The Year of Faith has begun, so it’s time to begin using this column to share a year’s worth of ideas for prayer.

In keeping with the “door of faith” image from the Holy Father, this first idea for prayer takes the open door image down to a personal level. We’ve all seen the various pictures of Jesus knocking on a door that has no outer knob or latch. The “doors” to our hearts are like that — they can be opened only from the inside. We must do the opening of our hearts to Jesus.

Sometimes that is not so easy. Nobody goes through life without having their hearts bruised, broken or shattered into pieces somewhere along the line. Each blow can make it harder to open our hearts again to others.

On occasion, God may be one of those others. Sometimes following God costs us dearly. He may ask us to give up something, or someone, we treasure — big things that make us feel secure, fun things that we really enjoy, or important things like long-held dreams for our lives. We may react to his request by withdrawing into a defensive inner posture, and that does not bode well for the idea of opening wide our hearts to Christ.

So, imagine yourself inside your inner house, cottage, castle or cabin. Listen. Do you hear his knock? Do you find yourself shrinking back, away from the door?

If you aren’t enthused about throwing open the door to welcome your friend and Savior in, see if you can at least go over by the door. Through the keyhole or along the door’s edge, tell Jesus that you don’t think you are able to open up to him right now. Then ask him to stay and not give up on you.

He will settle in and stay outside by the door, and you can talk to him through the keyhole or through the door itself, confident that he can hear you even if his voice sounds muffled or completely silent to you.

Drag a chair over by the door for yourself, or sit on the floor next to the door. Talk with him through the door, telling him about the pain and fear that have you wanting to curl up like a porcupine to protect your vulnerable heart from others and from him. Tell him what is making you hurt.

Over many days, talk and talk and talk with him. The neat thing about God knowing everything about us is that we don’t have to be embarrassed to tell him anything. He won’t be shocked or surprised or aghast at anything we say. He’ll just tell us he’s glad we’re finally talking to him about all these things.

At some point, you will realize that you might be able to open the door a crack. Tell him that’s the best you can do right now, and he’ll be good with that. God is polite beyond all imagining. He will not push on the door. He will not force His way in. He gives us more freedom when it comes to our hearts than anyone else we’ll ever meet. He won’t try to manipulate us, or fool us or trick us.

He wants our love, yes, but only when we give it freely to Him.

Once you open your heart-door a little bit, you can talk back and forth more clearly. Don’t be surprised if He pokes a flower or two in for you to take if you wish.

Take as much time as you need in this door-opening prayer. Just keep coming to the door of your heart every day to connect with Jesus, to talk with him, and to be quiet with him.

Jesus is the one who loves you completely — at your own pace.

The ‘Door Prayer’ is Idea 93 in Hudson’s ebook, “When Prayers Go Blah — 100 Ideas,” which can be borrowed for free from the Kindle Owners Lending Library Program, or purchased for $2.99 from Amazon.com.