I was reminded recently of a story I used to tell about a man who was the last to share in his prayer group. They were going around in a circle, giving their personal requests for prayer when they came to him and he took a deep breath and proceeded to relate some very ugly things he was going through in his life right then including some anger at God and a real sense of being depressed due to questions he had no answers for and problems he couldn’t solve.

He had wanted to avoid these painful things and just focus on how good God is, but the reality and intensity of his present state of affairs prevented him from telling anything but the truth.  When he finished, there was a long pause, and the man related to me how in that silence he had regretted revealing as much as he did. It was then that someone broke the silence with five very special words: “Can we go around again?”

Five words—that’s all—but oh how important those five words are. Those five words say: You are not alone. If the rest of us had been as honest, we would all have equally challenging things to say. In fact, let’s go around again so we can!

What good is so-called prayer time if we don’t tell the truth about what we really need? Who are we touching if we are not allowing ourselves to be touched? Whatever it is that you are afraid to reveal, it’s not as bad as the phony, shallow relationships that will result if you don’t.

“Can we go around again?” says so much. It says you have courage, you want to be and know the truth, and you are willing to stick out as the only one with real problems, should no one else choose to meet your level of honesty. It also says more power to you.

For the sake of yourself and others, be a “Can we go around again?” person. It changes it for everybody.