--Wed MidWeek Wk 47: Draw the Last Circle

Intro Review

Chapter 7 in the book The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson

Key Points

Mark builds the book around three main circles...

1- Dream Big

like Joshua asking God to make the sun and moon to stand sill till they could avenge his enemies (Joshua 10:13)

2- Pray Hard

its about being persistent in prayer.

3- Think Long

is about playing the long game, not the short game.

Then he says “Keep Circling”

If you would choose to read the book you would also find that Mark would help you...

Discern God's Will as the first step to a healthy prayer life.

Uncover your heart's deepest desires.

Pursue God-sized dreams Connect with God in fresh ways.

And, ultimately, draw prayer circles around your family, your job, your problems, and your goals

Investigate

When we open the Book we are introduced to...

The story of Honi a sage who lived a generation before Jesus.

Honi believed that God could still hear them.

God is still looking for circle makers.

Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers.

We are ONE PRAYER away

from a dream fulfilled

a promise kept

a miracle performed

There is nothing God loves more than

keeping promises,

answering prayers,

performing miracles, and

fulfilling dreams.

That is who GOD is.

Prayers are prophecies.

You prayers are the best predictors of your spiritual future.

Who you become is determined by how you pray. The transcript of your prayers becomes the script of your life.

Drawing prayer circles isn’t some magic trick to get what you want from God.

God is not a genie in a bottle, and

your wish is not His command.

His command better be your wish.

Getting what you want isn’t the goal.

the goal is glorifying God

glorify God by drawing circles around the promises, miracles, and dreams HE WANTS for you.

THE GOAL IS “GLORIFYING GOD”

IT’S ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS

THAT ARE GOD-CENTERED

NOT SELF-CENTERED!

God is God and

He always will be God!!

We pray out of our ignorance, but God answers out of His omniscience.

We pray out of our impotence, but God answers out of His omnipotence.

God has the ability to answer the prayers we should have prayed but lacked the knowledge or ability to even ask.

“Is there a limit to God’s power?”

With God, it’s never an issue of “Can He?” It’s only a question of “Will He?”

And while you don’t always know if He will, you know He can.

And because you know He can, you can pray with holy confidence.

"God is able to do 15.5 billion light-years beyond what you can ask or imagine."

God says that this is the distance between His thoughts and our thoughts.

Your best thought on your best day falls 15.5 billion light-years short of how great and how good God really is.

Even the most brilliant among us underestimate God by 15.5 billion light-years.

Application

The issue is never,

“Are you qualified?”

The issue is always,

“Are you called?”

EXAMPLE:

Many authors worry about whether or not their book will get published.

That isn’t the question.

The question is this:

Are you called to write?

That’s the only question you need to answer.

Make it personal

“Keep Circling”

Closing