New Territory in Prayer

     I am working my way through the Mark Batterson book, The Circle Maker, and am pleased so far. I mean, yeah, it bothers me that he is a bit of a book hawk. In addition to The Circle Maker, he has additional Circle Maker resources for children, students, parents, classroom, etc... It is the same content repackaged and marketed a hundred ways. But aside from all this, at its core, the Circle Maker is a solid image for prayer.
     It is based on the story of a Jewish sage named Honi (apparently a historical figure from the Jewish Talmud) who, during a time of drought, drew a prayer circle in the sand. According the legend, Honi literally drew a circle, stood inside it, and refused to come out until God brought forth rain from the heavens and refreshment for his people. In like manner, we can draw spiritual circles around the different areas of our lives and pray through our requests until they come to pass.
     It is not about demanding things from God.
     It is not about putting God to the test.
     It is not about us receiving stuff from God like he is a divine candy dispenser.
     Drawing a prayer circle is about wrestling with our wants/needs in life and matching them against the will of God (testing it against Scripture). Once we are convinced our prayer request is the will of God, we should draw a spiritual circle around that prayer and see the request through. So often, we throw prayers to the sky and do not really know what we are asking. Or we pray for a season, but then grow weary and give up. Batterson encourages us not merely to "pray for" things, but "pray through" them.
     Our congregation will be using Batterson's resources for a 40-Day prayer challenge beginning on Sept. 8. I will be targeting a vision for Men's Ministries at GPC and for The Gathering, a contemporary worshiping community that I lead at GPC. I will also be drawing prayer circles for my marriage, my children, my health, and other things.
     I invite you to join us on this 40-Day Challenge, whether or not you buy the book. Let me know if you choose to partner with me on this challenge. Blessings to you!