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

Praying through

“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: 1-5) as an example of what it means to pray hard.  Mark then offers his definition of praying hard:

“Praying hard is more than words; it’s blood, sweat, and tears.  Praying hard is two-dimensional: praying like it depends on God, and working like it depends on you.  It’s praying until God answers, no matter how long it takes.  It’s doing whatever it takes to show God you’re serious.”

Desperate time, Mark notes, call for desperate measures.  And the most desperate act is praying hard.  It’s holy desperation.  Pastor Batterson believes the persistent widow is the gold standard for praying hard.  The judge knew there was no quit in the widow.  Mark asks: “Does The Judge know that about you?

Mark asserts that the viability of our prayers has less to do with vocabulary and more to do with intensity.  He writes that the Holy Spirit is our model:

“Long before you woke up this morning and long after you go to sleep tonight, the Spirit of God was circling you with songs of deliverance.  He has been circling you since the day you were conceived. . . . Those unutterable intercessions should fill you with an unspeakable confidence.  God isn’t for you in some passive sense; God is for you in the most active sense imaginable.”

Today’s question: What Bible verses sustain you in praying hard and praying through?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Live unoffended”

 

Praying through

Praying for versus praying through

“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 that might have changed the course of history.

In the grand scheme of God’s story, prayer is the footnote behind every headline.  Mark emphasizes that if we focus on the footnotes, God will write the headlines.  For this to happen, however, we cannot quit circling.  We must pray through the situation, grabbing the horns of the altar and refusing to let go until God answers.

Mark states that praying through:

1.  is all about consistency- like the widow’s relentless requests to the judge (Luke 18: 1-5)

2.  won’t take no for an answer- you’re always one prayer away from a miracle

3.  is all about intensity- it’s not quantitative, it’s qualitative

4.  touches the heart of your heavenly Father- it doesn’t just bend God’s ear

Pastor Batterson states God wants to take us to the higher heights and the deeper depths of prayer.  But we can’t do the same old thing if we want God to do something new in our life:

“It will involve more sacrifice, but if you are willing to go there, you’ll realize you didn’t sacrifice anything at all.  It will involve more risk, but if you’re willing to go there, you’ll realize you didn’t risk anything at all.  Make the sacrifice.  Take the risk.  Draw the circle.”

Today’s question: Describe a time in your life that involved praying through a situation?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Praise through”

Praying for versus praying through