Dear God. . .

I KNOW that "Dear God" doesn't sound right for starting off a prayer. Too flip, like you were my brother-in-law; but I don't know how else to put it. The stuff I hear in church (or used to--I suppose you know I haven't been in the front room of a church for a couple of years) just doesn't ring true to me. "O Heavenly Father"? What kind of way is that to start a personal conversation? "Lord God Almighty"? Sort of redundant, and still not the right tone.