Draw the Circle Introduction
Drawing a Circle
I believe prayer is the difference between the best you can do and the best that God can do. It’s the difference between letting things happen and making things happen. It’s the difference between you fighting for God and God fighting for you. Over the next forty days, we are going to pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on us. And I believe that God is going to show up and show off His power, His grace, His goodness. Welcome to the forty-day prayer challenge. ~Mark Batterson~
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you pray fervently and brokenly, the heavenly Father hears your heart. But I would add “consistently” to the equation. So, at the beginning of this forty-day journey, I want to challenge you to pick a time and pick a place to pray. If it helps, draw a circle somewhere. Or use a hula hoop. Or map out a prayer route that you walk each day. Or write your prayer request in a journal and circle them. And as you pray fervently, brokenly, and consistently, I encourage you to pray with the authority that is yours as a child of God.
As we will discuss this week, God is not a genie in a bottle, and your wish is not his command. Your prayer must meet a twofold litmus test-the will of God and the glory of God. But if they do, you will pray with the full authority of the King and His kingdom. It’s your positional authority in Christ that gives you a holy confidence.
Go home. Lock yourself in your room. Kneel down in
the middle of the floor, and with a piece of chalk draw
a circle around yourself. There, on your knees, pray
fervently and brokenly that God would start a revival
within that chalk circle.
In Matthew 18:18, Jesus says, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bond in heaven.” The word bind has a legal connotation. It means “to place a contract on something.” This is precisely what happens when you pray in the will of God. You are exercising our authority as believers to stake claim to the promises of God-and those are the kind of prayers that honor God.
Circling things in prayer is binding them on earth. What do you need to start circling?
As we read God’s word and begin our prayers and our time with God, take time to pray and meditate over the passages. Write down your personal reflections. What stands out to you from the Scripture? In what ways does it represent a new insight for you?
I believe prayer is the difference between the best you can do and the best that God can do. It’s the difference between letting things happen and making things happen. It’s the difference between you fighting for God and God fighting for you. Over the next forty days, we are going to pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on us. And I believe that God is going to show up and show off His power, His grace, His goodness. Welcome to the forty-day prayer challenge. ~Mark Batterson~
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you pray fervently and brokenly, the heavenly Father hears your heart. But I would add “consistently” to the equation. So, at the beginning of this forty-day journey, I want to challenge you to pick a time and pick a place to pray. If it helps, draw a circle somewhere. Or use a hula hoop. Or map out a prayer route that you walk each day. Or write your prayer request in a journal and circle them. And as you pray fervently, brokenly, and consistently, I encourage you to pray with the authority that is yours as a child of God.
As we will discuss this week, God is not a genie in a bottle, and your wish is not his command. Your prayer must meet a twofold litmus test-the will of God and the glory of God. But if they do, you will pray with the full authority of the King and His kingdom. It’s your positional authority in Christ that gives you a holy confidence.
Go home. Lock yourself in your room. Kneel down in
the middle of the floor, and with a piece of chalk draw
a circle around yourself. There, on your knees, pray
fervently and brokenly that God would start a revival
within that chalk circle.
In Matthew 18:18, Jesus says, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bond in heaven.” The word bind has a legal connotation. It means “to place a contract on something.” This is precisely what happens when you pray in the will of God. You are exercising our authority as believers to stake claim to the promises of God-and those are the kind of prayers that honor God.
Circling things in prayer is binding them on earth. What do you need to start circling?
As we read God’s word and begin our prayers and our time with God, take time to pray and meditate over the passages. Write down your personal reflections. What stands out to you from the Scripture? In what ways does it represent a new insight for you?