“Nuanced prayers give God an opportunity to reveal more shades of His sovereignty.”- Mark Batterson
In Chapter 3 of The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson writes that there is a direct correlation between the strength of your faith and the specificity of your prayers. Spelling out your prayers with specificity eventually will spell God’s glory.
Pastor Batterson defines success in terms of God-0rdained goals and eternal priorities. However, the author observes, very few people actually have spelled out this success for themselves. Instead, they rely on family or cultural definitions of success. Mark offers a definition of success specific to any and every situation:
Do the best you can with what you have where you are. Success is not circumstantial, rooted in what we’re doing or where we’re going. God’s overarching concern is who we’re becoming in the process. God’s will is about being the right person, even in the midst of the wrong circumstances. Success is stewardship of your resources and God-given talents that maximizes glorifying God in all situations.
Max summarizes the process:
“You need to circle the goals God wants you to go after, the promises God wants you to claim, and the dreams God wants you to pursue. And once you spell Jericho, you need to circle it in prayer. Then you need to keep circling until the walls come tumbling down.”
Today’s question: How does your definition of success compare with Mark Batterson’s? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: Praying for versus praying through”
