” . . . the key to dreaming big and praying hard is thinking long.”- Mark Batterson
Today Mark Batterson introduces “The Third Circle- Thinking Long” of The Circle Maker. He begins by noting that Honi the circle maker realized that prayer is like planting. A seed planted in the ground disappears for a season, but eventually bears fruit to bless future generations. Pastor Batterson emphasizes that our prayers bear fruit forever:
“Prayer is the inheritance we receive and the legacy we leave.”
Mark underscores the thought that we never should underestimate God’s ability to show up anytime, anyplace, or in any way. While our prayers are finite, His answers are infinite. Our problem, of course, is that we want immediate results. As Mark quips, “we don’t just want to have our cake and eat it too, we want the instant brand.”
Pastor Batterson asserts that we need the foresight of the farmer and the mind-set of the sower. We tend to think of spiritual realties in terms of the technologies that make our lives faster and easier. Scripture describes spiritual realities in longer and harder spiritual terms. An important dimension of thinking long is thinking different. Mark states prayer is the key to both:
“Prayer doesn’t just change circumstances; more important, it changes us. It doesn’t just alter external realities; it alters realities so that we see with spiritual eyes. It gives us peripheral vision. It corrects our nearsightedness. It enables us to see beyond our circumstances, beyond ourselves, beyond time.”
Today’s question: How have you developed the ability to think long and think different? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Long and boring”
