From your hook to God"s hook

“Forgiveness . . . is moving the guilty from your hook to God’s hook.”- June Hunt

Today, in Chapter 3 of How to Forgive, June Hunt concludes her discussion of seven misunderstandings about forgiveness.

4.  Forgiveness is not excusing the wrong or letting the guilty “get away with it.”  Ms. Hunt states that all wrong behavior is wrong and without excuse.  When we are wounded, the offense and the emotional pain we incur are real.

5.  Forgiveness is not letting the guilty off the hook.  Forgiveness is not letting the offender off the hook, but moving that offender from your hook to God’s hook.  June points out that we don’t even have the ability to let our offender off the hook of the potential consequences he or she may have to face.  However, we can take that person off our emotional hook, trusting God to deal with the offender in a way that is just and right.  When we no longer feel compelled to throw stones, our hands are open to receive the good things God wants to give us.

6.  Forgiveness is not being a “doormat” or a weak martyr.  Ms. Hunt emphasizes that forgiveness is being strong enough to be Christlike- a sign of godly courage.   As we forgive, we align ourselves with Christ, who offers us full forgiveness.

7.  Forgiveness has nothing to do with “fairness.”  When it comes to forgiveness, the word fairness can be a huge obstacle.  We like the scales to balance.  June explains God’s way:

“Forgiveness has nothing to do with fairness- or else it would not be forgiveness at all!  Forgiveness is the unconditional dismissal of a debt.  Forgiveness is dropping stones when the world says to throw stones.”

Today’s question: Which of June Hunt’s seven misconceptions of forgiveness resonate most with you?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Learning to forgive”

From your hook to God"s hook

Forgiveness and reconciliation

June Hunt continues her discussion of seven misunderstandings about forgiveness (Chapter 3, How to Forgive) by comparing forgiveness and reconciliation.  She also states that forgiveness is not a feeling.

2.  Forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation.  Forgiveness does not equate with instant reconciliation.  Forgiveness doesn’t mean you turn back the clock and start over as if the offense never took place.  Ms. Hunt contrasts forgiveness and reconciliation.

Forgiveness

a.  can lead to reconciliation

b.  is one-way

c.  requires nothing at all from the offender

Reconciliation

a.  sometimes is not warranted or even possible

b.  is two-way

c.  requires a change in the offender’s behavior

When we forgive, we unilaterally and unconditionally cancel the debt.  June writes: We don’t bury the hatchet, but we do drop the stone.”

3.  Forgiveness is not a feeling.  June emphasizes that forgiveness is a decision, an act of the will.  We choose to let go of our claim against the offender, as God asks, and hand the claim over to Christ.  Know that if you have “Christ in you” (Colossians 1:27), His supernatural nature and power is at your disposal.  You can do what you feel you cannot do.

In nineteenth-century Russia, only the czar’s family was permitted to own “Imperial Topaz.”  Ms. Hunt describes what happens when we release our grip on the rock offense that leaves us emotionally immobile:

“You can choose to release your grip and watch God fashion your feelings into a forgiving spirit.  You can choose to hand that stone over to the Master Miner.  From it, He will create something even more valuable than you could envision- even more valuable than Imperial Topaz.”

Today’s question: Have you ever equated forgiveness and reconciliation?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “From your hook to God’s hook”

Forgiveness and reconciliation

Confusion about forgiveness

“By clearing away some of the confusion about forgiveness, we lay the foundation for our own freedom.  The stone wall encasing our hearts can be broken, freeing us from our rocks of resentment.”- June Hunt

June Hunt begins Chapter 3(“Stone Her!  Stone Her!  What Forgiveness Is, What Forgiveness Isn’t”) of How to Forgive by citing John’s account of The Woman Caught in Adultery (John 8:1-11).  June states that this passage of Scripture is filled with  “the heart of compassion and the hope of forgiveness.”

No one, in truth, desires to be like the stone throwers in this story.  However, when we won’t loosen our grip and let our stones fall to the ground, we become just like those stone throwers.  Even though we want others to drop their stones, we are quite reluctant to drop ours.  June stresses that this reluctance is based on a misunderstanding of what forgiveness is and is not.

Ms. Hunt explores seven misunderstandings about forgiveness.  The first misconception is discussed today.

1.  Forgiveness is not a natural response- but rather supernatural.  So many people try to muster their own strength and determination when it comes to forgiveness.  They try to do it alone.  But they continue to seethe with resentment and rage because they haven’t entrusted their lives to Christ, allowing Him to give them His strength to forgive.  We need both Christ’s presence and power in order to forgive.  Forgiveness isn’t natural.  It only happens when we surrender to God’s will and tap into His strength.

Today’s question: Do you have any confusion about forgiveness?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Forgiveness and reconciliation”

 

Confusion about forgiveness

Reshaping a hardened heart

In Chapter 2 (“The School of Hard Rocks: Reshaping a Hardened Heart”) of How to Forgive, June Hunt speaks of reshaping a hardened heart- hers.  Ms. Hunt describes her father as hard as flint with a hair-trigger temper.  Although her father was recognized as a visionary business leader, at home the family walked on eggshells due to his oppression.

June, her mother, and three siblings were her father’s covert family.  Unbeknownst to June’s mother when she became romantically involved with June’s father, he was a married man with six children.  His perpetual pummeling included verbal and mental abuse.  At the age of fifteen, June researched and then proposed murdering her father to her mother.  Thankfully, mother’s cooler head prevailed.

When June became a Christian, she was surprised that “Christ inside me started changing me from the inside out.”  Yet even though she knew the biblical command to love one another as well as our enemies, she truly believed her situation was a legitimate exception and that God understood.  June only had one problem: God’s holy standard is to hate no one- and June wasn’t an exception.  The standard applies to all.

June explains reshaping a hardened heart:

“Unforgiveness can make you heart hard and dark like flint, and over time, you can amass enough bitterness to build an impenetrable wall around your soul.  But when you surrender your hardened heart to the Master Stonecutter, He reshapes your heart to look like His– sensitive to the needs of others . . . . By releasing the flint into His hands- the flint of unforgiveness- He will reshape your hardened heart and make it like his.”

Today’s question: What Scriptures have guided and strengthened you to give you a forgiving heart?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Confusion about forgiveness”

Reshaping a hardened heart

Embedded bitterness

“I don’t want those who are hurting to be further hurt by embedded bitterness– simply because they don’t grasp the true meaning of forgiveness . . . or they don’t know the ‘how-to’s’ of forgiveness.”- June Hunt

June Hunt is a biblical counselor and founder of Hope For The Heart, a worldwide biblical counseling ministry.  Each weeknight June hosts a live, two-hour call-in counseling program called Hope in the Night. 

In her introduction (“The Struggle to Forgive”) to How to Forgive . . . When You Don’t Feel Like It (2007), June writes that forgiveness is:

a.  a decision– an act of the will that results in true freedom when it is done right.

b.  a process– often misunderstood.  We need to learn the why of forgiveness as well as learn to live out the heart of forgiveness.

God’s call in Colossians 3:3 has been the catalyst for Ms. Hunt’s journey: “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Through out the book June’s prayer is twofold:

1.  that you will learn how to get rid of the “boulders” of bitterness holding you back


2.  that you will experience the freedom of forgiveness as you learn how to forgive even when you don’t feel like it

In Chapter 1, June cites the popular adage “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  The truth is that words can break our hearts.  Solomon wrote in Proverbs 18:21- “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

June notes that words can kill relationships or murder our motivation and inspiration.  Unforgiveness weighs us down with too many rocks.  The best we can do is trudge through life when that happens.  June describes how forgiveness changes the picture:

“When we forgive, we get rid of the rocks dragging us down and depleting our strength.”

Today’s question: How would you describe forgiveness?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Reshaping a hardened heart”

Embedded bitterness

The Circle Maker

The Circle Maker (Zondervan, 2011)

Mark Batterson, lead pastor at National Community Church in Washington, DC, wrote The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears in 2011.  Mark’s stated purpose in writing The Circle Maker is to “show you how to claim God-given promises, pursue God-ordained dreams, and seize God-ordained opportunities.”  Drawing circles begins with discerning God’s will, the goal being to glorify God.  As you discern what to circle in prayer and spell out your prayers with specificity, eventually it will spell God’s glory.  God will answer at some point, and His answers are not limited by your requests.  That means you can live with holy anticipation and pray with holy confidence.

Pastor Batterson emphasizes that prayer solving, rather than problem solving, wins the day.  Consistency and intensity are essential to praying.  And after you pray through, you need to praise through, even if God doesn’t answer the way you want or in the time you want.  Ultimately, the size of your prayer comes down to the size of your God.  Your impossible prayer is an easy answer for a mighty God.  Far greater than your capability to receive is God’s capacity to give.  God always provides just enough just in time.  Nothing is too big- or too small- for God.  Sometimes God gets in the way to show us the way.  Divine detours take us to the miracles we need, but don’t necessarily want.

When drawing prayer circles begins to feel long and boring,  because answers don’t seem to be forth coming, Mark encourages us to stop, draw, and pray.  Pray primes us, putting us in a spiritual frame of mind and sanctifying our expectations.  Staring the day in prayer is the best way to establish a daily rhythm in order to have a daily relationship with God.  To break the faith barrier, we need to press in and pray through.  Goal-setting is a great way of simultaneously praying hard, thinking long, and dreaming big.  Each prayer is precious to God and sealed by Him.  The end of a prayer is the beginning of a dream, the beginning of a miracle, the beginning of a promise.

 

 

 

The Circle Maker

All my tears

“You have collected all my tears in your bottle.”- Psalm 56:8

In Chapters 17 (“Bottled Prayer”) and 18 (“Now There Was One”), the concluding chapters of The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson writes that there are many different kind of tears, including the tears shed in prayer.  Specifically, David’s psalm promise may be the place for you to begin circling:

“Each and every teardrop is precious to God.  They are eternal keepsakes.  The day will come when He wipes away every tear in heaven.  Until then, God will move heaven and earth to honor every tear that has been shed.  Not a single tear is lost on God.  He remembers each one.  He collects each one. . . . God collects our prayers.  Each one is precious to Him.  Each one is sealed by God.  And you never know when He’s going to uncork an answer.”

Mark encourages us not to let what we cannot do keep us from doing what we can do or let who we are not keep us from being who we are.  We are circle makers who need others to agree with us in prayer.  Most importantly, Mark emphasizes that the ending of a prayer is the beginning of a dream.  The power of one prayer circle never can be underestimated.  As Josephus wrote about Honi the circle maker in Antiquities of the Jews, “Now there was one. . . ”

Today’s question:  How does  circling the promise about “all my tears” in Psalm 56:8 bring comfort to you?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: the latest addition to Crown’s Annotated Bibliography, The Circle Maker

All my tears

Make no little plans

“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood.”- attributed to Chicago architect and visionary Daniel Burnham

Mark Batterson begins Chapter 16 (“Double Miracle”) of The Circle Maker by noting that you often feel like you are risking your reputation when you live by faith.  But you’re not.  You’re risking God’s reputation.  God’s faithfulness is on the line.  The battle- and the glory- belongs to the Lord.

Mark encourages you to remember that God is for you.  God will answer in His time and in accordance with His will:

“I can’t promise that God will always give you the answer you want.  I can’t promise that God will answer on your timeline.  But I can promise you this: He answers every prayer, and He keeps every promise (emphasis Mark’s).  That is who He is.  That is what He does.  And if you have the faith to dream big, pray hard, and think long, there is nothing God loves more than proving His faithfulness.”

Even when we impatiently feel like God is a step behind, God always is a step ahead. As Mark states, God’s “always got a holy surprise up His sovereign sleeve.”  Mark compares every prayer to a time capsule.  We never know when or how God will answer, but God will answer every prayer.  There are no expiration dates or exceptions.  Because God is ordering our footsteps, we can live with holy anticipation.

Today’s question:  What Scriptures strengthen your resolve to make no little plans, to live with holy anticipation?  Please share.

New addition to Crown Jewels: Crying “Uncle”

Tomorrow’s blog: “All my tears”

 

Make no little plans

Keep circling

“Keep Circling” is the title of the fourth and final section of The Circle Maker.  Mark Batterson begins by describing his 15.5-mile hike with a 4,8000-foot ascent to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.  The trek seemed next to impossible.  But the answer was quite simple: one step at a time.

Pastor Batterson remarks that is how you accomplish any goal.  You can climb the highest mountain or obstacle simply by putting one foot in front of the other and persevering until you reach the top.  Mark draws a parallel with prayer circles:

“Drawing prayer circles is a lot like climbing a mountain.  The dream or promise or miracle may seem impossible, but if you keep circling, anything is possible.  With each prayer, there is a small change in elevation.  With each prayer, you are one step closer to the answer . . . . The more you have to circle something in prayer, the more satisfying it is spiritually.  And, often, the more glory God gets.”

Until recently, Mark wanted God to answer his prayers ASAP.  However, easy or quick answers often get taken for granted.  Mark encourages us to look for the path of greatest glory (for God), not the path of least resistance.  That requires high-degree-of-difficulty prayers, and the persistence to keep circling.  Mark concludes: “Maybe we need to change our prayer approach from as soon as possible to as long as it takes.  Keep circling!”

Today’s question: When you pray, do you look for the path of least resistance or the path of greatest glory for God?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Make no little plans”

Keep circling

An ebenezer moment

“When you accomplish a God-ordained goal, it is an ebenezer moment.”- Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson concludes his discussion of ten steps to goal-setting, as found in Chapter 15 of The Circle Maker.

7.  Celebrate along the way.  Accomplishing a goal is cause for celebration.  Mark believes we should celebrate an answer to prayer, an ebenezer moment, with the same intensity with which we pray.  Pastor Batterson writes that the Hebrew word ebenezer means “thus far the Lord has helped us.”  Ebenezer is one of Mark’s favorite words.

8.  Dream big.  Your life goals will be big and small, long-term and short-term.  Mark emphasizes that you need some God-sized goals in your life that would qualify as crazy, because big goals turn you into a big person.

9.  Think long.  To dream big, you need to think long.  Pastor Batterson remind us of the question Honi the circle maker grappled with his whole life: Is it possible for a man to dream continuously for seventy years?  Mark states that is possible if you set goals that take a lifetime to achieve.  He explains why goal-setting is good stewardship:

“Instead of letting things happen, goals help us make things happen.  Instead of living by default, goals help us live by design.  Instead of living out of memory, goals help us live out of imagination.”

10.  Pray hard.  Mark stresses that goal-setting begins and ends with prayer: “God-ordained goals are conceived in the context of prayer, and prayer is what brings them to full term.”  Circling your goals creates and helps you recognize God-ordained opportunities.

Today’s question: Which of Marks’ ten steps to goal-setting resonate most with you?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Keep circling”

 

An ebenezer moment

A stock clerk with a goal

“Give me a stock clerk with a goal, and I will give you a man who will make history.  Give me a man without a goal, and I will give you a stock clerk.”- J. C. Penney

Today, in Chapter 15 of The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson continues his discussion of ten steps to goal-setting with goal three through six.

3.  Think in categories.  Mark recommends looking at the life goal lists of others as a way of stimulating your own unique goals.  Mark also has found it helpful to think in categories, with each category having a spiritual dimension: family, influential, experiential, physical, and travel.

4.  Be specific.  In order for you to know whether you’ve accomplished a goal, it has to be measurable.  For example, losing weight is not a measurable goal.  However, losing a specific number of pounds by a specific date is a measurable goal.

5.  Write it down.  Mark has a saying he repeats often to his family and church staff: “The shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory.”  Verbalizing a goal is powerful.  Verbalizing a goal is more than a good idea.  Mark states it is a God-idea.  Writing down your goals holds you accountable and enables you to celebrate an answer to prayer because you’ve got a record of what you requested.

6.  Include others.  Mark observes that shared goals cement relationships: “Goals are relational glue.”  Going after a goal with another person doubles your joy.  When you go after a God-sized goal, you will draw closer to God.

Today’s question: What goals have you refined or re-created following your ministry downsizing or vocation loss?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “An ebenezer moment”

A stock clerk with a goal

Show me your vision

“Show me your vision, and I’ll show you your future.”- South Korean Pastor David Yonggi Cho

Mark Batterson continues Chapter 15 of The Circle Maker with the observation that “vision starts with visualization.”  He cites a 1995 study by Alvaro Pascual indicating that the brain’s motor cortex is just as active mentally rehearsing a five-finger piano exercise as it is during actual physical practice.

Mental rehearsal literally is mind over matter.  At a minimum, it’s equal to physical practice- and may be more important.  Mark explains:

“When you dream, your mind forms a mental image that becomes both a picture of and a map to your destiny.  That picture of the future is one dimension of faith, and the way you frame it is by circling it in prayer.”

Goal-setting serves an important purpose.  Goals are the GPS that gets you to the destination of your dreams.  Goals are unique to each individual, reflecting one’s unique personality and passions.  Everyone arrives at their goals via different avenues.  Mark offers ten steps to goal-setting to help  guide you as you circle your life goals.  The first two steps are presented today.

1.  Start with prayer.  Mark emphasizes prayer is the best way to jump-start the goal-setting process.  Setting your goals in the context of prayer raises the likelihood that those goals will glorify God.  Unless your goals glorify God, they aren’t worth setting.

2.  Check your motives.  Mark encourages you to examine your motives with total honesty.  Be certain your goals are God-glorifying.  Mark writes: “. . . you make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give.”

Today’s question: If you were asked “show me your vision,” what specific goals would you describe to achieve your dream?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “A stock clerk with a goal”

 

Show me your vision

Life goal list

Mark Batterson begins Chapter 15 (“Life Goal List”) of The Circle Maker by telling a story about American adventurer and explorer John Goddard.  On a rainy afternoon in 1940, Goddard, then fifteen, wrote a list of 127 life goals.  Pastor Batterson’s favorite Goddard goal is one Goddard never achieved: Visit the moon.  Mark reminds us that no one had escaped the earth’s atmosphere when Goddard set that goal.

The author explains why the brain is a goal-seeking organism:

“Setting a goal creates structural tension in your brain, which will seek to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be, who you are and who you want to become.  If you don’t set goals, your mind will become stagnant.  Goal-setting is good stewardship of your right brain imagination.  It’s also great for your prayer life.”

Pastor Batterson states that goal-setting is a great way of simultaneously praying hard, thinking long, and dreaming big.

1.  Goals are the cause and effect of praying hard.  On the front end, Mark notes, prayer is a goal incubator.  On the back end, prayer ensures that you will keep praying hard because praying hard is the only way to accomplish a God-sized goal.

2.  Goals are a great way of thinking long.  Life goals may take a lifetime to achieve.  After all, they are life goals.  But they are worth waiting and working for.

3.  Setting goals is a practical way of dreaming big.  Mark defines goals as “well-defined dreams that are measurable” and “dreams with deadlines.”  Deadlines are crucial because they keep dreams alive and even bring them back to life.

Today’s question: Following your ministry downsizing or vocation loss, have you written down a life goal list?  Why is it important to do so?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Show me your vision”

 

 

Life goal list

Breaking the faith barrier

“Breaking the faith barrier in the spiritual realm is much like breaking the sound barrier in the physical realm.”- Mark Batterson

In Chapter 14 (“The Speed of Prayer”) of The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson notes that, in the world of aviation,  the sound barrier once was considered unbreakable.  But on October 14, 1947, American pilot Chuck Yeager attempted the impossible.  As Chuck’s plane approached Mach 1, it began shaking violently.  The g-force blurred his vision and upset his stomach.  Just as it seemed like the plane would disintegrate, there was a loud sonic boom, followed by an eerie calm.  The shock waves buffeting the cabin turned into a sea of glass.  All was calm in front of the plane.  The sound barrier had been broken.

Pastor Batterson states that your doubts will nosedive your dreams and your disappointments will create drag- if you let them.  Mark describes what is necessary for you to experience a supernatural breakthrough:

“If you want to experience a supernatural breakthrough, you have to pray through.  But as you get closer to the breakthrough, it often feels like you’re about to lose control, about to fall apart.  That’s when you need to press in and pray through . . . if you pray through, God will come through and you’ll experience a supernatural breakthrough.”

Mark indicates that you are getting close to a breakthrough when you get to the point where you are more concerned with what God thinks than what people think.

Today’s question: What Scriptures have assisted you in breaking the faith barrier?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Life goals list”

Breaking the faith barrier

Expect great progress

“Your Promised Land life . . . is there for the taking.  Expect to be challenged.  The enemy won’t go down without a fight.  But expect great progress. . . Breakthroughs outnumber breakdowns.”- Max Lucado, Glory Days

“Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel.  All came to pass.”- Joshua 21:45 (NKJV)

The Chicago World’s Fair, better known as A Century of Progress International Exposition, opened on May 27, 1933.  My father, who had turned twelve just eleven days earlier, undoubtedly was fascinated with all the science and technology on display.  Dad lived close enough to the fair to have been a frequent visitor.  A three-inch thick scrapbook of newspaper clippings and postcards, which dad titled “A Century of Progress, 1933, chronicled his experiences there for a lifetime.  This linen postcard of the Havoline Thermometer was part of his collection.

The Havoline Thermometer contained 3,000 feet of neon tubing, ten miles of wiring, and sixty tons of steel.  It stood 218 feet tall (21 stories) and could be seen from many sections of the 427 acre fairgrounds.  The numerals were ten feet tall.

The motto of A Century of Progress was “Science finds, industry applies, man conforms.”  Fair organizers and corporate leaders believed that progress rides the tide of technological innovation and consumerism.  But when the exposition closed after a successful two-year run and the Havoline Thermometer was only a memory, the Great Depression remained.  A promising future, however, cannot be dependent on finite knowledge and material goods.  Pericles once wrote:

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.”

Max Lucado writes in Glory Days that our Promised Land is “not real estate but a real state of the heart and mind.”  To shift your focus from the wilderness to the Promised Land, remember what God has done and remember whose you are.  Because your inheritance is in Christ, you already have the victory.  You live our of your inheritance, not your circumstance.

Exposition patrons stood at the crossroads of recession and optimism.  Max Lucado observes that Promised Land people also risk a choice:

“When forced to stand at the crossroads of faith and unbelief, they choose belief.  They place one determined step after another on the pathway of faith.  Seldom with a skip, usually with a limp.  They make a conscious effort to step toward God, to lean into hope, to heed the call of heaven.  They press into the promises of God.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ9bLnyIEyw

 

 

 

 

Expect great progress

Establish a daily rhythm

“We need to establish a daily rhythm in order to have a daily relationship with God.  The best way to do that is to begin the day with prayer.”- Mark Batterson

“In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.”- Psalm 5:3

As Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 13 of The Circle Maker, he notes David’s determination to lay his requests before the Lord and wait expectantly.  Most of us, Pastor Batterson states, just wait.  There is a huge difference between waiting and waiting expectantly.

We tend to have low expectations, underestimating how good and great God is.  Prayer is the way for us to sanctify our expectations, priming and readying us for the promises of God.

It also is important for us to find and establish our own rituals or routines.  Mark cites Oswald Chambers: “Let God be as original with other people as He is with you.”  That includes incorporating prayer circles.  Mark explains what applying prayer principles is and is not:

“It’s not a formula; it’s faith.  It’s not a methodology; it’s theology.  It honestly doesn’t matter whether it’s a circle, an oval, or a trapezoid.  Drawing prayer circles is nothing more than laying our requests before God and waiting expectantly.  If walking in circles helps you pray with more consistency and intensity, then make yourself dizzy; if not, then find something, find anything, that helps you pray through.”

Mark offers this equation: Praying hard + thinking long = staying focused.  Just as all of life is meant to be an act of worship, all of life is meant to be a prayer.

Today’s question: What has helped you establish a daily rhythm of prayer?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: the new Short Meditation, “Expect great progress”

Establish a daily rhythm

Prayer is priming

“Prayer is priming.  Prayer puts us in a spiritual frame of mind.  Prayer helps us see and seize the God-ordained opportunities that are around us all the time.”- Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson continues Chapter 13 of The Circle Maker by telling us on of his summer jobs during college was painting.  Although he only lasted a week before he was deservedly downsized, Mark learned one very important thing: priming is essential to painting.  One might think using a primer is time-consuming hard labor.  In actuality, priming increases quality while decreasing the quantity of work.

New York University psychologist John Bargh has conducted a series of priming experiments over the last few decades.  In one experiment involving a five-minute scrambled-sentence test, the first test group had sentences sprinkled with rude words.  The second test group had sentences sprinkled with polite words.  Following the test, each student group was asked to talk to the person running the experiment.  When the students arrived, the examiner strategically was engaged in conversation with an actor.

Bargh found that the group primed with rude words interrupted after five minutes of waiting, while 82% of those primed with polite words never interrupted at all (ten minute maximum wait).  Pastor Batterson observes that our minds subconsciously are constantly primed by everything that is happening.  As Christians, we need to be good stewards of what we allow ourselves to see and hear.  Mark explains why he believes in starting the day with God’s Word:

“It [God’s Word] doesn’t just prime our senses; it also primes our hearts.  It doesn’t just prime us spiritually; it also primes us emotionally and relationally.  When we read the words that the Holy Spirit inspired, it tunes us to His voice and primes us for His promptings.”

Today’s question: How does the concept that “prayer is priming” help structure your day?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Establish a daily rhythm”

Prayer is priming

Scriptural prayer postures

“When we practice the prayer postures prescribed in Scripture, it helps us dream big, pray hard, and think long.”- Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson begins Chapter 13 (“The Greatest of Them All”) of The Circle Maker with a discussion of prayer postures.  Pastor Batterson states that physical posture is like a prayer within a prayer.  Scripture prescribes a wide variety of postures- kneeling, falling prostrate on one’s face, the laying on of hands, anointing someone’s head with oil- that help posture our hearts and minds.

Mark adds that “posture is to prayer as tone is to communication.”  He believes the most powerful position on earth is the physical posture of kneeling coupled with a humble heart.

The author describes one of his favorite prayer postures- learned from the Quakers.  Mark frequently utilizes this with his congregation.  The congregation begins with hands down, symbolizing the things they need to let go of.  Then the congregation turns its hands over in a position of receptivity, actively receiving what God wants to give.

For the prophet Daniel, prayer was his life.  And his life was a prayer.  Mark writes that Daniel approached every situation, challenge, opportunity, and person in a prayerful manner.  Mark states that “prayer invites God into the equation, and when that happens, all bets are off.”  That’s how Daniel, a prisoner of war, became prime minister of the country that took him captive.

Today’s question: What is your favorite prayer posture?  Please share.

Coming Monday: the latest Short Meditation, “Expect great progress”

Tomorrow’s blog: “Prayer is priming”

Scriptural prayer postures

Long and boring

“Praying through is long and boring, but it is the price you pay for miracles.”- Mark Batterson

In Chapter 123 (“Long and Boring”) of The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson states that, in the Bible, few people prayed with more consistency or intensity than Daniel.  Daniel had the ability to pray urgently about things that weren’t urgent- an important dimension of thinking long.

Pastor Batterson notes that when you feel like you’ve been drawing prayer circles forever and are extremely frustrated by God’s deafening silence, the solution is to stop, drop, and pray.  The only viable option is to pray through.

Although we all need an occasional no-agenda day with nothing to do, Mark emphasizes that type of day won’t be one we celebrate at the end of our lives. We won’t even recall such days.  We’ll remember the days when we persevered or overcame.  Similarly, the ancient truths of the Bible should not be arrived at easily.  Mark explains:

“What we’ll remember are the days when we had everything to do, and with God’s help, we did it.  We’ll remember the things that came hard.  We’ll remember the miracles on the far side of ‘long and boring.’ ”

Mark offers the encouragement that if we pray through and think long, God will give us some exciting answers, although  we don’t know how or when God will answer our prayers.  If we persistently pray through, a miracle is waiting on the other side.

Today’s question: What Bible verses sustain your consistency and intensity in prayer?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Scriptural prayer postures”

 

Long and boring

Thinking long

” . . . 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”

 

Thinking long

Divine detours

” . . . divine detours often get us where God wants us to go.”- Mark Batterson

“Don’t be afraid.  Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today.  The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again.  The Lord himself will fight for you.  Just stay calm.”- Exodus 14:13-14 (NIV)

Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 11 of The Circle Maker by noting we can get as angry as Balaam (Numbers 22) when we can’t get to where we want to go.  We don’t welcome God’s divine detours.  However, as Mark points out, the real miracle in Balaam’s story isn’t his talking donkey.  The real miracle is God loving us enough to get in our way when we’re stubbornly trying to go the wrong way.

One component of praying hard is persisting in prayer when the answer we get isn’t the one we want, yet choosing to believe God has a better plan.  Mark emphasizes the importance of praying for open as well as closed doors:

“Quite frankly, we love it when God opens doors for us!  When God slams a door in our face?  Not so much!  But you can’t half-circle the promise.  It’s a package deal.  You can’t pray for open doors if you aren’t willing to accept closed doors, because one leads to the other.”

Mark states that God has us right where He wants us when we have no idea where to go or what to do.  Trusting that God will fight our battles for us enables us to take our hands off the challenges we face and put those challenges in God’s hands.

Today’s question: Following your ministry downsizing or vocation loss, what divine detours have produced unexpected blessings?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Thinking long”

 

 

Divine detours

The litmus test of trust

Mark Batterson begins Chapter 11 (“No Answer”) of The Circle Maker with the litmus test of trust:

1.  Do you trust that God is for you even when He doesn’t give you what you asked for?

2.  Do you trust that He has reasons beyond your reason?

3.  Do you trust that His plan is better than yours?

Trust is essential because some of life’s hardest moments are when you have prayed hard, but God’s answer is no.  And you don’t know why.  In fact, Pastor Batterson notes, many of life’s unanswered questions derive from unanswered prayers.  However, Mark states that if you are able to trust God when His answer is no, you’re more likely to praise Him when the answer is yes.

Failure to guard your heart can result in unresolved anger toward God, which undermines faith.  But Mark encourages us with good news about unanswered prayers- “what we perceive as unanswered prayers are often the greatest answers.”  We may feel like God is getting in the way.  We should be glad He is!

Mark explains why we should thank God for unanswered prayers:

“Our heavenly Father is far too wise and loves us far too much to give us everything we ask for.  Someday we’ll thank God for the prayers He didn’t answer as much or more than the ones He did.  Our frustration will turn to celebration if we patiently and persistently pray through.  It may not make sense . . . on this side of eternity.  But I’ve learned a valuable lesson about unanswered prayers: Sometimes God gets in the way to show us the way.”

Today’s question: What does the litmus test of trust reveal to you?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Divine detours”

 

The litmus test of trust

Get your feet wet

“We say to God, ‘Why don’t you part this river?  And God says to us, ‘Why don’t you get your feet wet?’ “- Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 10 of The Circle Maker by expanding on this statement: “God is great, not just because nothing is too big for Him; God is great because nothing is to small for Him.”  If we would learn to obey God’s promptings, especially regarding small things, we’d find ourselves in the middle of miracles far more often.

Pastor Batterson adds that we need to be looking and listening for miracles.  Talking is the easy part of prayer.  Listening to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit is much harder.  When the Israelites were standing on the bank of the Jordan River- the Promised Land on the other side- God gave this command to the priests (Joshua 3:8): “Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go stand in the river.’ ”

Mark admits he’d much rather have God part the river so then he would step into the miracle.  If God goes first, you don’t have to get your feet wet.  You need to take a step of faith, perhaps in an area where you feel most self-assured.  Mark offers this prompting:

“Now let me ask you a question.  Where do you feel like you need God least?  Where are you most proficient, most sufficient?  Maybe that is precisely where God wants you to trust Him to do something beyond your ability. . . . And it is God’s strange and mysterious ways that renew our awe, our trust, and our dependence.”

Today’s question: Following your ministry downsizing or vocation loss, where do you need to get your feet wet?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “The litmus test of trust”

Get your feet wet

Holy complications

” . . . complications are evidence of God’s blessing.  And if it’s from God, then it’s a holy complication.”- Mark Batterson

As Mark Batterson continues Chapter 10 of The Circle Maker, he writes that one reason people get frustrated spiritually is they feel doing the will of God should get easier.  However, Pastor Batterson emphasizes, the will of God doesn’t get easier, it gets harder.  The harder God’s will gets, the harder you have to pray.

Mark states God will keep putting you in situations that stretch your faith.  As you faith continues to stretch, so do your dreams.  God’s blessings will complicate your life in positive ways and in ways God wants your life complicated.

Mark says here is a prayer that can change your life, yet it takes tremendous courage to pray that prayer like you mean it.  You also must count the cost.  The prayer is: Lord, complicate my life.

Mark writes that we need to pray as if God’s main objective is His glory, not our personal comfort.  We also must consider the implications or ramifications of our prayers.  Praying hard is hard because you have to pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on you.  And that is precisely where we get stuck spiritually.  Mark explains:

“We will pray right up to the point of discomfort, but no further.  We’re will to pray right up to the point of inconvenience, but no further.  Praying hard is uncomfortable and inconvenient, but that’s when you know you’re getting close to a miracle!”

Today’s question: What holy complications have you experienced in your life?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Get your feet wet”

Holy complications

He makes provision

“When God gives a vision, He makes provision.”- Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson begins Chapter 10 (“The Cattle on a Thousand Hills”) of The Circle Maker by acknowledging that the time lapse between our prayer requests and God’s answers often is longer than we would like.  Mark believes God must love the game of Chicken because He has the habit of waiting until the absolute last moment to answer our request to see if we’ll chicken out or pray (emphasis author’s).

As Pastor Batterson reads Scripture, he has come to the conclusion that God loves to show up in unexpected ways at unexpected times.  And God’s provision seems to be just enough just in time.  That was the case when God provided miraculous manna for the Israelites during their wilderness wandering.  God’s daily provision of manna was a reminder of the Israelites’ daily dependence on God.

Mark notes we’d all be more comfortable with a weekly, monthly, or yearly supply of God’s provision.  But we would lose our spiritual hunger if He provided too much too soon.  We’d stop trusting our Provider and begin trusting our provision.  While we crave self-sufficiency, Mark cautions that self-sufficiency does not equate with spiritual maturity:

“One of our fundamental misunderstandings of spiritual maturity is thinking that it should result in self-sufficiency.  It’s the exact opposite.  The goal isn’t dependence; the goal is codependence on God.  Our desire for self-sufficiency is . . . a desire to get to a place where we don’t need God, don’t need faith, and don’t need to pray.  We want God to provide more so we need Him less.”

Today’s question: When did God make provision for you just enough just in time?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Holy complications”

 

He makes provision

The greatest moments in life

“The greatest moments in life are the moments when God intervenes on our behalf and blesses us way beyond what we expect or deserve.”- Mark Batterson

As Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 9 of The Circle Maker, he reminds us there is nothing God loves more than keeping His promises.  Praying hard is standing on God’s promises.  Pastor Batterson emphasizes that “when we stand on His word, God stands by His word.  His word is His bond.”

Mark observes that we experience problems when we doubt ourselves, which in turn leads to doubting God.  We don’t ask God to extend His hand to us because we don’t know or don’t trust His heart.  Pastor Batterson states God wants to bless us far more than we want to be blessed.  Mark describes the heart of our heavenly Father:

“He can hardly wait to keep His promises.  He can hardly wait to perform His word.  He can hardly wait to answer our prayers.  And when we simply take Him at His word, He can hardly contain His joy.”

Pastor Batterson cites his favorite verse in the twenty-third psalm (Psalm 23:6)- “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”  He notes that follow isn’t a strong enough translation.  The word follow is a hunting term in Hebrew.  The psalmist is saying that God is hunting us down to bless us.

Mark writes that he prays for the favor of God more than anything else.  He defines God’s favor as “what God does for you that you cannot do for yourself.”  When God blesses us beyond what we expect or deserve, it’s a humble reminder of His sovereignty.

Today’s question: Describe the greatest moments in your life and how they help you to stand on God’s promises.  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “He makes provision”

 

The greatest moments in life

The by-products of answered prayer

Mark Batterson begins Chapter 9 (“The Favor of Him Who Dwells in the Burning Bush”) of The Circle Maker with a discussion of the by-products of answered prayer.  Ebenezer’s Coffeehouse, a community outreach ministry of National Community Church, is the result of eight years of praying hard and circling.  God miraculously made it possible for NCC to purchase a former crack house and transform its prime location.

The rooftop of the coffeehouse is Mark’s favorite place to pray because he feels like he’s praying on top of a miracle.  Mark writes:

“. . . the faith to pray hard . . . is one of the by-products of answered prayer.  It gives us the faith to believe God for bigger and better miracles.”

With each answered prayer, we draw bigger prayer circles.  With each act of faithfulness, our faith increases.  With each promise kept, our persistence quotient grows.

The process of persistently praying hard stretches your faith.  When you have to pray for a long time, there is no temptation to take a miracle for granted.  As Mark commonsensically notes, if it doesn’t take a miracle, it isn’t a miracle.

Pastor Batterson cites Matthew 18:18- Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.”  The word bind means “to place a contract on something.”  Mark notes that is precisely what happens when we pray.  If you are praying in accordance with the will of God, when you pray for something in the earthly realm God will bind it in the heavenly realm.  God loves to keep His promises.  He is actively waiting and watching for us to take Him at His word.

“The Lord is watching over His word.”- Jeremiah 1:12 (ESV)

Today’s questions (from Mark): Do you have a favorite place to pray?  A place where your mind is more focused?  A place where you have more faith?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “The greatest moments in life”

The by-products of answered prayer

Get the Bible through you

“Reading is the way you get through the Bible; prayer is the way you get the Bible through you.”- Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson completes Chapter 8 of The Circle Maker by referencing an old preacher’s sermon titled God’s Grammar:  “Never put a comma where God puts a period, and never put a period where God puts a comma.”  Praying through- not putting a period where God puts a comma- allows God to finish the sentence and make a statement.

Pastor Batterson asks us to consider the statement of faith Martha made to Jesus after Lazarus’ death (John 11:21-22): “Lord . . . if you had been there, my brother would not have died.  But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”  Mark notes that Martha’s statement exhibits two degrees of faith:

1.  Preventative faith– where we ask God to prevent things from happening

2.  Resurrection faith– believes that God can undo what already has been done

There is no easy answer for how to get from preventative faith to resurrection faith.  Hard times teach us to pray hard.  During periods of ellipsis, even then you believe even now.

However, often we don’t pray through because we run out of things to say.  The solution, Mark states, is to pray through the Bible.  Mark asks us to think of Scripture as God’s part of the script and prayer as our part.  Mark emphasizes how to get the Bible through you:

“The Bible wasn’t meant to be read through; the Bible was meant to be prayed through.”

Today’s question: Would you describe your current level of faith as preventative faith or resurrection faith?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “The by- products of answered prayer”

 

Get the Bible through you

If God had a refrigerator

Bill and Elinor Henning on their wedding day- February 5, 1949

“If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.  If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it. . . . Whenever you want to talk, he’ll listen.  He can live anywhere in the universe, and he chose your heart.”- Max Lucado

“For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me; . . . Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.”- Psalm 31:3 and 5

On February 5, 1949, the temperature in Chicago, Illinois, reached a chilly twenty-eight degrees.  Three inches of snow covered the ground.  For my parents, Bill and Elinor Henning, the snow and cold were incidental to the marital vows of love and faithfulness they pledged to each other in the presence of God, family, and friends.

Throughout more than fifty-five years of marriage and four years as a widower, Dad kept one constant remembrance of his beloved Elinor in his wallet- a wedding photograph of his beautiful bride.  Perhaps it kept in the forefront his  responsibilities to the family God had entrusted to Dad’s earthly care as well as his faithfulness to gladly carry out those duties.

Dad deliberately chose to spend his off-work hours with Mom and me because he viewed us through the eyes of a loving husband and father.  John Ortberg writes in God is Closer Than You Think that God wants to be with us each and every day:

“I am a child on God’s screen saver.  And so are you.  The tiniest details of our lives never grow old to him.  God himself is filled with wonder at our faltering steps and stammering words- not because we do them better than anyone else, but because he views them through the eyes of a loving Father.”

The central and most frequent promise of the Bible is “I will be with you.”   The Lord’s arm is not too short (Numbers 11:23).  When Jesus is in your heart, you are freed from living a life of troubled anxiety.  Theophan the Recluse, an ancient sage, described the heart as the Lord’s reception room.  May we have the childlike confidence and faith of this five-year-old girl:

“I know Jesus lives in my heart, because when I put my hand on my chest I can feel him walking around in there.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If God had a refrigerator