is the ultimate prerequisite of all relationship with God.

"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We all have to repent pretty regularly because of this.

A thought recently struck me. Even as believers, I wonder how much of our repentance is truly genuine.

As the faithless father said to Jesus, "I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief." So perhaps, by the same token, Christians might often need to pray, "I do repent - help me to overcome my lack of repentance."