Faith involves coming for grace with an open acknowledgement that we do not deserve it. The approach must be from the side of our weakness, not our strength. That is difficult because, being children of the Enlightenment, we cannot imagine receiving something we haven't earned. We insist on dealing with God as with an equal. But faith does not operate that way.
Faith involves a kind of living on the edge.
It involves admitting that our pretended autonomy makes us loathe to come, but coming anyway to find that the sure anchor of our confidence is what Christ is and not what we are. Faith isn't something we receive once and never need again. It must go on growing. It involves begin vulnerable toward God, coming to Him in utter openness and finding, as the prodigal son did, an overwhelming experience of acceptance and forgiveness. It involves a trusting dependence on God for our needs, great or small.