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

by Mark Batterson

Prayers are prophecies. They are the best predictors of your spiritual future. Who you become is determined by how you pray. Ultimately, the transcript of your prayers becomes the script of your life.

Drawing prayer circles starts with discerning what God wants, what God wills. And until His sovereign will becomes your sanctified wish, your prayer life will be unplugged from its power supply. Sure, you can apply some of the principles you learn in The Circle Maker, and they may help you get what you want, but getting what you want isn’t the goal; the goal is glorifying God by drawing circles around the promises, miracles, and dreams He wants for you.

omniscience.

omnipotence.

microcosm.

Prayer and praise are both expressions of faith, but praise is a higher dimension of faith. Prayer is asking God to do something, future tense; praise is believing that God has already done it, past tense.

I have scribbled the initials JEJIT in the margins of my Bible at various places where God provides just enough just in time. He did it with the widow who is down to her last jar of olive oil. He did it when the Israelites are trapped between the Egyptian army and Red Sea. He did it when the boat is about to capsize on the Sea of Galilee because of hurricane-force winds. And He did it with us when we had twenty-four hours to come up with $7,500.

One of the wackiest miracles in the Bible involves a talking donkey. A prophet named Balaam is headed to Moab because he has been offered an honorarium to curse the Israelites. On his way, an angel of the Lord gets in the way. Balaam doesn’t see the angel, but his donkey does. Three times the donkey saves Balaam’s life by stopping, but Balaam is infuriated at his dumb donkey. That’s when God opens the donkey’s mouth, and it says to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” Balaam’s response to this donkey that saved his life three times? “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.” In all fairness, I don’t think any one of us knows how we would respond if one of our pets started talking to us! But Balaam is so enraged that he is not thinking straight. Dude, if you have a talking donkey on your hands, the last thing you want to do is kill it! You don’t even need that honorarium anymore. You’re going to make a fortune. You can take your talking donkey show on the road. Do a gig in Vegas. I love the donkey’s rational response. And I can’t help but wonder if he had a distinguished British accent to go along with his superior intellect. “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” The most respected prophet in the ancient world has no comeback. His only response to his erudite donkey is, “No.” And he probably mumbled it.

IDIOSYNCRASIES

Goals are dreams with deadlines.

We have a saying at NCC that we adopted and adapted from my friend Perry Noble. I’m not sure if it originates with him or not, but I love it nonetheless: Every number has a name, every name has a story, and every story matters to God. It’s true of Inmate #0828629, and it’s true of you. Every prayer you pray blesses the heart of the heavenly Father. It also gives Him an opportunity to prove His power.