“Praying hard is praying through. And if you pray through, God will come through. But it will be God’s will, God’s way.”- Mark Batterson Mark Batterson moves on by introducing “The Second Circle- Pray Hard.” This second circle covers Chapters 8-11 of The Circle Maker. Pastor Batterson cites the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18: […]
“But God doesn’t call the qualified; God qualifies the called.”- Mark Batterson As Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 7 of The Circle Maker, he defines a big dream as something beyond your human ability to accomplish. This means it is perfectly natural that there will be moments when you doubt yourself, as Mark describes: “If you’ve […]
“The size of prayers depends on the size of our God.”- Mark Batterson In Chapter 7 (“The Solution to Ten Thousand Problems”) of The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson states the answer to the question will determine the size of your prayer circles: “Is the Lord’s arm too short (Numbers 11:23)?” Or, as the Good News […]
“I have come to expect the unexpected because God is predictably unpredictable.”- Mark Batterson Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 6 of The Circle Maker by reflecting on a favorite saying of his grandmother: You can’t never always sometimes tell. Translation: “Anything could happen.” The same is true when you circle a promise in prayer. Prayer adds […]
In Chapter 6 (“You Can’t Never Always Sometimes Tell”) of The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson discusses valuable lessons about unanswered prayers that he has learned. The learning began when Pastor Batterson almost said no to a miracle. A married couple, new members of National Community Church, wanted to talk to Mark about church government. Pastor […]
“Here is what I learned about arguments with God: If you win the argument you actually lose, and if you lose the argument you actually win.”- Mark Batterson Mark Batterson continues Chapter 5 of The Circle Maker by conceding that circling the promises of God often seems risky. However, he adds, circling the promises of […]
“Logic is screaming no; faith is whispering yes.”- Mark Batterson In Chapter 5 (“Cloudy with a Chance of Quail”) of The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson sates that drawing prayer circles often looks “like an exercise in foolishness.” Exercising faith involves the willingness to look foolish. This is directly proportional to the size of the circle […]
Following Chapter 4, Mark Batterson describes the first of three prayer circles- dream big. This topic will be discussed in detail in Chapters 5-7 of The Circle Maker. Pastor Batterson notes that Honi the circle maker was mesmerized by one phrases in one verse of Scripture: “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we […]
“After you pray through, you need to praise through.”- Mark Batterson Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 14 of The Circle Maker with the bold statement that we should praise God for disappointment because it drives us to our knees in prayer. Responding to disappointment in a God-pleasing way can restore our prayer rhythm and resurrect our desires. […]
“Our generation desperately needs to rediscover the difference between praying for and praying through.”- Mark Batterson Mark Batterson begins Chapter 4 (“Praying Through”) of The Circle Maker with a discussion of a branch of history called counterfactual theory. Pastor Batterson notes that counterfactual theorists ask (1) what if questions and (2) what are key footnotes […]
“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 […]
“Define your dream. Claim your promise. Spell your miracle.”- Mark Batterson As Mark Batterson continues Chapter 3 of The Circle Maker, he references Matthew’s account of “Jesus Heals Two Blind Men” (Matthew 20:29-34). When two blind men sitting on the roadside outside of Jericho hailed Jesus, the disciples saw it as human interruption. Jesus, however, […]