Our Father, who art in Heaven

Those are the first words of the Lord's prayer.  Words Jesus used to teach us how to pray.  Yesterday, my small group of girls talked about prayer:  struggles with prayer, why we pray, what to pray about, etc. And I think I learned more than the girls did.

I learned that while some parents are great, some parents are very immature and make their children have to grow up way too soon.

I learned that in a room of just 10 girls, one of them might have cancer, one hears voices telling her to hurt herself, and one has fallen away from God and desparately wants to come back.

I hurt for these girls.  I wish I could make their problems go away.  But more than that, I give these girls to God in prayer.  If I truly believe that God answers prayer, then now is the time to show it.

Everyone is going through something, but we just don't take the time to sit and talk to them about it.  We pass through so many days with shallow conversation and miss out on opportunities around us.  While our Father in Heaven is whispering to us, "Talk to them, ask them how they really are.  They need you."

I pray that I make time to have more of those conversations.  That I don't get so caught up in what I'm doing that I miss those around me who are hurting, who need my prayers, who need to know there is more out there than what we see in front of us.