The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears

by Mark Batterson

It was the first step in claiming the Promised Land.

What is your Jericho?

That’s the goal. Now here’s the problem: Most of us don’t get what we want simply because we don’t know what we want.

We’ve never defined success for ourselves.

Instead of drawing circles, we draw blanks.

and responds with a pointed question: “What do you want me to do for you?”

Jesus made them verbalize their desire.

He wanted to make sure they knew what they wanted.

What do you want me to do for you? Would

And the great irony, of course, is that if we can’t answer this question, then we’re as blind spiritually as these blind men were physically.

If faith is being sure of what we hope for, then being unsure of what we hope for is the antithesis of faith, isn’t it?

Jericho is spelled many different ways.

cancer,

hea...

child is f...

salva...

your marriage is fall...

reconcili...

vision beyond your r...

provi...

They believed prayer was their primary parental responsibility,

The author, pastor of one of the largest churches in Seoul, Korea, wrote, “God does not answer vague prayers.”

We miraculously purchased a piece of Promised Land that we had circled in prayer for more than five years.

two blind men outside of Jericho: What do you want me to do for you?

vacate. It was extremely disappointing and disorienting at the time, but I have to admit that this apparent “anti-miracle” was the catalyst for some bigger and better miracles that have happened in its wake.

If our prayers aren’t specific, however, God gets robbed of the glory that He deserves because we second-guess whether or not He actually answered them.

There isn’t anything magical about it, but it acts as prayer insurance.

goals. Our eternal priorities get subjugated to our temporal responsibilities. And we pawn our God-given dream for the American dream. So instead of circling Jericho, we end up wandering in the wilderness for forty years.

I often felt excitement mixed with a profound sadness as I scrambled through airport security on my way to whatever speaking destination was next.

The bad news is we’re lost; the good news is we’re making great time.”

God’s primary concern is who we’re becoming

Success has nothing to do with how gifted or how resourced you are; it has everything to do with glorifying God in any and every situation by making the most of it.

Success is spelled stewardship, and stewardship is spelled success.

living life with such authentic integrity that those who know me best actually respect me most.

It helps you circle the miracle. It helps you see all the way around the situation.

A change in scenery often translates into a change of perspective.

They will storm the gates and try to smash through the defenses with sheer intellectual power and brilliance.

It wasn’t problem solving that won the day; it was prayer solving.

if You will break the bonds and destroy the middle wall of partition,

if You will give him a church and congregation — a credit to Your people and all Christendom

will walk with You for three years in prayer, both day and night. I will meet You e...

Furthermore, if You will listen to the voice of my supplication

I will fast seventy-two hours each week for two years.

I will not go home to sleep...

I will stay in church, and if I get sleepy, I’ll rest on new...

Mother Dabney would not be denied.

Mother Dabney was more comfortable in the presence of God than the presence of people.

And the more she prayed through, the more God came through.

The footnote is prayer. And if you focus on the footnotes, God will write the headlines.

It’s your prayers that change the eternal plotline.